Wallace v. Woodford
| Decision Date | 31 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | Appeal No. 2016AP2359 |
| Citation | 918 N.W.2d 643 (Table),383 Wis.2d 784,2018 WI App 54 |
| Parties | Shawn M. WALLACE, Plaintiff-Appellant, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire, Involuntary-Plaintiff, v. Richard R. WOODFORD, Central Mudracing Association, Inc. and Chippewa Valley Antique Engine & Model Club, Inc., Defendants-Respondents, Those Certain Underwriters at Lloyds London, Subscribing to Certificate No. AT-2541-Wi, Intervenor. |
| Court | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
¶ 1 Shawn Wallace appeals a judgment, entered upon a jury verdict, dismissing his claims against Central Mudracing Association, Inc. ("Central Mudracing"), and Chippewa Valley Antique Engine and Model Club, Inc. ("Chippewa Valley"), for injuries Wallace sustained while a spectator at a mud bog racing event in 2012. Wallace seeks a new trial for three reasons: (1) the circuit court erroneously excluded evidence of a 2005 accident at the track; (2) the court erroneously denied his motion for a mistrial based upon certain closing arguments suggesting that the 2012 accident was not foreseeable; and (3) the court erred by limiting the testimony of an accident reconstruction expert to matters involving general driving principles and driver perception and reaction times. We conclude the circuit court properly exercised its discretion in all respects and affirm.
¶ 2 Central Mudracing organizes what are known as "mud bog races" in conjunction with Chippewa Valley.1 At such events, drivers race different classes of "mud buggy" vehicles on a dirt track. The events are held at locations throughout the state, including Pioneer Park in Eau Claire.
¶ 3 The track at Pioneer Park consisted of a mud pit in the center, which was approximately 35 feet wide and ran 150 feet from the west to the east. "Tough truck tracks," which involved a series of small jumps or moguls, ran parallel to the mud pit on the pit's north and south sides. There was no barrier between the mud pit and the tough truck tracks, but metal guardrails to the north and south of the tough truck tracks separated the tracks from spectators. There was also a woven wire-type fence beyond each of the guardrails to keep spectators off of the track.
¶ 4 During a June 30, 2012 event at Pioneer Park, Richard Woodford, one of the mudracing drivers, lost control of his vehicle, which spun toward the north and then accelerated rapidly. The vehicle struck the guard rail and went airborne into the crowd on the north side. Wallace, who was a spectator at the event, was seriously injured, eventually resulting in the amputation of one of his legs below the knee.
¶ 5 Wallace filed the present lawsuit against Woodford, Central Mudracing and Chippewa Valley, alleging negligence against each of them and negligence per se against Central Mudracing and Chippewa Valley. The case proceeded to a six-day jury trial. Woodford settled the claims against him following opening statements, and the jury found no negligence on the part of any of the defendants, including Woodford.2
¶ 6 Following the verdict, Wallace filed a motion for a new trial based on certain of the circuit court's evidentiary decisions and on allegedly improper closing arguments by Central Mudracing and Chippewa Valley. The court orally denied the motion, during which it reaffirmed its evidentiary decisions. As to the allegedly improper closing arguments, the court deemed Wallace's objection untimely but nonetheless found that, even if Wallace had timely objected, Wallace had not been prejudiced by the attorneys' statements. Wallace appeals those determinations. Additional facts will be set forth below as necessary.
¶ 7 Wallace first argues the circuit court erred by excluding evidence of a prior accident at Pioneer Park. Prior to trial, Chippewa Valley filed a motion in limine to preclude reference at trial to a 2005 accident involving Central Mudracing and Chippewa Valley, citing relevance and unfair prejudice concerns. Wallace opposed that motion. At the final pretrial conference, the circuit court precluded reference to the 2005 accident during opening statements and requested that an offer of proof be made outside the jury's presence if any party wished for the jury to hear the circumstances of that accident.
¶ 8 During Woodford's testimony, he was asked by Chippewa Valley's counsel, "[B]efore that unfortunate run on June 30, 2012, did it ever occur to you in your wildest imagination that that accident would occur?" Woodford answered, "No." On redirect examination, Wallace's counsel wished to ask Woodford about the 2005 accident, which Woodford had personally witnessed. Outside the jury's presence, Wallace then made an offer of proof, based solely upon Woodford's testimony, so the circuit court could determine the admissibility of that testimony.
