Chapman v. Chapman

• Decision Date: 21 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 34614.,34614.
• Parties: Kay CHAPMAN, an individual, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Vondel and Becky CHAPMAN, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

215 P.3d 476

147 Idaho 756

Kay CHAPMAN, an individual, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Vondel and Becky CHAPMAN, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 34614.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, May 2009 Term.

August 21, 2009.

Anderson Nelson Hall Smith, Idaho Falls, for appellant. Marvin M. Smith argued.

Thomsen Stephens Law Offices, Idaho Falls, for respondents. Alan Stephens argued.

HORTON, Justice.

This appeal arises from a jury verdict in a premises liability case in favor of Respondents Vondel and Becky Chapman. Kay Chapman (Kay) appeals, asserting that the district court erred by excluding testimony from her expert witness and refusing to give some of Kay's requested jury instructions. Kay also asserts that the jury's verdict is not supported by the evidence presented at trial. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The material facts of this case are not in dispute. On March 19, 2005, Kay visited Respondents' home as a guest at a surprise birthday party. After indicating her need to use the bathroom, Kay went into a bathroom as directed by Becky. After using the toilet, Kay slipped on a rug as she began to stand and attempted to extricate the heel of her high-heeled shoe from the hem of her pants. She fell into a recessed shower in front of the toilet. The lip of the shower recess was located approximately two feet from the front of the toilet and approximately eight inches from Kay's feet when she was seated. There was no barrier between the toilet and the shower. Respondents did not warn Kay about the bathroom nor did they inform her that there was a new rug in front of the toilet. Kay was injured in the fall. She underwent shoulder surgery and was unable to work for a period of nine to eleven weeks thereafter. Kay incurred $21,425.93 in medical expenses as a result of the fall.

Prior to trial, the district court granted Respondents' motion in limine limiting the testimony of Kay's expert, Matthew Mecham, a forensic engineer with experience in accident reconstruction and biomechanics. The district court permitted Mecham to testify as to his measurements of the bathroom and admitted photographs that Mecham took of the bathroom. The district court also permitted Mecham to testify about the absence of adequate backing on the rug and floor conditions that increased "the potential risk or likelihood of a slip or trip and fall" and to opine that the rug contributed to the fall. Mecham also testified as to the connection between Kay's injuries and her fall into the shower. However, the district court did not permit Mecham to present his opinion that the bathroom constituted a dangerous or hazardous condition, finding that the opinion would not aid the trier of fact and that the probative value of the testimony was outweighed by its prejudicial effect. During the trial, outside the presence of the jury, the district court permitted Kay's counsel to make a record of Mecham's excluded testimony by way of an offer of proof, during which Mecham testified that the bathroom constituted a dangerous or hazardous condition.

Following the presentation of evidence, counsel met with the district judge in chambers to discuss post-proof jury instructions. During the jury instruction conference conducted on the record, Kay objected to the district court's jury Instruction 21, relating to proximate cause, making the cryptic comment that it did not go "far enough and going to the far side where we'd have the affirmative instruction that even though it was likely it would not have occurred." Kay also objected to the district court's refusal to provide an instruction based upon IDJI 3.17. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Respondents. Following entry of a judgment consistent with the jury's verdict, Kay timely appealed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews a trial court's determination regarding the admissibility of expert testimony for abuse of discretion. Weeks v. E. Idaho Health Serv., 143 Idaho 834, 837, 153 P.3d 1180, 1183 (2007) (citing Athay v. Stacey, 142 Idaho 360, 366, 128 P.3d 897, 903 (2005)). This Court exercises free review in determining the correctness of a trial court's jury instructions. Vanderford Co., Inc. v. Knudson, 144 Idaho 547, 552, 165 P.3d 261, 266 (2007) (citing Craig Johnson Constr., L.L.C. v. Floyd Town Architects, P.A., 142 Idaho 797, 800, 134 P.3d 648, 651 (2006)). Jury instructions, as a whole, must fairly and adequately present the issues and state the law. Bailey v. Sanford, 139 Idaho 744, 753, 86 P.3d 458, 467 (2004) (citing Silver Creek Computers, Inc. v. Petra, Inc., 136 Idaho 879, 882, 42 P.3d 672, 675 (2002)). "When the instructions, taken as a whole, do not mislead or prejudice a party, even an erroneous instruction does not constitute reversible error." Id. We will uphold a jury verdict if there is evidence of sufficient quantity and probative value that a reasonable mind could reach a similar conclusion to that of the jury. Vanderford Co., 144 Idaho at 552, 165 P.3d at 266 (citing Horner v. Sani-Top, Inc., 143 Idaho 230, 233, 141 P.3d 1099, 1102 (2006)).

