Stephens v. Irvin
| Decision Date | 30 June 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 12A02-9910-CV-684.,12A02-9910-CV-684. |
| Citation | 730 N.E.2d 1271 |
| Parties | Kimberly STEPHENS and the Cincinnati Insurance Companies, Appellants-Defendants, v. Derek W. IRVIN, Missy Hodge, and Sentry Insurance, Appellees-Plaintiffs. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Richard R. Skiles, Skiles & Cook, Arlene Rochlin, The Law Offices of the Cincinnati Ins. Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellants.
William N. Ivers, Richard P. Winegardner, Kelli Keller, Stewart & Irwin, J. David Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth & Meek, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellees.
Appellants-Defendants Kimberly Stephens ("Stephens") and Cincinnati Insurance Companies ("CIC") bring this consolidated interlocutory appeal challenging the trial court's decision to grant Appellees-Plaintiffs Derek Irvin's ("Irvin"), Missy Hodge's ("Hodge") and Sentry Insurance's ("Sentry"), collectively referred to herein as "Plaintiffs," respective Motion[s] to Correct Error, thereby permitting Plaintiffs to add Stephens as a defendant to the underlying causes. We affirm.
We restate the dispositive issues raised on appeal as follows:
I. Whether the trial court erred in considering certain affidavits submitted with Plaintiffs' respective motions captioned "Motion[s] to Correct Error"; and,
II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by granting Plaintiffs' motions for leave to amend their complaints by adding Stephens as a defendant after the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations.1
The facts most favorable to the judgment indicate that on November 19, 1994, Irvin and his passenger, Hodge, were driving in Frankfort, Indiana, when their automobile was struck by another vehicle owned by Patricia Brashear ("Brashear") and insured by CIC. The driver of the Brashear vehicle fled the scene of the accident before the police arrived. The passenger in the Brashear vehicle, Ralph Bailey ("Bailey"), told the police that the car belonged to him3 and that the driver of the vehicle had his permission to drive the car, but that he did not know the driver's name as he had only met her earlier that evening. Frankfort Police Officer Boyd Martin ("Officer Martin") arrived on the scene, investigated the accident, and prepared an Indiana Officer's Standard Crash Report ("Accident Report"). The Accident Report listed the driver of the Brashear vehicle as "Unknown".
During his investigation of the accident, Officer Martin became aware of some information that led him to suspect that Stephens had been the operator of the Brashear vehicle. Officer Martin therefore completed a "LAW Incident Table" on the day of the accident and included Stephens's name as the suspected driver of the Brashear vehicle. The LAW Incident Table was not attached to or mentioned in the Accident Report, but was made available to the public within twenty-four hours of the accident.
On January 18, 1995, Irvin and Hodge filed a complaint seeking damages arising out of the collision and naming Bailey and "Jane Doe" as defendants in their negligence action. In July of 1995, Irvin and Hodge deposed Bailey, who testified that he was not sure, but he thought the driver's name was Loretta Huff ("Huff") and that she was from Lafayette, Indiana. After deposing Bailey, Irvin and Hodge filed a Motion to Amend Complaint on February 5, 1996, in order to substitute "Loretta Huff" for "Jane Doe" as the driver of the Brashear car. Plaintiffs were unable to ascertain the location of Huff's residence, so service was made by publication.
On November 12, 1996, Sentry filed its complaint naming Huff as the driver in its insurance subrogation claim to recover property damage payments and medical payments issued to its insureds, Irvin and Hodge. On June 13, 1997, Sentry filed its motion for default judgment against Huff, and on June 17, 1997, default judgment was entered against Huff in the sum of $10,482.84.4 On June 18, 1997, CIC filed its Motion for Leave to Intervene and Motion for Stay of Proceedings or to Reconsider, which was granted on June 20, 1997. On December 11, 1998, Sentry filed its Motion to Lift Stay regarding the default judgment against Huff, which was granted on January 5, 1999. However, the stay was reinstated on January 21, 1999, after Sentry withdrew its motion.5
A third cause of action relating to this automobile collision was initiated by CIC when it filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in federal district court to determine its duty of coverage, if any, owed to Huff in the state cases. This federal declaratory judgment action was scheduled to be tried on March 18, 1999.6 While preparing for trial, CIC's counsel noticed that the Accident Report prepared by Officer Martin did not contain the usual identifying number. Counsel therefore called the Frankfort Police Department on March 3, 1999, and learned of the existence of the Law Incident Table and its contents, which reflected Officer Martin's suspicion that Stephens had been the driver of the Brashear vehicle.
