Angrand v. Key

• Decision Date: 22 June 1995
• Docket Number: No. 83154,83154
• Citation: 657 So.2d 1146
• Parties: 20 Fla. L. Weekly S289 Roland Pierre ANGRAND, Petitioner, v. Michael KEY, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 1146

657 So.2d 1146

20 Fla. L. Weekly S289

Roland Pierre ANGRAND, Petitioner, v. Michael KEY, Respondent.

No. 83154.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 22, 1995.

Arnold R. Ginsberg of Perse, P.A. & Ginsberg, P.A., and Daryl L. Merl, P.A., Miami, for petitioner.

Bonnie Eyler of Santone, Eyler & Lury, P.A., Boca Raton, and Alyssa Campbell of Hicks, Anderson & Blum, P.A., Miami, for respondent.

WELLS, Justice.

We have for review Key v. Angrand, 630 So.2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), which expressly and directly conflicts with the opinion in Holiday Inns, Inc. v. Shelburne, 576 So.2d 322 (Fla. 4th DCA), review dismissed, 589 So.2d 291 (Fla.1991). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

Dr. Morry Fox and Dr. Susan Fox provided Carolyn Angrand with medical care during her pregnancy. The Foxes sent two of Mrs. Angrand's sonograms to Dr. Michael Key, a radiologist, for interpretation. After reviewing the second sonogram, Dr. Key reported a normal single intrauterine fetus. The fetus was actually interstitial, or located in the portion of the uterus which connects to the fallopian tube. Consequently, when the fetus grew to a certain size, the fallopian tube and the uterus ruptured, causing massive hemorrhaging. Mrs. Angrand died as a result of the rupture.

Roland Angrand, as personal representative of his deceased wife, brought a malpractice action for wrongful death against the Foxes and Dr. Key ¹ in order to recover damages pursuant to section 768.21, Florida Statutes (1985), for himself as surviving spouse, the decedent's son, and the decedent's estate. Dr. Susan Fox was dismissed from the case, and Dr. Morry Fox settled prior to trial. The case against Dr. Key proceeded to trial, and the jury rendered a verdict against him. The damages awarded were set off by the amount Angrand received from various defendants prior to trial. Key appealed the judgment, claiming that the trial court erred in excluding the Foxes' testimony based on the Deadperson's Statute, section 90.602, Florida Statutes (1991), and in permitting Dr. Larry Platt, Angrand's expert damage witness on grief, ² to testify.

Specifically with respect to his first claim, Key alleged that the Foxes, as prior defendants in the lawsuit, were not "interested" in the action within the meaning of the Deadperson's Statute. The district court agreed but did not reverse on this basis because it determined that Key failed to offer any proof of the substance of the Foxes' testimony as required by section 90.104, Florida Statutes (1991). ³

Although the district court determined Key's first claim did not provide a sufficient basis to reverse the trial court's judgment, it found that the erroneous admission of Dr. Platt's testimony required reversal for several reasons. First, the court concluded Dr. Platt did not testify to anything that was outside the common experience of the particular jury members, most of whom had experienced the death of a loved one in the past. Key, 630 So.2d at 650. Additionally, the district court's review of the record revealed that Dr. Platt's testimony added nothing beyond what the survivors themselves, their minister, and other family members testified to as to the close family relationship Mrs. Angrand had with her husband and son, as well as the loss felt by them after her death. Id. Finally, the court concluded that Dr. Platt's testimony was unfairly prejudicial because the jury, based on the fact that the testimony came from an expert, might have given it undue weight. Id.

In reversing the trial court, the district also court noted that the trial judge was reluctant to admit Dr. Platt's testimony but did so based on Shelburne. ⁴ Key, 630 So.2d at 651. In Pardo v. State, 596 So.2d 665, 666 (Fla.1992), we made clear that "in the absence of interdistrict conflict, district court decisions bind all Florida trial courts." The trial court thus correctly recognized that it was bound by the Fourth District Court of Appeal's conclusion in Shelburne, that grief and bereavement are not subjects within the normal everyday comprehension of jurors.

