Williams v. Jacobs

• Decision Date: 14 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. WD53586,WD53586
• Citation: Williams v. Jacobs, 972 S.W.2d 334 (Mo. App. 1998)
• Parties: Connie D. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. Andrea JACOBS, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 334

972 S.W.2d 334

Connie D. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. Andrea JACOBS, Respondent.

No. WD53586.

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

April 14, 1998.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied June 2, 1998.

Application for Transfer Denied

Aug. 25, 1998.

Sharon M.B. Pigeon, Howard E. Bopdney, Kansas City, for appellant.

Richard F. Moden, Daniel Robert DeFoe, Kansas City, for respondent.

Before HOWARD, P.J., and BRECKENRIDGE and HANNA, JJ.

BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

Connie Williams appeals from the trial court's judgment in favor of Andrea Jacobs in Ms. Williams' personal injury action resulting from an automobile collision. Ms. Williams raises six points on appeal. First, she contends that the trial court erred in excluding evidence concerning her medical treatment and injuries because such evidence was relevant and material to the extent of her personal injury. Second, she alleges that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the appropriate definition of negligence in Missouri Approved Instructions because § 304.010.1, RSMo 1994, mandates the use of that definition. As her third and fourth points, Ms. Williams contends that the trial court plainly erred by not correcting Ms. Jacobs' mischaracterization of the burden of proof in closing argument and by disregarding the plain language of the petition in concluding that Ms. Williams did not make a claim for property damage. Fifth, Ms. Williams alleges that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Finally, Ms. Williams claims error on the part of the trial court for failing to maintain a fair and impartial appearance and demeanor during the proceedings.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural Background

On appeal, this court considers the facts in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, considering only that evidence which supports it and disregarding contrary evidence and inferences. Tate v. Golden Rule Ins. Co., 859 S.W.2d 831, 834 (Mo.App.1993). On December 23, 1988, Ms. Williams and Ms. Jacobs were involved in an automobile accident. Ms. Williams, her son, Scott, and his girlfriend had just finished eating lunch and were going to Bannister Mall to do some Christmas shopping. Ms. Williams drove her own car while her son and his girlfriend rode in his car because they were going different places after shopping. Immediately prior to the accident, Ms. Williams' vehicle was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of 95th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, and her son's automobile was stopped in the lane adjacent to Ms. Williams. Ms. Jacobs was in a car stopped two to three feet directly behind Ms. Williams. Because of the dense holiday shopping traffic, both Ms. Williams and Ms. Jacobs were stopped at the light for two full cycles. Ms. Jacobs noticed that the left lane was turning left and began to move forward at approximately one or two miles per hour. However, the light for traffic going straight through the intersection had not turned green yet and Ms. Williams was still at a complete stop. As a result, Ms. Jacobs' car tapped the rear bumper of Ms. Williams' vehicle.

Although there was only about half a car length between Ms. Williams and the car in front of her, Ms. Williams' car was not forced into the car in front of it, and it remained in its lane during the accident. Both Ms. Williams and Ms. Jacobs exited their respective vehicles. Scott Williams also got out of his car to check on his mother. When Ms. Jacobs asked Ms. Williams if she was all right, Ms. Williams responded that she was fine; the accident had just scared her. The parties agreed to go to the parking lot of a nearby fast food restaurant to exchange information. The impact caused a quarter-sized ding in the rear bumper of Ms. Williams' vehicle, and its right front tire was slowly losing air. There was no damage to Ms. Jacobs' automobile. While at the parking lot, Ms. Jacobs again asked Ms. Williams if she was injured, to which Ms. Williams responded that she was fine. The parties exchanged information and parted. Thereafter, Ms. Williams went to a nearby police station and filed an accident report. She then drove home.

