McBee v. Schlupbach, KCD

• Decision Date: 02 September 1975
• Docket Number: No. KCD,KCD
• Citation: 529 S.W.2d 435
• Parties: Avis V. McBEE and Willis R. McBee, Appellants, v. Robert James SCHLUPBACH, Respondent. 26891.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 435

529 S.W.2d 435

Avis V. McBEE and Willis R. McBee, Appellants, v. Robert James SCHLUPBACH, Respondent.

No. KCD 26891.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Kansas City District.

Sept. 2, 1975.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer Denied Oct. 6, 1975.

Application to Transfer Denied Dec. 8, 1975.

Oswald & Cottey, Thomas R. Oswald, Kirksville, for appellants.

Collins & Grimm, David Collins, Macon, for respondent.

Before SWOFFORD, P.J., and ROBERT R. WELBORN and ANDREW J. HIGGINS, Special Judges.

ROBERT R. WELBORN, Special Judge.

Action for damages for personal injuries received in automobile collision. Avis V. McBee sought $30,000 damages for her bodily injuries. A jury returned a verdict in her favor for $1,500. Her husband sought $13,000 for his wife's medical expenses and loss of her services. The jury verdict in his favor was for $2,500. Plaintiffs' motion for new trial was overruled and they appealed.

Appellants' brief states their claim on this appeal as follows:

'This appeal is concerned with alleged error in the giving of Instruction No. 9 prepared and tendered by Respondent and which relates to the issue of damages. Appellants contend that this instruction was error, the giving of which established a presumption of prejudicial error which may have tended to influence the amount of the verdict, and therefore Appellants are entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages even though the verdict might not have been, as a matter of law, inadequate.'

Their sole assignment of error is that the giving of Instruction No. 9 was prejudicial error.

As a preliminary matter, respondent urges that appellants' allegation of error should not be considered because appellants have not briefed the alleged inadequacy of the verdict. Respondent's principal reliance is upon Thomas v. Jones, 409 S.W.2d 131 (Mo.1966). In that case the question presented was whether or not a plaintiff who did rely unsuccessfully upon inadequacy of the verdict as a matter of law might nevertheless have judgment on a verdict in his favor set aside because of errors relating to the trial of the issue of damages as distinguished from liability. The court concluded that such error could be the basis of a new trial at plaintiff's request and granted a new trial on the issue of damages only. That case does not hold that such relief may be granted only in a case where plaintiff contends that the verdict is the result of bias or prejudice or that it is shockingly inadequate. To impose such a condition upon a plaintiff's right to complain of trial error having a demonstrable connection with the amount of the verdict in his favor would be without reason and would require a plaintiff-appellant in a case such as this to brief an issue not necessary to be determined in affording plaintiff relief. Senter v. Ferguson, 486 S.W.2d 644 (Mo.App.1972). The respondent's contention is without merit.

This cause of action arose out of a collision which occurred in Downing, Missouri, on September 3, 1969, shortly after 9:00 P.M. Plaintiff Avis McBee was driving a 1964 Chevrolet station wagon, with her six children as passengers, west on Route 136. She stopped because of oncoming traffic, preliminary to making a left turn into Route V. An auto behind her, driven by Steven Kirkpatrick, stopped about a vehicle's length behind the McBee auto. When Kirkpatrick stopped, he looked into his rear view mirror and saw an auto driven by Robert James Schlupbach turning into Route 136 about a block away. Kirkpatrick looked to see whether the McBee car had made its turn. When he did so he heard brakes 'squealing' and he saw the Schlupbach car sliding toward his auto. Schlupbach's car struck the Kirkpatrick auto and knocked it into the McBee vehicle.

The impact threw Mrs. McBee forward and her chest hit the horn and her right knee the dashboard. She remained at the scene of the collision for about two hours and then drove her auto to her home, 1 1/2 miles west of Downing. The McBee auto received slight damage to the rear bumper and a trailer hitch.

When Mrs. McBee got home, her neck, low back, chest, left shoulder and right knee were causing her pain. She attempted to contact her regular physician, Dr. Eleanor Roberts, D.O., the next day, but was unsuccessful and saw Doctor Roberts at her office the following day. Doctor Roberts sent her to the Kirksville Osteopathic Hospital for X-rays, which showed no fracture or dislocation of the right knee or of the bony elements in the neck or low lumbar area. The X-ray report included a finding of limited motion in the cervical area. According to Doctor Roberts, Mrs. McBee complained that she 'hurt all over.'

Then followed a series of visits by Mrs. McBee to Doctor Roberts until February, 1970, when she sent Mrs. McBee to see Dr. Wayne R. English, D.O., specializing in rehabilitation medicine at Kirksville Osteopathic Hospital. Doctor Roberts testified that during the visits to her she observed 'quite a bit of muscle tension within the cervical area, the neck, the upper thoracic area.' She gave osteopathic treatment and analgesic drugs which Mrs. McBee could not tolerate. Muscle spasms developed in the cervical area, with left arm involvement, including weakness in the left hand and restricted motion in the shoulder joint. She also had low back trouble and trouble with her right knee.

When Doctor English first saw Mrs. McBee in February, 1970, she was complaining of pain in the cervical-dorsal area, mainly the left side, pain in the left anterior thorax, pain in the right knee and pain in the lower back referred to the right hip. He examined the previously taken X-rays and made a diagnosis of 'acute cervical-dorsal strain with left shoulder girdle myofascitis.' Doctor English saw plaintiff about six times and she received physical therapy in the rehabilitation department of the hospital throughout the month of February.

Mrs. McBee then returned to Doctor Roberts for three times a week treatment for several weeks. She continued to see Doctor Roberts until March, 1971. At that time, she still had weakness in her left hand and restricted motion in her left shoulder. The right knee would not lie flat. Doctor Roberts was of the opinion that she had permanent restriction of the cervical area, resulting in impaired use of the left shoulder and arm. She also thought she had a permanent injury to her right knee and the upper thoracic area.

In March, 1971, Doctor Roberts returned Mrs. McBee to Doctor English's care. At Doctor English's recommendation Mrs. McBee was hospitalized at Kirksville Osteopathic Hospital from March 22, 1971 to April 3, 1971. Following her discharge from the hospital Mrs. McBee received a series of 48 to 50 treatments, under Doctor English's supervision, as an out-patient, continuing until the time of the trial in June, 1973.

At the trial Mrs. McBee testified that she continued to have pain in the back of her neck, down her left shoulder, in her lower back and down her right hip into her knee. She testified that she had no grip in her left hand and couldn't raise her left arm higher than her shoulder.

Doctor English testified that Mrs. McBee would require treatment the rest of her life for her condition. He attributed her complaints to nerve involvement following spinal muscle and ligament damage sustained in the collision.

At the time of trial Mrs. McBee's medical expenses amounted to more than $2,400.

Defendant had Mrs. McBee examined May 10, 1973 by Dr. Lucius C. Hollister, M.D., a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School and a board certified orthopedic surgeon who had practiced that specialty for 17 years at Quincy, Illinois. Respondent summarizes Doctor Hollister's testimony of his observations and conclusions, based upon such examination, as follows:

'Dr. Hollister's examination of Mrs. McBee included measuring the circumference of both of her arms. He found no evidence of atrophy and that part of the examination did not indicate there has been any limitation of motion. He examined her left shoulder. To him it seemed that her restriction was voluntary. In his examination he could not find any cause, reason or explanation for this restriction in her left shoulder. He could not find any explanation or cause for why she could not lift her left elbow up to the same level as the...