In Lane v. Hughes Aircraft Co. (2000) 22 Cal. 4th 405, the court considered the standard of review for a grant of new trial based on excessive damages and insufficiency of the evidence. ( Id. at p. 412.) In such a case, the trial court sits as an independent trier of fact and, as in the context of Malkasian v. Irwin (1964), 61 Cal. 2d 738, the trial court "sits much closer to the evidence, . . . watching and hearing as the evidence unfolds. The trial court, therefore, is in the best position to assess the reliability of a jury's verdict and, to this end, the Legislature has granted trial courts broad discretion to order new trials." ( Lane v. Hughes Aircraft Co., supra, 22 Cal. 4th at p. 412.)