As a result of the accident, Ms. Williams filed suit against Ms. Jacobs claiming that Ms. Jacobs negligently, carelessly and recklessly operated her car "so as to permit said motor vehicle to collide violently with the rear of the aforesaid [car] being driven by Plaintiff." Ms. Williams claimed that "her entire body was wrenched, broken, bruised displaced, contused, torn, strained and sprained," and that she sustained injuries to her "entire head and eyes, to her neck, to her back and to her upper extremities." She sought damages in excess of $15,000. The day prior to trial, the parties stipulated that Ms. Williams' claim of injuries would be limited to the eleven-month period from December 1988 to November 1989, ending when she was injured in another car accident on November 19, 1989. The case proceeded to trial. The jury entered a defendant's verdict in favor of Ms. Jacobs, and the trial court entered judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict. Ms. Williams' motion for new trial was denied, and she filed a timely appeal in this court. ¹

Standard of Review

"In reviewing the verdict of a jury in a civil case, the appellate court does not 'determine the credibility of the witnesses, resolve conflicts in testimony, or weigh the evidence.' " Brandt v. Csaki, 937 S.W.2d 268, 273 (Mo.App.1996) (quoting Powell v. Norman Lines, Inc., 674 S.W.2d 191, 197 (Mo.App.1984)). These are questions reserved for the jury. Powell, 674 S.W.2d at 197. The evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, disregarding all contrary evidence and inferences. Tate, 859 S.W.2d at 834.

Points on Appeal

Point I--Exclusion of Evidence of Medical Treatment and Expenses

As her first point on appeal, Ms. Williams claims that the trial court erred by refusing to allow her to testify at trial concerning approximately three months of medical treatment she received from Drs. Fenton Williams and S.R. Davuluri. She also claims that the trial court erred by refusing to admit medical records and bills from Drs. Williams and Davuluri, in addition to records and bills from diagnostic tests, treatments and prescriptions ordered by these physicians. Ms. Williams argues that this evidence was relevant to show the extent of her personal injuries resulting from the accident and her expenses for the treatment of these injuries. The trial court refused to admit this evidence because Ms. Williams failed to establish a proper foundation that the claimed injuries were caused by the accident and that the treatment was medically necessary as a result of the accident.

On appeal from the exclusion of allegedly admissible evidence, this court accords substantial deference to the trial court's decision and will reverse that decision only if the trial court abused its discretion. Brown v. Hamid, 856 S.W.2d 51, 56 (Mo. banc 1993). In this case, the trial court allowed Ms. Williams to testify that, right after the accident, her lower back was "kind of hurting." Although she was involved in a whiplash accident in 1984, she testified that she had been without symptoms from that incident for over two years when the collision with Ms. Jacobs occurred. When she went home after the accident, Ms. Williams was "feeling a little bit sore" through her shoulders and neck. Over the weekend, she treated her symptoms with a hot water bottle and over-the-counter pain medications. She was able to see her family doctor, Dr. Williams, on Tuesday about her pain from the accident with Ms. Jacobs. She later saw Dr. Davuluri, a neurologist, and he referred her to Dr. Arnold Schoolman. Ms. Williams testified that the pain in her neck, shoulder and low back from the accident was continuous until she was referred to Dr. Schoolman on April 5, 1989. She testified to various tests performed at his behest, including a CAT scan, EMG, and x-rays. The results of these tests were normal. Dr. Schoolman prescribed physical therapy three to four times a week, consisting of hot packs, ultrasound, and massage. He also prescribed home exercises, a back brace and a TENS unit for pain. Ms. Williams was under Dr. Schoolman's care when she was involved in a subsequent car accident in November of 1989.

On cross-examination, Ms. Williams admitted that in her answers to Ms. Jacobs' interrogatories and in her deposition, she had stated that she injured her low back and her right shoulder in the wreck, but that she did not mention that her neck was injured. In response to a deposition inquiry whether she had any injuries other than the low back and right shoulder, Ms. Williams responded that anything else would be insignificant. She testified at trial that her treating doctors kept referring to her neck, and they thought that the pain was coming from the neck causing the shoulder to hurt, but she thought it was her shoulder that was injured. Although her neck "kind of hurt," she didn't think it was anything serious despite the fact that her doctors told her she had a neck injury and she received physical therapy for her neck. She testified that her neck and shoulder were injured in the 1984 rear-end collision, while her shoulder and low back were injured in the 1988 collision with Ms. Jacobs. Finally, she stated there was no injury to her neck in the accident with Ms. Jacobs.

Although the trial court permitted this testimony concerning Ms. Williams' injuries and the treatment she received from Dr. Schoolman, the trial court sustained Ms. Jacobs' foundation objection and excluded Ms. Williams' testimony of the diagnoses and treatments of Drs. Williams and Davuluri. The court also excluded the medical records and bills of Drs. Williams and Davuluri, as well as the records and bills from diagnostic tests ordered by these doctors. With...