American Ass'n of Cab Companies, Inc. v. Egeh, A92A0717
| Decision Date | 08 July 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. A92A0717,A92A0717 |
| Citation | 205 Ga.App. 228,421 S.E.2d 741 |
| Parties | AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CAB COMPANIES, INC. v. EGEH. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Sidney L. Moore, Jr., Decatur, for appellant.
Freeman & Hawkins, Edward M. Newsom, Atlanta, for appellee.
Downey, Cleveland, Parker, Williams & Davis, Y. Kevin Williams, Houston D. Smith III, Marietta, Harper, Waldon & Craig, Thomas D. Harper, Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, Dean S. Daskal, Atlanta, amici curiae.
Appellee/plaintiff Abdi Egeh was involved in an automobile collision on August 29, 1988. At the time of the collision, plaintiff, a taxi cab driver, was driving a cab owned by his cousin because his cab was not operative at the time. Both plaintiff and his cousin had insurance through the appellant/defendant American Association of Cab Companies, Inc. ("AACC"). It is undisputed that if plaintiff qualified for benefits, no-fault benefits were available to him under the policy administered by AACC.
When the collision occurred, the driver of the other vehicle and plaintiff exchanged insurance information, but did not summon the police to the scene of the accident. Plaintiff did not seek medical attention that day. Although the parties dispute whether plaintiff gave notice to defendant of the collision, the jury was authorized to find that the next day plaintiff called AACC to report the collision and request medical treatment. AACC insisted that plaintiff come to its office and file a written report of the collision. Plaintiff then contacted an attorney who made arrangements with the AACC for plaintiff to see a doctor authorized by them to conduct a medical examination. The doctor selected by the AACC, Dr. Hoffman, examined plaintiff and told him there was nothing wrong with him.
Plaintiff again contacted his attorney, who made arrangements for plaintiff to visit a chiropractor, Dr. Jane Dinerman. Dr. Dinerman treated plaintiff and referred him to Dr. D'Auria, a medical doctor specializing in orthopedics, who also treated him. He returned to work approximately six weeks after the accident. Plaintiff filed an application for personal injury protection benefits with AACC and submitted his medical bills from Doctors Dinerman and D'Auria, as well as a claim for lost wages. AACC denied the claim. Plaintiff then filed this action against AACC alleging it wrongfully denied the claim and seeking payment of his medical bills, lost wages, penalties and punitive damages pursuant to OCGA § 33-34-6, and expenses, including attorney fees.
This case was tried before a jury which returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff and awarded him $2,577 for medical expenses and lost wages, $644.25 as statutory penalties, $15,000 as punitive damages, and $7,111 as attorney fees. AACC appeals the judgment and the denial of its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or alternatively for new trial.
1. Defendant argues the trial court erred by granting the plaintiff's motion in limine to prevent testimony about the plaintiff's motive for exaggerating his no-fault claim. Defendant contends it should have been allowed to present evidence that plaintiff exaggerated his claims to meet the threshold requirements for filing a claim for non-economic losses against the other driver involved in the collision and to effect the "pain and suffering" aspect of that claim once he had met the threshold level.
We hold the trial court properly granted the plaintiff's motion in limine. It ruled that defendant would not be allowed to submit evidence concerning plaintiff's motive in the case, that is, the impact plaintiff's claim against defendant would have on any other rights plaintiff might have to pursue claims against other parties, but allowed defendant to explore fully the reasonableness of all claims submitted to defendant. Questions of relevancy are generally matters within the trial court's discretion and it is not error to exclude evidence that is not related to an issue at trial. Sleeth v. State, 197 Ga.App. 349(3), 398 S.E.2d 298 (1990). This enumeration of error is without merit.
2. Defendant urges the trial court committed reversible error by denying defendant's motion for mistrial when plaintiff's counsel revealed to the jury that in another case a jury had ruled against the defendant in favor of the plaintiff in that case, and by failing to grant defendant's pretrial motion in limine, which would have prevented the mention of the prior jury's finding. Prior to the trial in this case, defendant was sued by another taxi driver named Mohammed Abdillahi, who recovered against defendant on virtually identical facts; that is, AACC refused to pay Abdillahi's claim for personal injury protection benefits, including payment for medical treatment by Doctors Dinerman and D'Auria, after receiving a report from Dr. Hoffman that Abdillahi was not injured.
In a pretrial motion, defendant requested that plaintiff be prohibited from introducing evidence that another jury rendered a verdict against defendant in a case with similar facts. The trial court reserved ruling on the motion and plaintiff promised not to mention the adverse verdict until the trial court made its ruling. During the testimony of Cheru Terefe, president of the AACC, the following colloquy took place:
"[Counsel for Plaintiff:] [Y]ou took the position before another jury in another court that Mohammed Abdillahi was not hurt, didn't you?
[Terefe:] Yes.
[Counsel for Plaintiff:] And that jury told you--
[Counsel for Defendant:] Objection, your Honor, we raised this just prior to trial. He said he would n[ot] get into this until your Honor ha[d] ruled on the question, and now he's proceeded directly into it."
At that time, the matter was discussed outside the presence of the jury, and defendant moved for a mistrial. The trial court denied defendant's motion for a mistrial and ruled that plaintiff could question Terefe about denying other claims and if there were other lawsuits filed against AACC to procure benefits but prohibited plaintiff from inquiring about the decisions reached in other cases. The jury was then brought back into the courtroom and the trial court instructed them to disregard the last question.
" Stoner v. Eden, 199 Ga.App. 135, 137(2), 404 S.E.2d 283 (1991). In this case, the trial court's ruling on defendant's motion for mistrial was proper. Plaintiff's counsel did not complete the question before defendant's objection was made. Under these circumstances, the trial court's instruction to the jury was sufficient to preserve the right to a fair trial. The trial court's ruling on defendant's motion in limine does not offer a basis for reversal either since the trial court ultimately granted it.
3. Defendant claims the trial court erred by failing to grant its motion to strike plaintiff's claim for lost wages. Although the evidence revealed that the trip sheets submitted by plaintiff to defendant in support of his claim for lost wages were examples rather than actual trip sheets, the plaintiff testified extensively concerning his wages. His testimony was sufficient at least to raise a jury question concerning whether he was entitled to lost wages. Allison v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 256 Ga. 446, 349 S.E.2d 682 (1986). The trial court did not err by submitting plaintiff's claim for lost wages to the jury.
4. Defendant contends plaintiff failed to prove the terms of its contractual obligation to provide no-fault benefits to him, and therefore it was entitled to a directed verdict on all of defendant's contractual claims. Plaintiff, however, through witnesses called before defendant's first motion for directed verdict, proved the pertinent terms of the self-insurance plan administered by the AACC for taxi drivers, with the exception of a deductible amount. Although a certified copy of the...
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