Gipson v. Garrison

• Citation: 308 Ark. 344,824 S.W.2d 829
• Decision Date: 17 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-293,91-293
• Parties: Hally Lewis GIPSON, Appellant, v. Cynthia Kaye GARRISON, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 829

824 S.W.2d 829

308 Ark. 344

Hally Lewis GIPSON, Appellant, v. Cynthia Kaye GARRISON, Appellee.

No. 91-293.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Feb. 17, 1992.

Russell C. Atchley, Berryville, for appellant.

H. David Blair, Harrison, for appellee.

GLAZE, Justice.

The appellee, Cynthia Garrison, was involved in three automobile accidents within a three year period. The first occurred in November 1985. It was settled for $750.00. The second accident, which is the subject of this appeal, happened on July 9, 1986. In that accident, the appellee was injured when her automobile was struck from behind by the appellant, Hally Lewis Gipson. The third accident took place in July 1987, when Bruce Clayton ran a red light and struck appellee's car. Appellee subsequently filed a negligence action against both Clayton and the appellant. Clayton's case involving the 1987 claim was settled for $15,000.00. Appellee then proceeded to trial against appellant and the jury returned a verdict in her favor in the sum of $68,000.00. The appellant raises four issues on appeal. We find no reversible error and therefore affirm.

Appellant first argues that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a new trial in that the jury verdict was contrary to the evidence. Specifically, appellant claims that his negligence was not the proximate cause of the injuries sustained by the appellee. We disagree.

Ark.R.Civ.P. 59(a) provides that a new trial may be granted when the verdict or decision is clearly contrary to the preponderance of the evidence. And where a motion for a new trial is denied, the test on appeal, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the party resisting the motion, is whether there is substantial evidence to support the jury verdict. Weber v. Bailey, 302 Ark. 175, 787 S.W.2d 690 (1990).

In viewing the evidence in appellee's behalf, we easily conclude there is substantial evidence to support the jury verdict. Dr. Thomas Leslie, a family practitioner in Harrison, testified that there was no evidence of any ongoing problems with the appellee's neck prior to the July 1986 accident. Dr. Stevenson Flanigan, a neurosurgeon who examined the appellee, assigned a five percent permanent partial function impairment to the appellee. Dr. Flanigan further opined the July 1986 accident caused appellee's persistent symptoms. Dr. Charles Ledbetter, an orthopedic surgeon in Harrison, agreed that the July 1986 wreck was the most likely cause of appellee's ongoing physical problems.

The appellee's husband, Sheridan Garrison, testified that his wife had been in pain ever since the July 1986 accident. The appellee testified that, at the time of the third wreck in July 1987, she was still in pain from the July 1986 wreck. She further stated that she experienced sharp, immediate pain in the 1986 wreck and associated no such pain in the 1987 wreck.

The foregoing evidence, we conclude, substantially supports the jury verdict in appellee's behalf. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's decision denying appellant's motion for a new trial.

For his second point for reversal, appellant claims that the trial court erred in granting appellee's motion in limine excluding, as evidence, the amounts received by the appellee in settlement of claims arising out of the 1985 and 1987 accidents. Appellant contends that the jury should have been entitled to consider those settlement amounts when determining the total measure of damages suffered by the appellee.

Rule 403 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence states:

"Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence."

The balancing of probative value against prejudice is a matter left to the sound discretion of the trial judge and his decision on such a matter will not be reversed absent a manifest abuse of discretion. McKenzie v. Tom Gibson Ford, Inc., 295 Ark. 326, 749 S.W.2d 653 (1988).

This Court has never addressed the issue of whether the amount received by a plaintiff in a previous settlement is admissible. In Clawson v. Rye, 281 Ark. 8, 661 S.W.2d 354 (1983), we allowed testimony regarding the plaintiff's lawsuit and settlement, reasoning that the jury had to know the plaintiff suffered damages from a prior accident in order to decide the injury and damages in the case before it. However, the Clawson court did not endorse the admissibility of the amount received in a settlement. Here, as in Clawson, the trial judge allowed evidence pertaining to the appellee's claims and settlements. However, in considering the settlement amounts and their admissibility under Rule 403, the judge chose to exclude them. We are unable to say he abused his discretion in doing so. Thus, we uphold the judge's ruling granting appellee's motion in limine.

In his third asserted error, appellant claims that the damages awarded by the jury in the amount of $68,000.00 were excessive. The standard of review is...