Stutzman v. CRST, Inc.

• Decision Date: 21 June 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-3041,92-3041
• Parties: 39 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 168 Lamar STUTZMAN and Rhonda Stutzman, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CRST, INCORPORATED, an Iowa corporation, and Ferman Brown, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 291

997 F.2d 291

39 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 168

Lamar STUTZMAN and Rhonda Stutzman, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CRST, INCORPORATED, an Iowa corporation, and Ferman Brown Defendants-Appellants.

No. 92-3041.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 17, 1993.

Decided June 21, 1993.

John D. Ulmer, Patrick F. O'Leary (argued), Yoder, Ainlay, Ulmer & Buckingham, Loraine P. Troyer, Goshen, IN, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Michael McDonough (argued), Cedar Rapids, IA, Daniel W. Glavin, Beckman, Kelly & Smith, Hammond, IN, for defendants-appellants.

Before EASTERBROOK and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and WILL, Senior District Judge. ^*

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

This diversity action stems from an automobile accident in Indiana between Lamar Stutzman, an Indiana resident, and Ferman Brown, a driver for CRST, Inc. The Stutzmans filed a complaint in Indiana state court against CRST and Mr. Brown for damages stemming from Mr. Stutzman's injuries. CRST, an Iowa corporation, responded by removing the case to federal court and denying any negligence on its part or the part of Mr. Brown, a Missouri resident. Shortly before trial, CRST admitted liability. The subsequent trial on damages resulted in a jury verdict for the Stutzmans: $783,000 for Mr. Stutzman and $100,000 for Mrs. Stutzman. On appeal, the defendants claim that the trial was so error-ridden that a new trial is required. We disagree and affirm the plaintiffs' judgment.

Of the many issues raised by the defendants, only three merit significant discussion: (1) whether the jury instruction on damages improperly shifted the burden of proof to the defendants, (2) whether the jury instruction on the aggravation of a pre-existing condition was supported by the evidence, and (3) whether the jury verdict was excessive.

I. Jury Instructions

A. Burden of Proof Regarding Damages

In its charge to the jury, the district court gave the following instruction:

No particular degree of mathematical certainty is required in awarding damages so long as the amount awarded is supported by probative evidence, but it may not be based upon mere conjecture, speculation, or guesswork.

Where there is doubt as to the exact proof of damages, such uncertainty may be resolved against the negligent party.

The defendants correctly note that the burden of proof on the issue of damages rests with the plaintiff. See Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. v. NCR Corp., 772 F.2d 315 (7th Cir.1985) (following Indiana law). Understandably, the defendants urge us to focus solely on the second paragraph of the instruction and conclude that it improperly removes the burden of proof from the plaintiffs and places it on the defendants. However, we are required to look at more than just one sentence.

In a diversity case, federal law guides our review of jury instructions. Smith v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co., 778 F.2d 384 (7th Cir.1985). The following passage aptly sums up the task before us:

[O]ur review of jury instructions is limited to the determination of "whether the jury was misled in any way and whether it had understanding of the issues and its duty to determine those issues.... With instructions, we don't pick nits; we examine the whole of what was given and look for overall fairness and accuracy."

Trustees of Indiana University v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 920 F.2d 429, 437 (7th Cir.1990) (quoting Midcoast Aviation, Inc. v. General Elec. Credit Corp., 907 F.2d 732, 741-42 n. 7 (7th Cir.1990)).

Viewing the instructions as a whole, we cannot say that the jury was misled. The first paragraph of the instruction told the jury that their award had to be based on probative evidence, rather than on speculation. A preceding instruction told the jury:

You must determine the amount of money that will fairly compensate Mr. Stutzman for those elements of damage that were proved by the evidence to have resulted from the negligence of the defendants.... You are to determine whether these elements of damage have been proved by a preponderance of the evidence relating to damages.

In addition, one of the first instructions told the jury that the plaintiffs had the burden of proving their case--a case only on the issue of damages since CRST had admitted liability. Finally, the court made the following statement during its preliminary instructions:

The plaintiffs will have to prove their damages by a preponderance of the evidence, and will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendants' negligence was the "proximate cause" of their injuries.

Read as a whole, we are satisfied that the jury understood that the burden of proof was on the plaintiffs. The second paragraph of the challenged instruction merely told the jury that if an item of damage, already proven was difficult to quantify, they were permitted to resolve that doubt against the defendants as the admittedly negligent party. This is not an incorrect statement of law, thus the defendants were not prejudiced by it. See Ft. Wayne v. Capehart-Farnsworth Corp., 127 Ind.App. 412, 142 N.E.2d 442, 448 (1957).

