Reeves v. Boyd & Sons, Inc.
| Decision Date | 22 August 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A04-9408-CV-326,49A04-9408-CV-326 |
| Citation | 654 N.E.2d 864 |
| Parties | Timothy C. REEVES, Appellant (Plaintiff Below), v. BOYD & SONS, INC., Appellee (Defendant Below). |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Timothy C. Reeves appeals the jury verdict finding him 100% at fault for his collision with a Boyd & Sons, Inc. tractor-trailer and holding him liable for damages to it. We affirm.
1. Whether admission of medical records disclosing results of Reeves' blood alcohol test was reversible error.
2. Whether allowing inquiry into Reeves' previous driving under the influence conviction was reversible error.
3. Whether failure to submit to the jury an instruction tendered by Reeves was reversible error.
4. Whether the court's refusal to allow Reeves to depose an individual originally listed as a witness for the defense, but later removed from that list and who did not testify, was reversible error.
On October 23, 1990, Timothy C. Reeves left work at his construction job site and joined some fellow workers at a nearby bar and grill between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. During his approximately one hour stay, he consumed two long-neck bottles of beer. Reeves and some of his companions decided to continue their evening at Dancers, a strip club on West Washington Street in Indianapolis.
Reeves left the bar, stopped at a fast food restaurant for a burger, fries and cola, and then arrived at Dancers sometime before 7:00. Reeves ordered and drank a glass of beer. He then ordered a pitcher of beer. Reeves' expected companions never arrived.
Departing Dancers after 1:00 a.m., Reeves traveled east on Washington Street. As he drove, Reeves saw a gas station and checked his fuel gauge to see whether he needed gas. Because his dashboard light was not working he could not read the gauge. He turned on his dome light. After he turned the dome light off, he saw a semi-tractor-trailer in front of him. The tractor-trailer was angled across Washington Street in the process of backing into a drive across from 84 Lumber Company, which was the destination of the truck's load of lumber. Reeves tried to apply his brakes but missed. Reeves drove into the side of the tractor-trailer.
The 1989 Peterbilt tractor had its headlights on; flashers were activated on the cab and along the side of the 1990 Wilson trailer. On the side of the tractor's "sleeper" were four lights with two bulbs each; under the door of the cab were another four lights with two bulbs each; and there were five lights on top of the cab. The trailer itself had a "light in the center ... which would flash on each side, and then a light at the very front of the trailer and the very rear and then two (2) other ones centered in between the center ones and the far end ones." (R. 707). There were also reflectors on the side of the trailer, and a "pole light" was attached to the side of the front bumper.
A driver traveling behind Reeves on Washington Street realized there was "something blocking the road" and saw the silhouette of the tractor-trailer from a distance of slightly less than a quarter mile away. The driver estimated his distance behind Reeves at "between an eighth and a quarter of a mile." (R. 951).
After the collision, reported as occurring at 1:38 a.m. on October 24th, sheriff's department and ambulance personnel arrived on the scene. Several of these people testified that Reeves was intoxicated. Reeves was transported to Methodist Hospital, arriving at 2:40 a.m., and was treated by trauma service resident Dr. Douglas Carr. In the course of Dr. Carr's evaluation of Reeves' condition for the purpose of treating him, blood tests were performed. Reeves' blood was drawn at 3:00 a.m. and tested at 3:13 a.m. According to one of the tests conducted, Reeves' blood alcohol content level was .179.
On June 23, 1992, Reeves brought a personal injury lawsuit against Boyd & Sons, Inc. (hereafter, "Boyd"), the owner of the tractor-trailer. Boyd counterclaimed 1 for damages to its tractor-trailer. The case was tried to a jury over a period of four days. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Boyd on both Reeves' complaint and Boyd's counterclaim, finding 100% of fault in the incident attributable to Reeves and Reeves liable to Boyd for the damage therefrom.
Reeves claims that "the trial court committed reversible error by admitting medical records containing a blood alcohol test result, allegedly obtained utilizing a sample of blood from the plaintiff Timothy C. Reeves, without a proper foundation showing the chain of custody of the sample." Reeves' Brief at 10.
The admission of evidence "is a determination entrusted to the discretion of the trial court." Eversole v. Consolidated Rail Corp. (1990), Ind.App., 551 N.E.2d 846, 854, reh'g denied, trans. denied (citation omitted). On appellate review, we consider whether the trial court has abused its discretion in admitting evidence, i.e., whether "the court's action is clearly erroneous and against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before it or the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom." Id. (citation omitted). To constitute reversible error, the evidence erroneously admitted cannot be "merely cumulative." Jordan v. Talaga (1989), Ind.App. 532 N.E.2d 1174, 1191, reh'g denied, trans. denied. 2
Dr. Carr, the physician who treated Reeves upon his admission to the hospital after the collision, was deposed pretrial. During the deposition, Reeves challenged the foundation for the doctor's testimony as to the blood alcohol test result. According to the trial record, the court stated that Dr. Carr's deposition had been (R. 384). Before the jury was present the next day, the court discussed with the parties the form of the deposition to be included in the record. When the court asked whether Boyd was "going to introduce the original, ... as part of the official record," Boyd's counsel answered "Yes, sir." (R. 387). Boyd's counsel elaborated that "you want the original in there to preserve [Reeves'] objections." (R. 388). A further colloquy explored Reeves' objection to admission of some of the content of Dr. Carr's deposition:
(R. 390-92). Reeves then objected, for the record:
to the admission of the deposition of Dr. Carr for the reason that an inadequate foundation has been laid for admission of the hearsay information that's included within the deposition, including all exhibits to the deposition. There has been no proper chain of custody for the reliability of the information that's contained in Dr. Carr's testimony or the exhibits. There has been an inadequate foundation laid pursuant to any exception to the hearsay rule, including 803, subpart (6), of the new Indiana Rules of Evidence under the business record exception. Uh, there's been no exception laid for the multiple hearsay that's included within the exhibits to the deposition, and the information--some of the information contained in the deposition, including the blood alcohol content, the BAC, is irrelevant and highly prejudicial in this case.
For those reasons the Plaintiff objects to the admission of Dr. Carr's deposition.
(R. 392-93). Boyd argues that Reeves "waived any objection to [the blood alcohol test result in the] records by failing to make a specific objection to this evidence when it was offered at trial." (Boyd's Brief at 3). Boyd, the proponent of Dr. Carr's testimony with its accompanying exhibits, offered for the record the unredacted deposition which contained Reeves' objections in order "to preserve your [Reeves'] objections." (R. 388). Further, Boyd agreed to stipulate that the timing of Reeves' objection be adequate for purpose of appeal. For Boyd to argue in his brief that Reeves had waived the admission of evidence issue is without merit, and we find such argument unfair and proper. We also find Reeves' mention in his courtroom objection to admission of "all exhibits" to be sufficiently specific to preserve the matter. 3
As quoted above, Reeves' claim of error asserts Boyd failed to show the chain of custody of the sample of blood. Reeves argues that a chain of custody foundation has four requirements: 1) integrity of the blood sample; 2) continuous identity of the sample; 3) qualification of the testing analyst; and 4) accuracy of the test. According to Reeves, the ...
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