Greci v. Parks, No. 28949.

• Decision Date: 27 October 2009
• Docket Number: No. 30013.,No. 29922.,No. 28949.
• Citation: 980 A.2d 948,117 Conn.App. 658
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: Michael E. GRECI et al. v. Thomas J. PARKS.

980 A.2d 948

117 Conn.App. 658

Michael E. GRECI et al. v. Thomas J. PARKS.

No. 28949.

No. 29922.

No. 30013.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued March 18, 2009.

Decided October 27, 2009.

Juri E. Taalman, with whom, on the brief, was Timothy Brignole, Hartford, for the appellants (plaintiffs).

Anthony F. Santacroce, with whom was Deborah L. Bradley, for the appellee (defendant).

BISHOP, HARPER and FOTI, Js.

HARPER, J.

The plaintiffs, Michael E. Greci and Margaret A. Greci, brought an action against the defendant, Thomas J. Parks, for injuries they claimed they sustained as the result of an automobile accident caused by the defendant's negligence. The case was tried to the jury, which returned a plaintiff's verdict in favor of Michael Greci and a defendant's verdict with respect to the claim of Margaret Greci. The plaintiffs appeal from the judgment of the trial court, rendered in accordance with the jury's verdicts, and the denial of their postverdict motions. On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that the court (1) improperly determined that the final judgment in this case was rendered on August 17, 2007, rather than June 8, 2007, and (2) abused its discretion in denying their motions to set aside the verdicts and for a new trial or, in the alternative, for additur, because (a) the court improperly had permitted the defendant to cross-examine Michael Greci with respect to certain medical records that were unrelated to his claimed injuries, (b) the court permitted the defendant's counsel to make improper arguments to the jury and failed to deliver a requested curative instruction related to the improper closing arguments, and (c) the verdicts were inconsistent. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The plaintiffs were married in 1974 and subsequently bought a home in Granby. Prior to and throughout their marriage, Michael Greci was involved in the business of auto racing. In January, 1999, he accepted a position that required him to move to North Carolina. From that time until June, 2000, he lived in North Carolina while Margaret Greci lived in Connecticut with their two children. He would return to Granby whenever he could, and she sometimes attended his races. In the summer of 1999, she spent three weeks with him in North Carolina.

In June, 2000, Michael Greci moved back to Granby. In the fall of 2000, he accepted a position with a company in New Jersey and lived there between 2000 and 2003. He returned to Connecticut almost every weekend during that time period. In April, 2003, the plaintiffs moved to North Carolina, and he accepted a position with his current employer, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. His present position requires him to travel with the race team approximately twenty-eight to thirty-seven weeks during the year.

In November, 2003, the plaintiffs came back to Connecticut to attend the funeral of Michael Greci's great aunt. On the afternoon of November 25, 2003, they were traveling westbound on Interstate 84 in Cheshire when traffic ahead of them slowed and then stopped. A few moments after the plaintiffs' vehicle came to a stop, the defendant's vehicle hit their vehicle from behind and pushed it into the vehicle in front of them. The plaintiffs' vehicle was towed from the scene. The plaintiffs, who had been traveling back to their home in North Carolina when the accident occurred, leased another vehicle that day and continued on their way.

As the day progressed, Michael Greci experienced increasing pain and discomfort in his right arm and shoulder. On November 28, 2003, he went to Edward S. Campbell, his local family practitioner, for medical treatment. In December, 2003, Campbell diagnosed him with a herniated or ruptured disc in his neck and referred him to Vinay Deshmukh, a neurosurgeon. Deshmukh diagnosed him with cervical radiculopathy and disc herniation, and recommended a discectomy and fusion. Deshmukh opined that the accident either caused his condition or exacerbated an asymptomatic condition. Deshmukh had not reviewed Campbell's notes or records prior to his treatment of Michael Greci.

The surgery was performed on April 12, 2004. In May, 2005, Michael Greci returned to Deshmukh again complaining of neck pain. Although Deshmukh did not recommend additional surgery at that time, he did indicate that there was a 30 percent chance of future surgery within five years and a 50 percent chance of surgery for a further fusion within ten to fifteen years.

On August 22, 2005, the plaintiffs filed this action, claiming that the defendant's negligent operation of his vehicle caused Michael Greci to sustain economic and noneconomic damages and deprived Margaret Greci of her husband's consortium. In his answer to the complaint, the defendant admitted the allegation that he failed to keep a proper lookout for other motor vehicles traveling on the roadway but denied the other allegations of negligent conduct. With respect to the allegations of claimed injuries caused by the accident, the defendant pleaded insufficient knowledge and left the plaintiffs to their proof.

