Waldner v. Berglund

• Decision Date: 30 July 2008
• Docket Number: No. 24762.,No. 24775.,24762.,24775.
• Parties: Corrinna Kay WALDNER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Beth Ann BERGLUND, Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

754 N.W.2d 832

2008 SD 75

Corrinna Kay WALDNER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Beth Ann BERGLUND, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 24762.

No. 24775.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs May 19, 2008.

Decided July 30, 2008.

Ronald C. Aho, Brookings, South Dakota, Attorney for plaintiff and appellant.

Mark D. O'Leary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Attorney for defendant and appellee.

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this automobile accident case, plaintiff presented evidence at trial of her past and projected medical expenses, her pain and suffering, and her whole-person impairment. At the close of the jury trial, the circuit court granted a directed verdict on the issue of defendant's negligence. The jury returned an award for plaintiff of $286. Despite her claim that the jury's miniscule award was the result of passion or prejudice, plaintiff's motion for a new trial was denied. We affirm because the verdict can be rationally explained with reference to the evidence; thus, there was no abuse of discretion in the denial of a new trial.

Background

[¶ 2.] On July 10, 2003, Corrinna Waldner stopped her vehicle at the intersection of Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue in Brookings, South Dakota. She was waiting for the vehicle in front of her to make a left-hand turn. While she was stopped, her car was rear-ended by the vehicle driven by Beth Berglund. Berglund was driving approximately 30 miles per hour when her vehicle struck Waldner's. The impact of the collision pushed Waldner's car into the vehicle in front of her. Berglund later explained that just before the accident, she was looking over at a patrol car and did not see Waldner's stopped vehicle. The patrol car was about 30 feet away, where a patrolman was investigating a disabled vehicle. The officer heard the crash and responded to the accident.

[¶ 3.] Neither Waldner nor Berglund requested immediate medical attention. The next morning, however, Waldner felt pain in her neck area. She went to see Dr. David Eggers, a chiropractor. She told him that she had been in a car accident and that her neck hurt when she swallowed. He examined her, gave her an adjustment, and administered ultrasound therapy. He treated her again on July 14, 2003.

[¶ 4.] Waldner did not seek further treatment until February 16, 2004. Dr. Eggers's notes from the February 16 appointment state, "Pt. [patient] presents stating that over the last couple of months she's been having some increased discomfort in the neck that I think is still related to that MVA [motor vehicle accident]. Finding that I can't sleep with my pillow any more because it's becoming so uncomfortable and then when I lay flat on the bed by morning my neck is hurting even more so again. It just seems to be getting progressively worse. I was good for a while after this summer's tx's. [treatments] but then again started to bother me off and on."

[¶ 5.] Waldner continued to receive treatments from Dr. Eggers, but she thought his treatment style was too rough. In May 2004, she started seeing Dr. Shannon DeBoer, another chiropractor. During the same time, Waldner sought massage therapy from various therapists, but she was not getting complete relief. In October 2004, Waldner went to Dr. Robert Suga, an orthopedic surgeon. He recommended that she discontinue chiropractic treatments. He prescribed medication to relax her muscles. Despite his advice, Waldner continued to receive chiropractic treatments, "Because I felt like I needed it."

[¶ 6.] In May 2005, Dr. DeBoer recommended that Waldner see a physical therapist to strengthen her muscles. Waldner received physical therapy at the Brookings Medical Clinic. She later discontinued physical therapy because it aggravated her injury. She resumed chiropractic treatment and massage therapy. In March 2006, she went back to the Brookings Medical Clinic and obtained a referral to a pain specialist, Dr. Thomas Ripperda. He prescribed pain medication, a stretching program, electrical stimulation, and recommended continued massage therapy, physical therapy, and chiropractic care.

[¶ 7.] In the time Dr. Ripperda treated Waldner he also gave her trigger point injections. They did not take her pain away. Waldner also had an MRI, which Dr. Ripperda reported was normal. Waldner discontinued her pain medications because the side effects were worse than the pain. She also discontinued the electrical stimulation treatments because she believed they aggravated her injury. In December 2006, Dr. Ripperda recommended care on an as-needed basis. In Waldner's last appointment with Dr. Ripperda in April 2007, he gave her a whole-person impairment rating of 8%. Dr. Ripperda did not believe any other or new interventions would remedy her situation. Waldner continued with her chiropractic care and massage therapy.

[¶ 8.] On May 23, 2006, Waldner brought suit against Berglund. She sought damages for (1) approximately $20,000 in medical expenses, (2) future medical expenses, (3) pain and suffering, and (4) an 8% permanent, whole-person impairment. In the jury trial, the circuit court granted Waldner's directed verdict motion on Berglund's negligence. Thus, the only issue submitted to the jury was the amount of Waldner's damages, if any, legally caused by Berglund's negligence. The jury returned a verdict awarding Waldner $286.

[¶ 9.] Waldner moved for a new trial. She asserted that the damage award was inadequate and given under the influence of passion or prejudice. She further claimed that the uncontroverted evidence presented at trial established that her medical expenses were a result of the accident. She similarly asserted that Berglund did not present evidence to contradict her proof of future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and permanent impairment. After a hearing on the motion, the court denied a new trial. It could not find any evidence to suggest that the damage award was the result of passion or prejudice, and it concluded that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.

[¶ 10.] Waldner appeals, asserting that the court abused its discretion when it denied her request for a new trial. Berglund filed a notice of review contending that the court erred when it refused to admit medical reports under SDCL 19-16-8.2.

Analysis and Decision

[¶ 11.] Our standard of review on a denial of a motion for a new trial is well established:

Whether a new trial should be granted is left to the sound judicial discretion of the trial court, and this Court will not disturb the trial court's decision absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion. If the trial court finds an injustice has been done by the jury's verdict, the remedy lies in granting a new trial. We determine that an abuse of discretion occurred only if no judicial mind, in view of the law and the circumstances of the particular case, could reasonably have reached such a conclusion. Finally, we note a decision to grant a new trial stands on firmer footing than a decision to deny a new trial.

Schuldies v. Millar, 1996 SD 120, ¶ 8, 555 N.W.2d 90, 95 (quoting Junge v. Jerzak, 519 N.W.2d 29, 31 (S.D.1994) (citations omitted)).

[¶ 12.] According to Waldner, we need not reweigh the evidence to conclude that the jury award was inadequate. Rather, she contends that because Berglund "presented no evidence" that her medical expenses were unreasonable or unrelated to the accident, her testimony and the medical evidence irrefutably established that the loss she suffered and will suffer in the future was legally caused by Berglund's negligence. Berglund, on the other hand, contends that the verdict is supported by the evidence. According to Berglund, it is apparent that the jury did not believe that Waldner's need for on-going treatment, which started seven months after the accident, was legally caused by Berglund's negligence.

[¶ 13.] In a letter decision, the circuit court wrote:

The Court sees nothing in the record or from the Court's hearing of the trial, observation of the jury, or voir dire that would give any indication whatsoever that the claimed inadequate damages were because of the influence of passion or prejudice on behalf of the jury.

The Court also finds that the evidence was sufficient to justify the verdict.... In this case it is easy, from the evidence, to determine how the jury arrived at the dollar sum in the verdict. The verdict amount references the medical expenses for seeing Dr. Eggers within days after the automobile accident. [Waldner] then did not go back to a medical practitioner for some seven months and at the time indicated that recurrent pain had only occurred for a couple months prior to that appointment, and that she had been good for quite a while after the initial consultation with Dr. Eggers. In addition her primary February complaints related to a pain when she leaned her head way back. It is obvious to the Court that the jury felt from the evidence that subsequent...