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Hendrickson v. King County6/23/2000
King County appeals a judgment against it in favor of Bryce Hendrickson and his parents. Hendrickson sustained a spinal cord injury after he dove into a County-owned swimming pool. The County claims the trial court improperly applied CR 32(a)(5) to exclude deposition testimony and ER 904 to exclude medical records. The County also claims it is entitled to a new trial because of instructional error, insufficient evidence of causation, and cumulative error that denied it a fair trial. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
FACTS
In January 1995, Hendrickson, then 16 years old, was a member of the Auburn High School swim team. The Auburn School District used a King County swimming pool for swim team practices. Although County-employed lifeguards were responsible generally for swimmer safety at the pool, the School District's coaches were in charge during team practice.
The practice pool had a moveable bulkhead that divided the pool into separate sections. During practices, the team placed the divider toward the deep end to separate the diving area from the swimming area. Swim team members routinely dove off the bulkhead during practices. Neither head swim team coach James Farrell nor assistant coaches Scott McLaughlin and Dave Halford ever advised team members not to dive off the bulkhead or told them about the risk of spinal cord injuries from diving into shallow water.
On January 23, Hendrickson arrived at the pool for practice and helped team members move the bulkhead into position. The pool depth markings at the bulkhead location indicated a water depth of six feet on one side of the bulkhead and five feet on the other side. The actual depths, however, were 5 feet 2 inches and 4 feet 9½ inches respectively.
When the bulkhead was in place, Hendrickson walked out onto it, placed his feet on the edge, and dove into the water. Although no one saw him enter the pool, Aaron Ennis, a County lifeguard, saw someone dive in headfirst out of the corner of his eye.
Immediately after the dive, Hendrickson was unable to move. A teammate, Tyler Galloway, saw Hendrickson at the bottom of the pool and was able to help him lift his head out of the water. When Hendrickson told Tyler he was unable to breathe, Tyler called for help. County lifeguards and pool manager Tracy Alexander responded. They strapped Hendrickson to a backboard and lifted him from the pool; Hendrickson could not move any part of his body.
While Hendrickson was lying strapped to the backboard, Coach Farrell arrived and asked what happened. According to Coaches Farrell and McLaughlin and pool manager Alexander, Hendrickson said he had done a shallow dive, then a flip turn. In his trial testimony, Hendrickson recalled his comment as follows:
A: Well, I said, 'I don't know what happened, I must have been flipping or something.' I was just looking for some answers, I had no idea what was going on.
Q: Why did you say to Coach Farrell, 'I don't know what's happening, but I must have been flipping or something'?
A: Well, for some reason, it felt like my body was all curled up in like a ball. I kept asking Nathan to straighten my legs out, and he kept saying, 'They are straight, man, they are not bent at all.'
Q: But you had a sensation like you were curled up?
A: Yes.
Q: Hendrickson, do you have any recollection of doing a flip or some kind of a flip when you dove into the water?
A: No, I don't.
Q: No recollection of that?
A: No.
Q: But do you acknowledge that you made the statement to Coach Farrell?
A: Yeah
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