Shortly thereafter, Stephens, who was contacted by one of CIC's attorneys, came forward and executed an affidavit in which she admitted she was the woman who had driven the Brashear vehicle and then fled the scene on the day of the collision. Stephens also admitted that she had been Bailey's girlfriend at the time of the collision and that Bailey had recently contacted her and told her not to talk to anybody about the accident. On March 24, 1999, the trial court vacated and nullified the default judgment entered in favor of Sentry and against Huff.
Irvin and Hodge filed their Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint on April 3, 1999, this time requesting that Stephens be added as a defendant. Likewise, Sentry filed its Motion to Amend Complaint in order to add Stephens as a defendant in its cause. The trial court denied both motions, finding that Plaintiffs had failed to exercise due diligence by relying on Bailey's testimony, which identified Huff as the driver, and in failing to investigate the involvement of Stephens, whose name appeared on the LAW Incident Table. The trial court also granted Huff's Trial Rule 12(C) Motion to Dismiss, thereby dismissing Huff from Irvin and Hodge's negligence action as well.
On May 28, 1999, Irvin and Hodge filed a motion designated "Motion to Correct Error," essentially reasserting the same case law and arguments contained in their second motion requesting leave to amend their complaint. With their Motion to Correct Error, Irvin and Hodge filed, for the first time, an affidavit from their attorney, J. David Hollingsworth ("Hollingsworth"). In his affidavit, Hollingsworth stated (1) that he had personally contacted the Frankfort Police Department in December of 1994 to obtain any information the department may have had in regard to the collision, (2) that he had been informed that all the information the department had was contained within the Accident Report, and (3) that the Accident Report had been conveyed to him shortly thereafter. Hollingsworth further stated in his affidavit that at no time did anyone from the Frankfort Police Department inform him of the existence of the LAW Incident Table or mention Kimberly Stephens's name.
On June 1, 1999, Sentry likewise filed its Motion to Correct Errors. Therein, Sentry also reasserted case law and arguments raised in its prior Motion to Amend Complaint. Sentry also included, for the first time, an affidavit of its attorney, William Ivers ("Ivers"), who stated that he, too, had contacted the Frankfort Police Department to obtain information regarding the collision, that he had received only the Accident Report listing the driver of the Brashear vehicle as "Unknown," and that prior to filing his Motion to Amend Complaint, he had been unaware of any information identifying Stephens as the driver of the Brashear vehicle.
On June 23, 1999, the trial court granted the Plaintiffs' "Motion[s] to Correct Error," and in both cases, permitted them to add Stephens as a defendant, despite the fact the applicable statute of limitations for the underlying offense had run. In both orders, the trial court stated that it could consider the affidavits of counsel in making its decision, but further stated it had not found the affidavits dispositive.
Stephens and CIC subsequently filed their petitions for certification for interlocutory appeal for both cases, which the trial court granted on September 3, 1999. This Court granted Stephens's and CIC's petition to entertain jurisdiction of this interlocutory appeal on October 19, 1999. The following appeal ensued.
We first address Stephens's and CIC's allegations that the trial court erred when it considered the attorney affidavits submitted by Plaintiffs with their Motion[s] to Correct Error. To make this determination, we must further scrutinize the pertinent procedural facts. On April 29, 1999, the trial court granted Huff's Motion to Dismiss, stating as follows:
(Irvin/Hodge R. 108.) On the same day, the trial court also denied Plaintiffs' respective motions requesting leave to amend their complaints and, in so doing, stated, in pertinent part:
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...just met her, and later gave a false name for the driver while testifying under oath at his deposition." Id. (citing Stephens v. Irvin, 730 N.E.2d 1271 (Ind.Ct.App. 2000)). 7. Plaintiff's malicious prosecution claim, however, only exists in truncated form. See infra Section V.C.3 (discussin......
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...power to reconsider, vacate, or modify any previous order so long as the case has not proceeded to final judgment. Stephens v. Irvin, 730 N.E.2d 1271, 1277 (Ind.Ct.App.2000), trans. denied. It is also well-settled that a pretrial ruling on a motion to suppress is not a final judgment for re......
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..."place[ ] the parties' rights in abeyance pending ultimate determination by the trier of fact." Id. at 155; see Stephens v. Irvin, 730 N.E.2d 1271, 1277 (Ind.Ct.App.2000) (recognizing that although the practical effect of the trial court's grant of a motion to dismiss was in effect an end t......
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