B. Sufficiency of Medical Evidence Regarding the "Aggravation of a Pre-existing Condition"

The defendants challenge a second instruction. The district court told the jury that when they determined the proper amount to award Mr. Stutzman they could consider, inter alia, "the aggravation of a previous injury." The defendants argue that this charge constitutes reversible error because the plaintiffs failed to show that Mr. Stutzman's pre-existing condition, a congenital back problem called spondylolisthesis, was aggravated by his car accident injury. Further, the defendants claim that the error was not harmless because it resulted in a higher damages award.

"It is prejudicial error for a trial court to give instructions which find no support in the evidence, unless the record shows the error is clearly harmless." Kirschner v. Broadhead, 671 F.2d 1034, 1040 (7th Cir.1982). Consequently, the issue before us is whether the plaintiffs offered sufficient competent evidence that Mr. Stutzman's previous medical condition was aggravated by the accident. It is argued that no competent evidence supported the instruction because the only evidence on aggravation was improperly admitted.

At trial, the plaintiffs called two expert medical witnesses. Dr. Schaffer testified, via deposition, that trauma could aggravate spondylolisthesis and that he thought Mr. Stutzman's spondylolisthesis was aggravated by the car accident. However, during cross-examination in response to a series of questions concerning the aggravation of Mr. Stutzman's spondylolisthesis, Dr. Schaffer qualified his earlier testimony:

A [ ] Just that it might have exacerbated the problem and it may not have. [ ] And I cannot correlate for sure that it did or didn't.

Q So you can't say with any medical certainty at all that that's the cause of any low back pain?

A That's correct.

In addition to Dr. Schaffer, Dr. Klaassen testified at trial via a videotaped deposition. He stated that spondylolisthesis could be aggravated by a car accident like the one Mr. Stutzman had. This exchange followed:

Q Assuming Mr. Stutzman never had any problems with his low back as far as we can tell before the accident of April 5th, 1990, and has had problems since that date, do you have an opinion based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty whether the accident aggravated or worsened that condition making it symptomatic?

A Well, here's where it gets to be very difficult to split the two apart. I mean how do you determine what symptoms in his lower legs are caused by his cervical spine compression [the accident injury] and his lumbar problem [the pre-existing condition].

The defendants argue that the foregoing testimony was improperly admitted because, under Indiana law, expert physician testimony must be based on a reasonable medical probability and these doctors testified to only possibilities. The defendants, however, are relying on the wrong body of law. Indiana law does not govern the admissibility of expert testimony in a federal forum; rather, the Federal Rules of Evidence govern. Consequently, the proper question is whether the physicians' testimonies were properly admitted under Federal Rules of Evidence. Before we reach that question, however, a brief explanation of why federal law applies is necessary.

Federal courts exercising diversity jurisdiction apply state law to substantive issues and federal law to procedural issues. Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 85 S.Ct. 1136, 14 L.Ed.2d 8 (1965); Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). The question before us is whether the admission of expert testimony should be governed by state or federal law; in other words, is it a procedural issue or a substantive issue? In the past we have not specifically answered this question. See Kirschner, 671 F.2d at 1040. We do so today.

We have held that the Federal Rules of Evidence generally apply in federal diversity actions. See Pincus v. Pabst Brewing Co., 893 F.2d 1544, 1553 (7th Cir.1990); Rosenburg v. Lincoln American Life Ins. Co., 883 F.2d 1328, 1333 (7th Cir.1989); Lovejoy Electronics, Inc. v. O'Berto, 873 F.2d 1001, 1005 (7th Cir.1989). See also Pieters v. B-Right Trucking, Inc., 669 F.Supp. 1463 (N.D.Ind.1987). On some occasions, however, we have addressed the applicability of specific Federal Rules and reached various results. Compare Flaminio v. Honda Motor Co., Ltd., 733 F.2d 463, 471-72 (7th Cir.1984) (Federal Rule 407, not state rule, applies in diversity action), with Monetti, S.P.A. v. Anchor Hocking Corp., 931 F.2d 1178, 1182 (7th Cir.1991) (whether oral evidence is admissible to show that an ambiguous document satisfies the statute of frauds is governed by state law); Lovejoy, 873 F.2d at 1005 (state's dead man statute governs admissibility of certain evidence where state law supplies rule of decision).

In addition to...