Brown v. Lawrence
| Decision Date | 04 February 1994 |
| Parties | Terrance BROWN v. Wayne LAWRENCE. 1921329. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Forrest S. Latta of Pierce, Carr & Alford, P.C., Mobile, for appellant.
Jock M. Smith, Tuskegee, and Robert D. Segall of Copeland, Franco, Screws & Gill, P.A., Montgomery, for appellee.
Wayne Lawrence sued Terrance Michael Brown, alleging that Brown had negligently or wantonly caused a collision between the parties' automobiles and that the collision had injured Lawrence. During the course of trial, Brown consented to a directed verdict for Lawrence on the negligence count. The jury returned a verdict for Lawrence on the wantonness count, awarding him $38,000 in "past compensatory damages" and $162,000 in "future compensatory damages." Brown moved for a new trial or remittitur, and the trial court denied his motion. Brown appeals.
A jury verdict is presumed correct, and this presumption is strengthened by a trial court's denial of post-judgment relief. In reviewing a judgment based on a jury verdict, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant. The evidence indicates the following facts:
On May 10, 1990, Brown drove his vehicle into the back of Lawrence's vehicle when Lawrence stopped his vehicle at a red traffic light. Lawrence received no medical treatment for injuries on the day of the accident; however, the following day he began experiencing back pain and consulted a doctor. The doctor prescribed ibuprofen, a nonprescription pain reliever. Lawrence's pain worsened over the next few days, and he consulted Dr. Robert Hollis, a chiropractor. Lawrence began a course of treatment from Dr. Hollis that utilized traction, ultrasonic massage, electrical stimulation, and spinal manipulation. Dr. Hollis ultimately diagnosed the problem as brachial neuritis/radiculitis, a condition of chronic pain radiating from the brachial plexus group of nerves, and he concluded that it resulted from a soft-tissue injury to Lawrence's neck and back. Several months after making this diagnosis, Dr. Hollis made a thermogram, an infrared light picture that indicates, by the color that appears on the picture screen, a patient's degree of soft-tissue injury. A thermogram is usually conducted several months after an injury, when any initial swelling has receded and the true severity of the damage is more apparent. Based on Lawrence's thermogram, Dr. Hollis confirmed his initial diagnosis. In all, Lawrence made 130 visits to Dr. Hollis for treatment in the approximately 2 1/2 year period between the accident and the trial.
At trial, Dr. Hollis testified that Lawrence had undergone surgery for lower back problems five years before the accident and that the injury from the accident exacerbated his pre-existing back condition. He also testified that Lawrence has suffered a permanent impairment of his body as a whole and can expect to suffer recurring neck and back pain for the rest of his life. To describe Lawrence's condition, Dr. Hollis testified about the results of Lawrence's thermography. Dr. Hollis first stated that thermography was an acceptable diagnostic tool within the medical community and Brown's counsel objected, arguing that Dr. Hollis was not qualified to make this statement because he was not a medical doctor. The court overruled the objection, and Dr. Hollis...
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