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Brunt v. Stoddard12/28/2001
2001 OPINION NO. 108
Appeal from the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Bannock County. Honorable Peter D. McDermott, District Judge.
Judgment for plaintiffs in action to recover damages arising from collision between vehicle and motorcycle, affirmed in part and vacated in part.
This is a personal injury action that raises issues relating to evidentiary issues and issues regarding the apportionment of negligence and the amount of the damage award. We affirm the judgment in part and vacate in part.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On May 23, 1996, Garth Stoddard was operating his vehicle on Poleline Road in Pocatello. Michael Van Brunt was driving his son's motorcycle, also on Poleline Road, in the outside right-hand lane as he approached the intersection with Cedar Street where Stoddard was stopped in the inside lane. Stoddard turned suddenly and abruptly into the right-hand lane and struck Van Brunt's motorcycle, which he claimed he only saw a moment before the impact. Stoddard turned his vehicle to the right when his passenger giving directions realized that they were at the location of his bank and told Stoddard he should turn into the bank's parking lot. Van Brunt was thrown off the motorcycle, struck his back and left flank into the right rear corner of a large Pontiac Bonneville that was parked perpendicular to the traffic, then fell to the ground.
Van Brunt brought suit to recover damages from injuries sustained in the accident. Stoddard challenged all but Van Brunt's ankle injury, which was sufficiently resolved by September of 1996 to allow Van Brunt to return to work. Stoddard disclaimed any liability for Van Brunt's other injuries that manifested themselves after the accident, including toe pain, Morton's neuroma, carpal tunnel syndrome, the later back and neck surgeries and complications from them. Stoddard contended that there was evidence in Van Brunt's medical history of pre-existing conditions and that the surgeries were related to degenerative disc disease and were not a result of the vehicle/motorcycle accident.
Van Brunt's primary treating physicians, Doctor Selznick and Doctor Blair, testified at the trial regarding the care they had provided to Van Brunt, including the surgeries later performed in Seattle by a former mentor and colleague of Doctor Selznick to whom Van Brunt was referred. Testifying on behalf of the defense was Doctor Richard Knoebel, an orthopedist from Hailey, Idaho, who conducted an independent medical examination of Van Brunt. He concluded that the low back pain and the soft tissue flank pain were sufficiently resolved by September of 1996. In his opinion, Van Brunt's complaints of pain in March of 1997 and a fusion done in June 1997 were not secondary to the motor vehicle accident. In his testimony, Dr. Knoebel stated that Van Brunt's neck injury, the pain in his hands, or the back pain that required surgery were not connected in any way with the accident of May 23, 1996.
The case was tried from September 28, 1999, through October 1, 1999. The jury attributed ninety percent negligence to Stoddard and ten percent negligence to Van Brunt and returned a verdict in favor of Van Brunt for $655,500.00. The verdict included an amount representing the property damage to the motorcycle belonging to Brett Van Brunt. The judgment was entered on October 4, 1999, and post-trial motions were argued to the district court. The district court entered an amended judgment reducing the amount of the judgment to $604,682.65, which included interest and an attorney's fee award. Stoddard appealed, asserting principally that he had been denied a fair trial. Van Bru
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