On February 15, 2007, after a four day trial, the jury returned a verdict awarding Michael Greci $217,795 in economic and noneconomic damages. With respect to Margaret Greci's loss of consortium claim, the jury returned a defendant's verdict. On February 20, 2007, the defendant filed a request for a collateral source hearing. On February 22, 2007, the plaintiffs filed motions to set aside the verdicts and for a new trial and motions for additur. The court held a hearing on the postverdict motions on April 16, 2007. At that time, the court heard argument on all of the motions except the request for a collateral source hearing. At the request of the defendant's counsel, after the plaintiffs' counsel indicated that he had no objection, the court continued the hearing on that motion to an unspecified date.

The court denied all of the plaintiffs' postverdict motions in a memorandum of decision filed June 8, 2007. The plaintiffs filed an appeal, AC 28949, on June 28, 2007. On July 6, 2007, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the appeal with this court, claiming that the appeal was premature because the collateral source hearing had not yet been scheduled.

The defendant then filed a motion to open the judgment with the trial court on July 16, 2007, on the ground that his request for a collateral source hearing was still pending. The court granted the defendant's motion to open the judgment, and a hearing was held on August 17, 2007, at which the court denied the defendant's request for a collateral source hearing and stated that "the judgment remains as previously determined."¹ The plaintiffs did not appeal from that judgment. Thereafter, on October 3, 2007, this court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss AC 28949 as to the portion of the plaintiffs' appeal that related to Michael Greci but denied the motion as to the portion of the appeal that related to Margaret Greci.

On February 1, 2008, the plaintiffs filed a motion to open the judgment in order to obtain "a clear and unequivocal final judgment from which [Michael Greci] can properly appeal." In response to that motion, the court issued an order on April 28, 2008, in which it stated that judgment had been rendered on August 17, 2007, when the defendant's request for a collateral source hearing was denied. On May 15, 2008, Michael Greci filed an appeal, AC 29922, from the judgment rendered on the jury's verdicts and the court's June 8, 2007 denial of the plaintiffs' postverdict motions. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the appeal with this court on May 23, 2008, claiming that the appeal was not timely. We denied the defendant's motion to dismiss AC 29922 on July 16, 2008.

On June 17, 2008, Michael Greci filed an additional appeal, AC 30013, from the court's order of April 28, 2008.² On July 17, 2008, the defendant moved to dismiss AC 30013 on the grounds that it was untimely and had not been taken from a final judgment. This court denied the motion to dismiss AC 30013 on August 14, 2008.

Subsequently, by order issued August 18, 2008, we consolidated AC 28949, AC 29922 and AC 30013 pursuant to Practice Book § 61-7.

I

The plaintiffs first challenge this court's decision to dismiss AC 28949 as to the portion of the appeal that related to Michael Greci. They argue that judgment was rendered on June 8, 2007, and not, as the trial court determined, on August 17, 2007, when the defendant's request for a collateral source hearing was denied.

On October 3, 2007, this court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss as to "the portion of the plaintiffs' appeal as to . . . Michael Greci. . . ." By order dated November 14, 2007, we denied the plaintiffs' motion to reconsider that dismissal. The plaintiffs filed a petition for certification to appeal from our partial dismissal of AC 28949 with our Supreme Court, which was denied on January 23, 2008. Therefore, we will not review the plaintiffs' first claim that the dismissal was improper. See Lazorik v. Donaldson, 65 Conn.App. 537, 783 A.2d 489 (2001).

Although AC 28949 was partially dismissed as to the claims of Michael Greci, he has raised the same claims in AC 29922, filed on May 15, 2008, that he raised in AC 28949. Those claims are now before this court. The defendant challenges, however, our denial of his motion to dismiss AC 29922 as well as our denial of his motion to dismiss AC 30013. He claims that those appeals were untimely and were not taken from a final judgment. We already have reviewed the claims in the defendant's motions to dismiss, however, and will not review the same issues again. See Santoro v. Santoro, 33 Conn.App. 839, 841-42, 639 A.2d 1044 (1994). Contrary to the defendant's argument, we have subject matter jurisdiction and will review the claims of both plaintiffs.

II

The plaintiffs claim that the court abused its discretion in denying...