¶ 9 The 2005 accident occurred at Pioneer Park during another mudracing event, but at a different location on the track. Woodford testified that, in the 2005 accident, the driver had just come out of the mud pit and was past the timing light when he "drifted to the right" and hit a jump on the tough truck track. The driver's vehicle "ended up hitting a pickup with some people sitting in it on the spectator side, which would be the south side of the setup." Woodford testified he did not
¶ 10 Based on Wallace's offer of proof, the circuit court concluded the 2005 accident was "a horse of a different color" and excluded references to it at trial. The court reasoned that the accident location on the track was materially different—i.e., outside of the mud pit and in the shutdown area3 —and the track had since been altered by the extension of the shutdown area and the extension of the metal guardrails. The court also determined that, based upon the evidence already in the record, Wallace could argue that Central Mudracing and Chippewa Valley "could have known or should have known that there was a possibility of one of these vehicles jumping the guardrail"—the same inference he desired the jury to reach by having Woodford testify about the 2005 accident.
¶ 11 Wallace appears to argue the circuit court erred in two ways: (1) by granting Chippewa Valley's motion in limine related to evidence of the 2005 accident; and (2) by refusing to strike allegedly improper portions of the defendants' closing arguments referencing a lack of similar accidents, or, in the alternative, by denying his motion for a mistrial. A circuit court has broad discretion when making evidentiary rulings. Martindale v. Ripp , 2001 WI 113, ¶ 28, 246 Wis. 2d 67, 629 N.W.2d 698. Similarly, a mistrial motion is directed to the court's discretion. State v. Albright , 98 Wis. 2d 663, 677, 298 N.W.2d 196 (Ct. App. 1980). We review a court's exercise of discretion not to see if we agree with the court's determination, but rather to determine State v. Jones , 2018 WI 44, ¶ 27, 381 Wis. 2d 284, 911 N.W.2d 97 (citation omitted).
¶ 12 We first address whether the circuit court properly exercised its discretion in excluding evidence of the 2005 accident. There is no per se rule regarding the admissibility of evidence of prior accidents. See Callan v. Peters Constr. Co. , 94 Wis. 2d 225, 231, 288 N.W.2d 146 (Ct. App. 1979). The circuit court must make an assessment of the evidence's probative value and consider both the purpose for which the evidence of the prior accident is offered and the nature of the negligence claimed. Id. at 232. The evidence may be admitted only where the accidents occurred "under conditions and circumstances similar to those of the accident which injured the plaintiff." Farrell by Lehner v. John Deere Co. , 151 Wis. 2d 45, 76, 443 N.W.2d 50 (Ct. App. 1989). When the prior accident is of little probative value, the court may, in the exercise of its discretion, refuse to admit such evidence. Id.
¶ 13 Here, we conclude the circuit court appropriately exercised its discretion in granting Chippewa Valley's motion in limine. The facts of record demonstrate that the 2005 accident occurred on a materially different portion of the track, beyond the mud pit and at a location without guardrails.4 Woodford—the only witness in Wallace's offer of proof—testified that the vehicle's 2005 accident-causing movement occurred after it had left the end of the mud pit. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the 2005 accident involved driver acceleration after the vehicle had spun out of control. The spectators injured in the 2005 accident were viewing from a truck, not the bleachers. Subsequent remedial measures were taken in response to the 2005 accident, including the extension of the guardrail in the shutdown area. The court reasonably determined that, under these circumstances, the probative value of the proposed testimony regarding the issue of foreseeability was minimal. Moreover, the court concluded Wallace could suggest that the jury draw the desired inference regarding foreseeability even without the evidence of the 2005 accident. The court, relying on the facts of record and the proper law, reasonably determined that the low probative value of the evidence was easily overcome by the danger of unfair prejudice, and that the evidence was not necessary for Wallace to argue his desired inferences to the jury.
¶ 14 Wallace argues the circumstances of this case are analogous to those in Callan . In Callan , however, this court was reviewing the circuit court's exercise of discretion to admit evidence of a prior slip-and-fall accident. See Callan , 94 Wis. 2d at 231. The circuit court reasonably determined in ...
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