In Shelburne, Dr. Platt was permitted to testify about grief and bereavement generally and about how the plaintiffs, whose son had been killed, worked their way through the grief process, where they were in the grief process at the time of trial, what factors had affected their response to their son's death, and what grief they were likely to experience in the future. Shelburne, 576 So.2d at 336. The court held that the testimony was admissible after determining that Dr. Platt was a qualified expert, that the probative value of his testimony outweighed any prejudicial effect, and that his testimony assisted the jurors in understanding a subject that was clearly not within a person's normal everyday comprehension.

We resolve the conflict between Shelburne and this case by narrowing the decision in Shelburne. A trial court is to be afforded broad discretion in determining the subject on which an expert may testify in a particular trial. Town of Palm Beach v. Palm Beach County, 460 So.2d 879 (Fla.1984). The trial court's decision will only be disregarded if that discretion has been abused. Id. at 882; see also Buchman v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R., 381 So.2d 229, 230 (Fla.1980); Johnson v. State, 393 So.2d 1069, 1072 (Fla.1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 882, 102 S.Ct. 364, 70 L.Ed.2d 191 (1981). The Shelburne decision limited the trial court's discretion by concluding generally that grief and bereavement are not subjects within jurors' everyday understanding. We limit Shelburne to its facts and reject this comprehensive finding as applicable to all wrongful death cases. Affording the trial court discretion in respect to the type of testimony offered by Dr. Platt is necessary to implement the intent of section 90.702, which is to admit expert testimony when it will assist the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or in determining a fact in issue.

Clearly, psychiatrists, psychologists, or other qualified physicians who have treated a survivor or reviewed records concerning a survivor's treatment for physical or mental sequelae related to mental pain and suffering caused by the death of a survivor's decedent may provide testimony which will assist the jury in understanding evidence and deciding damages issues. Further, we recognize that the experience, age, and other relevant information about the jurors or the facts in a particular case could provide a basis for the trial judge to conclude that Dr. Platt or a person with similar expertise, training, and education would assist the jury in understanding the evidence or in deciding the appropriate damages. These are factors to be considered by the trial judge in the exercise of his or her discretion.

That discretion, however, is not boundless. Johnson, 393 So.2d at 1072. The trial court should exercise its discretion so that only expert testimony which will assist the trier of fact is admitted. An expert's testimony should not be admitted merely to relay matters which are within the common experience of the jurors or to summarize what the expert has been told by lay witnesses. Based on our review of the record, we conclude that the trial judge, acting properly within his discretion, could have concluded that Dr. Platt's testimony added nothing to the jurors' knowledge in this case.

In a wrongful death action such as this, section 768.21 does not designate "grief" as a recoverable damage. Rather, a surviving spouse may recover for "loss of the decedent's companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering." Sec. 768.21(2), Fla.Stat. (1985). A minor child may recover for "lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering." Sec. 768.21(3), Fla.Stat. (1985). The relevant testimony on these issues usually comes from the survivors, friends, ministers, and others who testify as fact witnesses, as opposed to experts, because it has long been the rule in this state that there is no objective standard by which to measure these kinds of damages. Technical or mathematical calculations are impossible to make. The jury, guided by its judgment and everyday life experiences, is in the best position to make a fair assessment of these damages. In Braddock v. Seaboard Air Line Railroad Co., 80 So.2d 662 (Fla.1955), this Court stated:

Jurors know the nature of pain embarrassment and inconvenience, and they also know the nature of money. Their problem of equating the two to afford reasonable and just compensation calls for a high order of human judgment, and the law has provided no better yardstick for their guidance than their enlightened conscience. Their problem is not one of mathematical calculation but involves an exercise of their sound judgment of what is fair and right.

Id. at 668. In addition, the seminal case of Mills v. Redwing Carriers, Inc., 127 So.2d 453 (Fla. 2d DCA 1961), provides an analysis which we find applicable:

When facts are within the ordinary experience of the jury, the conclusion from those facts will be left to them, and even experts will not be permitted to give conclusions in such cases. Expert testimony is admissible only when the facts to be determined are obscure, and can be made clear only by and through the opinions of persons skilled in relation to the subject matter of the inquiry. Consequently the opinion of an expert should be excluded where the facts testified to are of a kind that do not require any special knowledge or experience in order to form a conclusion, or are of such character that they may be presumed to be within the common experience of all men moving in ordinary walks of life. The reasons for this rule are that where the facts are such that the jury is competent, from common knowledge and experience, to form conclusions thereon, it is their province to do so, and to permit expert testimony in such an instance presents the potential danger...