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Reece v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.12/23/2004
AFFIRMING
Shannon Reece brings this appeal from a November 7, 2003, Judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court, entered after a jury trial on Reece's complaint seeking damages for personal injuries arising from an automobile accident. We affirm.
Reece was injured in an automobile accident in Jefferson County in October of 1997. She was a passenger in a vehicle owned and operated by Kathleen Opel, who was solely at fault in the accident. Opel's liability insurance carrier paid Reece its full Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits of $10,000.00 and its liability policy limits of $25,000.00 in settlement of the claims against Opel. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Nationwide) was the insurance carrier for Reece's father. Nationwide provided underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) under two policies that were in effect and covered Reece at the time of the accident. The total UIM coverage was $50,000.00.
Reece initiated this action against Nationwide to collect the UIM benefits. The parties stipulated that there were no coverage issues and the only issue remaining for determination by a jury was the extent of Reece's injuries caused by the accident. The trial court directed a verdict in favor of Nationwide on Reece's claims for permanent injury and future impairment of Reece's ability to earn money. The jury ultimately returned a verdict in favor of Reece in the amount of $8,000.00 for past and future pain and suffering, $7,000.00 for medical expenses, and $15,000.00 for future medical expenses. Since Reece had previously received compensation from Opel's insurance carrier which exceeded the amounts awarded by the jury, judgment in favor of Nationwide was entered by the trial court. Reece now brings this appeal.
Reece initially argues the trial court committed reversible error by admitting evidence of Dr. David Thurman's loss of his medical license and denying Reece's motion in limine to exclude this evidence. Dr. Thurman was a treating physician of Reece. Dr. Thurman's deposition was taken October 2, 2003. On October 16, 2003, the Kentucky Medical License Board entered an emergency order suspending Dr. Thurman's license to practice medicine in Kentucky. On October 27, 2003, two days prior to trial, Nationwide served on Reece's counsel a supplemental witness list that identified a representative of the Kentucky Medical Licensure Board to testify regarding the suspension of Dr. Thurman's license. On October 28, 2003, Reece filed a motion seeking to suppress the introduction of any evidence concerning Dr. Thurman's loss of his medical license. The trial court denied the motion.
At trial, Nationwide did not introduce any evidence or testimony concerning the suspension of Dr. Thurman's medical license. Rather, Reece's counsel advised the jury during voir dire that Dr. Thurman's medical license had recently been suspended. Reece's counsel also brought this to the attention of the jury during his opening and closing arguments.
We believe Morrow v. Stivers, Ky. App., 836 S.W.2d 424 (1992) is instructive upon this issue. The Court was faced with the question of whether evidence of the suspension of an expert's medical license could be properly admitted during cross-examination of the expert. The Court answered the question in the negative by concluding that "a witness cannot be cross-examined on a collateral matter which is irrelevant to the issue at hand." Id. at 429. Likewise, in this case, we believe the emergency suspension of Dr. Thurman's license constituted a collateral matter which was irrelevant to the issue of his care and treatment of Reece. We conclude the circuit court erred in admitting this evidence; however, we view such error
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