A party who prevailed at trial is generally not aggrieved by the judgment and should not file an appeal or cross-appeal. Moreover, the trial court’s ruling on a motion for non-suit is not an appealable order.
In its appellate briefing, a responding party who did not prevail in a motion for nonsuit at trial can still raise the denial of the motion as an alternative ground for affirmance. Code of Civil Procedure 906 allows a respondent on appeal to raise non-appealable interim rulings for the purpose of determining whether or not the appellant was prejudiced by the error or errors upon which the appellant relies for reversal or modification of the judgment from which the appeal is taken. This allows respondent to assert a legal theory that may result in the affirmance of the judgment. Thus, the defendant who prevailed at trial can challenge the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s evidence to the extent that the challenge results in a holding that the plaintiff was not prejudiced by any errors. This approach has been upheld in numerous cases.