Hannah v. Haskins
| Decision Date | 23 January 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1326,79-1326 |
| Citation | 612 F.2d 373 |
| Parties | 5 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 451 June HANNAH, Appellant, v. Bill HASKINS, d/b/a Cloverleaf Fertilizer Company and Dwayne Elvin Bentley, Appellees. Kirk National Leasing Co., Inc. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Joseph F. Devereux, Jr., Devereux & Devereux, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant.
Joseph M. Kortenhof and Brent W. Baldwin, St. Louis, Mo., for appellees.
Before GIBSON, Chief Judge, and STEPHENSON and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.
June Hannah appeals from a jury verdict in this diversity case tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, 1 which found the defendants, Bill Haskins and one of his truckdrivers, Dwayne Bentley, not negligent in an automobile accident involving Haskins' leased truck and Hannah's son's car. On appeal, Hannah contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence testimony relating to payments received by her from a collateral source and that the court also erred in failing to grant a judgment notwithstanding the verdict in her favor or, in the alternative, a new trial. We affirm the District Court.
This case arises out of a vehicle collision which occurred on March 16, 1976, at 11:00 p. m. in the westbound, right-hand lane of the Interstate 55/70 bridge over the Mississippi River on the Missouri side near St. Louis. Hannah was a passenger in the car, operated by her son, when the vehicle stalled on the bridge. Raul Rivera, a good samaritan, pulled over in front of the Hannah vehicle and began assisting the Hannahs by flagging traffic at a point approximately twenty-five feet behind the stalled car, which was located just over the ridge of the bridge. While Hannah's son worked on the engine under the hood, Hannah went behind the steering wheel of the car in an attempt to start it. In the meantime, Rivera sighted Haskins' truck at a point thirty to thirty-five feet from him. He estimated its speed to be forty to forty-five miles per hour on the interstate highway bridge. As soon as Bentley, the truckdriver, saw Rivera, he cut the wheels hard to the left and applied the brakes, but still collided with the left portion of the Hannah car. Rivera testified at trial that both the lights and emergency flashers were operating on Hannah's car. Haskins' attorney produced a statement made by Rivera to Haskins' insurance investigator in which Rivera stated that Hannah's car had no lights at the time Rivera came upon it and that he had not been able to see the Hannah car until he was "right on top of it." Bentley, the truckdriver, testified that the spacing of the bridge street-lights and the position of Rivera and the car resulted in his "coming from daylight into dark" when he was approaching the stalled car, and he "never did see any lights."
As a result of the collision, Hannah claims she has suffered substantial injury. Although Hannah was able to walk around at the scene of the accident after the collision, she was taken to a hospital in East St. Louis where she remained overnight for observation and X-rays. After discharging herself the next morning, Hannah visited a chiropractor and then, two or three days later, a Dr. Hilliard. Subsequent to a hospital examination, Dr. Hilliard advised her to see her own physician, Dr. Ganesh, in Michigan. Hannah had visited St. Louis while on a medical leave of absence from her job in Michigan where she was a teacher's aide. Upon her return to Michigan, Hannah did not resume her employment. She did visit Dr. Ganesh, who treated her at his office five to six times a week during the next two years for permanent cervical and lumbosacral sprain, at an expense of over eight thousand dollars.
At trial, Haskins presented Dr. Thiele, a Board-certified graduate of St. Louis University Medical School, who testified that his examination of Hannah one week prior to trial revealed no objective evidence of injury. He further stated that even if a strain of the back or neck had occurred at the time of the accident, the injury should have lasted no longer than two to six weeks. Neither Dr. Hilliard nor Dr. Ganesh testified in person at the trial. 2
In this appeal Hannah contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence testimony relating to payments received by her from a collateral source. Prior to trial, Hannah's attorney filed a motion in limine to exclude all testimony relating to compensation received by Hannah from collateral sources, primarily Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Medicaid. The trial court granted the motion. At trial, however, Hannah referred to the collateral sources on direct examination in the following exchange with her attorney:
Q. Mrs. Hannah, will you look at all of these (a chart listing various medical bills) and answer whether or not you've received a bill from all of these services listed on this chart in connection with your injuries?
A. Now, the bills, some of them I received, personally but some of them Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Medicaid got. Then I get a billing from them what they've paid, okay, which tells the amount that they paid each one.
At this point, Hannah's attorney did not move to strike the response or offer a limiting instruction. On cross-examination, Haskins' attorney elicited further information concerning the type and scope of the collateral source payments. Hannah's attorney's objections were overruled by the trial judge as being properly within the scope of cross-examination.
Payments received from collateral sources are not generally allowed to be introduced into evidence for purposes of reducing a damage award or showing wrongdoing. See generally Fed.R.Evid. 411; 2 Wigmore, Evidence § 282a (3d ed. 1940). Evidence relating to such payments, however, has been held to be admissible for the purpose of establishing the extent of injury or to show that the plaintiff had a motive for feigning injury. Thompson v. Kawasaki Kisen, K. K., 348 F.2d 879 (1st Cir. 1965), Cert. denied, 382 U.S. 987, 86 S.Ct. 540, 15 L.Ed.2d 475 (1966). Cf. Eichel v. New York Central Railroad, 375 U.S. 253, 84 S.Ct. 316, 11 L.Ed.2d 307 (1963) (); Hrnjak v. Graymar, Inc., 4 Cal.3d 725, 94 Cal.Rptr. 623, 484 P.2d 599 (1971) (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Vanskike v. ACF Industries, Inc.
...other sources. Raycraft v. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Ry., 472 F.2d 27, 29 (8th Cir. 1973) (VA disability benefits). Hannah v. Haskins, 612 F.2d 373 (8th Cir. 1980), on which defendants rely, is inapposite for a number of reasons: (1) it is not a FELA case; (2) it recognizes the per se ru......
-
District of Columbia v. Jackson
...Trans. Co., 56 Wis.2d 231, 241-245, 201 N.W.2d 745, 751-53 (1972) (medical expenses paid by government). See also Hannah v. Haskins, 612 F.2d 373, 375 (8th Cir.1980) (assuming, in this context, that Medicaid is "collateral source"). 5. A tortfeasor need not be the only contributor in order ......
-
Estrada v. Port City Properties Inc.
...of financial assistance from employer allowed on cross-examination in negligence action brought by longshoreman.]; Hannah v. Haskins, 612 F.2d 373, 376 (8th Cir.1980) [Cross-examination of plaintiff to elicit type and source of collateral source payments was proper under circumstances.]. Bu......
-
Clausen v. Sea-3, Inc.
...allowed on cross-examination after the plaintiff has specifically referred to such payments on direct examination. Hannah v. Haskins, 612 F.2d 373, 375 (8th Cir.1980) (affirming the district court's decision to allow the defendant on cross-examination to elicit information about collateral ......
-
Cruz v. Groth: the exceptional collateral source rule remains exception-free in South Dakota.
...testimony "opened the door" to allow the defense to cross-examine on the issue of collateral sources. Id. See Hannah v. Haskins, 612 F.2d 373 (8th Cir. 1980). The Eighth Circuit We are not at all prepared to say that plaintiff's inadvertent admission of the matter of his insurance coverage ......