DeLong v. Williams, 1542

Decision Date04 March 1970
Docket NumberNo. 1542,1542
Citation232 So.2d 246
PartiesRonald E. DeLONG, Appellant, v. Jessica Agnes WILLIAMS, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Westley W. Silvian, of Burdick & Silvian, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Larry Klein, of Cone, Wagner, Nugent, Johnson, McKeown & Dell, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

TJOFLAT, GERALD BARD, Associate Judge.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, Ronald E. DeLong, who obtained a jury verdict in the amount of 'nothing' at the conclusion of the trial of his personal injury action. The suit arose out of a rear end collision which occurred on July 9, 1963. After the issues were joined, the trial court granted plaintiff's motion for a partial summary judgment, and the case was tried on the question of damages only. Following the verdict, plaintiff moved for a new trial. The motion was denied, and this appeal was taken.

At the trial, plaintiff presented evidence to the effect that he had received a whiplash injury that failed to respond to treatment. A herniated cervical disc was subsequently discovered and required corrective surgery. Plaintiff's medical history disclosed another whiplash injury suffered in an earlier automobile accident in March, 1963; but he took the position that it was the later accident with defendant that caused the cervical disc involvement. Thus, he sought to hold defendant responsible for the entire condition.

The defendant naturally adopted the opposite view, contending that all of plaintiff's injuries resulted from the first accident which plaintiff had made the subject of a workmen's compensation claim. To stress her point, defendant's counsel was permitted to read to the jury, over plaintiff's objection, the court reporter's transcript of testimony plaintiff had given previously at a workmen's compensation hearing. At that hearing plaintiff attributed all of his difficulties to the first accident and said he had suffered little, if any, trauma or discomfort as a result of his subsequent accident with the defendant.

Plaintiff's sole contention on this appeal is that the trial court erred in allowing the testimony to be published to the jury because the transcript had not been authenticated. He submits that the jury gave great weight to the testimony, as the verdict obviously reflects, and that the error was clearly harmful.

There is of course no doubt that plaintiff's testimony before the deputy commissioner could properly have been presented to the jury as substantive evidence under the admissions exception to the...

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3 cases
  • Jackson v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 18, 2008
    ...matter in question is what its proponent claims." Id. Accordingly, there must be some showing of its genuineness. See DeLong v. Williams, 232 So.2d 246 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). Once a prima facie showing of authenticity is made pursuant to this section, however, the evidence may be admitted, an......
  • Yates v. Bass Ranch, Inc., 79-696
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • February 13, 1980
    ...may be admitted into evidence its authenticity must be preliminarily proven by direct or circumstantial evidence. DeLong v. Williams, 232 So.2d 246 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). Under current Florida law execution of a private writing may be proved by any competent evidence. Windle v. Sebold, 241 So......
  • State Of Fla. v. Hampton
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • October 1, 2010
    ...principle that evidence is inadmissible unless accompanied by some showing of its genuineness. See, e.g., DeLong v. Williams, 232 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970) (unauthenticated transcript of prior hearing not admissible). This preliminary requirement falls within the category of conditiona......

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