Treyball v. Clark

• Decision Date: 12 September 1985
• Citation: 493 N.Y.S.2d 1004,483 N.E.2d 1136,65 N.Y.2d 589
• Parties: , 483 N.E.2d 1136 Dorothy TREYBALL, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Eugene Treyball, Deceased, Appellant, v. W. Douglas CLARK et al., Respondents, et al., Defendant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 1004

493 N.Y.S.2d 1004

65 N.Y.2d 589, 483 N.E.2d 1136

Dorothy TREYBALL, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Eugene Treyball Deceased, Appellant, v. W. Douglas CLARK et al., Respondents, et al., Defendant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Sept. 12, 1985.

Paul F. McAloon, New York City, for appellant.

Kevin M. Loftus, White Plains, for W. Douglas Clark, respondent.

Vincent J. Aceste, New York City, and J. Russell Clune, Mineola, for Northern Westchester Hosp. Center and Edward McNeil, respondents.

Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen., Albany (Robert Hermann, Albany, of counsel), in his

statutory capacity under Executive Law § 71

OPINION OF THE COURT

PER CURIAM.

On this appeal, plaintiff challenges the constitutionality of Judiciary Law § 148 -(8), which authorizes any party to a medical malpractice action to admit in evidence the unanimous recommendation of a medical malpractice mediation panel as to the question of liability. It is contended that Judiciary Law § 148-a(8) deprives plaintiff of the right to a jury trial on the issue of liability (N.Y. Const., art. I, § 2), as well as the right to due process of law (N.Y. Const., art. I, § 6; U.S. Const. 14th Amend.).

Plaintiff's right to a meaningful jury trial, guaranteed by our State Constitution (art. I, § 2) has not been infringed by operation of Judiciary Law § 148-a(8). The role of the medical malpractice mediation panel is to assist--not supplant--the trier of fact in reaching a verdict. (Bernstein v. Bodean, 53 N.Y.2d 520, 527, 443 N.Y.S.2d 49, 426 N.E.2d 741.) Under the express terms of the statute, the panel's recommendation is not binding upon the trier of fact, and is to be accorded only such weight as the trier of fact chooses to ascribe to it (Judiciary Law § 148-a[8] ) where such an instruction is requested. (PJI 2:151A, 2:151A.1 [1984 Supp.].) Admission of the panel's recommendation interposes no obstacle to a full contestation of the issues, including liability, and the jury (or court when serving as trier of fact) remains the final arbiter of questions of fact raised at trial. (See, Meeker & Co. v. Lehigh Val. R.R., 236 U.S. 412, 430, 35 S.Ct. 328, 335, 59 L.Ed. 644; Woods v. Holy Cross Hosp., 591 F.2d 1164, 1180 [5th Cir.1979] [construing Fla. law]; Comiskey v. Arlen, 55 A.D.2d 304, 308-310, 390 N.Y.S.2d 122, affd. 43 N.Y.2d 696, 401 N.Y.S.2d 200, 372 N.E.2d 34; Note, Medical Malpractice Mediation Panels: A Constitutional Analysis, 46 Fordham L.Rev. 322, 331-334.) The unanimous, nonbinding recommendation of the medical malpractice mediation panel serves merely as a guide to the jury, and its admission as evidence does not impermissibly burden or nullify plaintiff's constitutional right to a meaningful jury trial.

It is further contended that Judiciary Law § 148-a(8) interferes with plaintiff's substantive right to damages for medical malpractice injuries by permitting the introduction as evidence of a recommendation reached by means of a hearing less formal than a judicial proceeding. (N.Y. Const., art. I, § 6; U.S. Const. 14th Amend.) This claim should be rejected. If the challenged provision is reasonable in relation to its subject and adopted in the interests of the community, it does not violate substantive due process. (West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379, 391, 57 S.Ct. 578, 581, 81 L.Ed. 703.) Only when a law effectuates an arbitrary deprivation of liberty will it violate the substantive due process guarantee. (Nowak, Rotunda and Young, Constitutional Law, at 410.) Judiciary Law § 148-a represents a legislative response to a perceived problem of increasing malpractice rates (Bernstein v. Bodean, 53 N.Y.2d 520, 526, 443 N.Y.S.2d 49, 426 N.E.2d 741, supra ) and serves to better equip the parties to mediate a settlement, if warranted, and...