Martinez v. Union Pacific R. Co., s. 94-3904

• Decision Date: 25 April 1996
• Docket Number: 94-4043,Nos. 94-3904,s. 94-3904
• Parties: Tracy J. MARTINEZ, Appellee/Cross Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant/Cross Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 223

82 F.3d 223

Tracy J. MARTINEZ, Appellee/Cross Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant/Cross Appellee.

Nos. 94-3904, 94-4043.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Oct. 20, 1995.

Decided April 25, 1996.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Hon. Lyle E. Strom, Judge.

Raymond J. Hasiak, Omaha, Nebraska, argued for appellant (Anne Broghammer O'Brien, on the brief).

James R. Nisley, North Platte, Nebraska, argued for appellee (Joy Shiffermiller, on the brief).

Before McMILLIAN, ROSS and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

Appellee Tracy J. Martinez, a former hostler/attendant at Union Pacific Railroad Company, filed suit pursuant to the Federal Employers' Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. §§ 51-60, (FELA), after he was injured when he fell off the end of a ramp used to service locomotive engines. Martinez claimed that Union Pacific was negligent for failing to install a protective device or warning markings at the end of the ramp. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Martinez for $260,000, but apportioned 25% fault to him, for a net verdict of $195,000. We affirm the judgment of the district court ¹.

I.

The facts show that on January 10, 1990, Martinez was the subject of a disciplinary hearing, which eventually resulted in the termination of his employment with Union Pacific. Martinez's injury occurred within thirty minutes of this meeting. At the time of the accident, Martinez was directing the movement of a locomotive, and while his attention was divided, he stepped off a ramp and fell five feet to the ground, injuring his neck and back. Although the ramp had hand rails on its sides, it had no warning markings around its perimeter, nor a rail on the end to prevent such a fall. Martinez acknowledged at trial that he misjudged his position on the ramp when he turned quickly, stepped off the ramp, and fell to the ground.

Following a jury verdict and judgment for Martinez, Union Pacific filed a joint Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Motion for a New Trial. On October 19, 1994, without considering the merits of Union Pacific's motions, the district court dismissed the motions as untimely. The district court had incorrectly calculated the filing deadline for these post-trial motions. On October 28, 1994, Union Pacific moved the trial court to recalculate the time allowed for post-trial motions and to reconsider its ruling. On November 2, 1994, the district court acknowledged its error, granted the Motion to Reconsider, and then denied Union Pacific's original joint motions on their merits. Union Pacific then filed this appeal on November 30, 1994.

II.

Martinez contends Union Pacific's Notice of Appeal was filed after the thirty-day period allowed under Rule 4(a)(4) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and that, therefore, this court is now without jurisdiction to consider the appeal. According to Martinez, the thirty-day filing period under Rule 4(a) was tolled only for thirty days following the district court's original October 19 ruling, in which the court mistakenly dismissed the motions as untimely. In effect, Martinez contends the Motion to Reconsider the October 19 order, and the district court's subsequent correction of its original ruling, had no effect on the calculation of the Rule 4(a)(4) filing deadline. We disagree.

Although not expressly stated, when the district court granted reconsideration, it impliedly vacated its October 19 order, and in doing so, revived Union Pacific's original motions. On November 2, 1994, once recognizing the timeliness of the motions, the district court then considered the motions for the first time on their merits, and denied them. Because the court's original October 19 order was, in effect, vacated, the entry date of the final dispositive order on November 2, 1994, became the date that triggered a new thirty-day period within which the parties could appeal from the underlying judgment. Union Pacific's appeal, filed on November 30, 1994, was therefore timely. See Jusino v. Zayas, 875 F.2d 986, 990 (1st Cir.1989) (thirty-day Rule 4(a) period began to run with order correcting prior erroneous dismissal of Rule 59 motion as untimely). Having thus established our jurisdiction, we turn to the substantive issues raised in this appeal.

III.

Union Pacific challenges the district court's refusal to admit testimony of two witnesses whose names were not listed on the pretrial order. During the course of the trial, and after Martinez rested his case, Union Pacific called Martinez as its first witness. During this examination, Martinez admitted that he talked with other employees about how to injure oneself in order to get "job insurance" payments for a disability from the Railroad. He allegedly discussed with other employees that the end ramp would be a good place to plan this type of accident. During questioning, however, Martinez denied making more definitive statements about orchestrating his own accident. Objection was made when it became clear that Union Pacific planned to call two witnesses who would challenge the credibility of Martinez's version of how the accident occurred because those witnesses were not disclosed on the pretrial order.

Based on Nebraska Local Rule 16.2, the express language of the pretrial order required that, "except upon a showing of good cause, no witness whose name and address does not appear [in the pretrial order] shall be permitted to testify over objection for any purpose except impeachment." ² Accordingly, the district court sustained the objection, concluding that it was improper to call Martinez as a witness and set him up for impeachment, in order to call two witnesses whose names had not been disclosed in the pretrial conference order. Following Union Pacific's offer of proof, the court instructed the jury to disregard Martinez's testimony relating to any prior statements that he may have made to other employees of the Railroad. ³ The court denied Union Pacific's motion for a continuance, ruling that a lengthy adjournment of the trial for the purpose of allowing Union Pacific to develop a significant and inflammatory issue such as fraud would impermissibly affect the jury's ability to retain the information already presented.

Union Pacific now argues that the district court erred when it refused to allow into evidence the crucial testimony of these two witnesses. According to Union Pacific, the witnesses were called solely for the purpose of calling into question Martinez's credibility and, as such, the impeachment exception to Local Rule 16.2(c), which allows the omission of impeachment witnesses from the pretrial order, should apply.

The trial court traditionally has broad discretionary power to decide whether to allow the testimony of witnesses not listed prior to trial. Citizens Bank v. Ford Motor Co., 16 F.3d 965, 966 (8th Cir.1994). In determining whether to exclude witnesses not made known in compliance with the pretrial order, the court will consider: "(1) the prejudice or surprise in fact of the party against whom the excluded witnesses would have testified; (2) the ability of that party to cure the prejudice; (3) the extent to which waiver of the rule against calling unlisted witnesses would disrupt the orderly and efficient trial of the case or of other cases in the court; (4) bad faith or willfulness in failing to comply with the court's order." Morfeld v. Kehm, 803 F.2d 1452, 1455 (8th Cir.1986). The district court has considerable leeway in the application of its local rules. This court has upheld strict compliance by trial courts with their local rules, and will "review[ ] the trial court's ruling only for manifest error amounting to an abuse of discretion." Id.

Our analysis in the present case turns on the appropriate characterization of the witnesses' testimony. "Impeachment is an attack on the credibility of a witness, whereas rebuttal testimony is offered to explain, repel, counteract, or disprove evidence of the adverse party." Sterkel v. Fruehauf Corp., 975 F.2d 528, 532 (8th Cir.1992). The primary purpose of the pretrial witness disclosure rule is to give parties notice of who will be called to testify, thereby avoiding unfair surprise or prejudice at trial. Morfeld, 803 F.2d at 1455.

We agree with the district court that the testimony, though presented under the guise of impeachment testimony, was in fact rebuttal testimony meant to affirmatively prove fraud on the part of Martinez. Rather than to generally attack Martinez's credibility through these witnesses, Union Pacific sought to disprove Martinez's...