III. ANALYSIS

Kay asks us to reverse the jury verdict and remand for a new trial, asserting: (1) the district court abused its discretion when it excluded testimony of her expert witness; (2) the district court erred when it declined to instruct the jury with her requested jury instructions numbered 14, 15, 18, 20, and 24; and (3) the jury verdict was not supported by substantial and competent evidence. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that the excluded testimony would not assist the trier of fact, that Kay failed to preserve her claim of error as to certain jury instructions and that the jury instructions given by the district court accurately stated the law, and the jury verdict was supported by substantial and competent evidence. We therefore affirm.

A. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded Mecham's opinion that the bathroom presented a dangerous or hazardous condition.

Kay argues that the district court abused its discretion when it excluded Mecham's opinion that the bathroom presented a dangerous or hazardous condition. Kay further argues that four instructions given to the jury reference the terms "unreasonable risk of harm," "dangerous or defective condition," or "dangerous or existing hazard," and that the district court abused its discretion when it excluded Mecham's opinion testimony using these terms.

The admissibility of expert testimony is a matter committed to the discretion of the trial court, and we will not overturn the court's ruling absent an abuse of that discretion. Athay, 142 Idaho at 366, 128 P.3d at 903 (citing Swallow v. Emergency Med. of Idaho, P.A., 138 Idaho 589, 592, 67 P.3d 68, 71 (2003)). When reviewing a claimed abuse of discretion, our sequence of inquiry is: (1) whether the trial court correctly perceived the issue as one of discretion; (2) whether the trial court acted within the outer boundaries of its discretion and consistently with the legal standards applicable to the specific choices available to it; and (3) whether the trial court reached its decision by an exercise of reason. Id.

Idaho Rule of Evidence 702 governs the admissibility of expert testimony and provides:

If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.

An expert's opinion is not inadmissible because it embraces an ultimate issue to be decided by the trier of fact. I.R.E. 704. In order to be admissible under I.R.E. 702, the expert's testimony must assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact that is in issue. Swallow, 138 Idaho at 592, 67 P.3d at 71. Expert testimony that concerns conclusions or opinions that the average juror is qualified to draw from the facts utilizing the juror's common sense and normal experience is inadmissible. Jones v. Crawforth, 147 Idaho 11, 17, 205 P.3d 660, 666 (2009); Athay, 142 Idaho at 367, 128 P.3d at 904 (citing Rockefeller v. Grabow, 136 Idaho 637, 647, 39 P.3d 577, 587 (2001)).

The district court issued a memorandum opinion and order partially granting Respondents' motion in limine. In that opinion, the district court expressly recognized that the decision was committed to its discretion. The decision to exclude the testimony was within the outer boundaries of the district court's discretion. The district court cited applicable decisions from the appellate courts of this state and applied the applicable legal standards derived from those decisions. The district court expressly recognized that a witness may be qualified as an expert by virtue of "knowledge, skill, experience, training or education" that is "beyond the competence of the average layman or juror." The district court observed that it was required to consider Mecham's qualifications, determine whether the proffered testimony would assist the jury, and determine whether Mecham's opinion was based upon facts of the type that other experts in the field would reasonably rely.

The memorandum opinion demonstrates that the district court reached its decision by an exercise of reason. The district court first determined that Mecham would be permitted to testify regarding his measurements of the bathroom, the photographs he took of the bathroom, and his examination of the rug, its backing, and the flooring conditions and their effect upon the rug. The district court reasoned that Mecham's photographs depicted "the odd bathroom design" and the recessed shower's proximity to the toilet. The court concluded that the determination whether the bathroom presented a hazard or danger was "within the competence of the average layman or juror" and therefore, Mecham's...