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Savnik v. Hall8/30/1999
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of El Dorado County, Patrick J. Riley, Judge. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Defendant Opal Hall appeals from an order denying her motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) following a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs Sinisna Savnik and Michele Conant in their action for personal injuries as a result of an automobile accident.
Two questions are raised by this appeal: (1) was it error for the trial court to refuse to strike the non-economic portion of plaintiff Savnik's damages by retroactively applying Proposition 213 (Civ. Code, § 3333.4) to the case at bar?; and (2) did Conant's status on the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records as a registered owner of the vehicle conclusively establish her as an "owner" within the meaning of Proposition 213, thereby precluding submission of the ownership issue to the jury as a disputed issue of fact?
We conclude Savnik was barred from recovering his non-economic damages by Proposition 213. On the other hand, Conant was properly awarded her non-economic damages based on the jury's finding she was not the "owner" of the vehicle involved in the accident. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs Savnik and Conant filed a complaint for personal injury , alleging that on July 22, 1995, defendant so negligently drove her vehicle as to cause it to collide with the vehicle occupied by plaintiffs.
On the date of the accident Savnik and Conant were living together. Savnik was driving a Chevrolet Suburban which he acquired with his own money the previous summer; Conant was a passenger. There was no liability insurance for the Suburban at the time of the accident.
Plaintiffs' lawsuit was filed on July 17, 1996. On November 7, 1996, the voters of California overwhelmingly passed Proposition 213 which, in part, prohibits uninsured owners from recovering non-economic damages sustained as a result of an automobile accident arising out of the use or operation of the uninsured vehicle. Proposition 213, by its express terms, applies "to all actions in which the initial trial has not commenced prior to January 1, 1997." (Prop. 213, § 4; see Yoshioka v. Superior Court (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 972, 979.)
The case did not get to trial until April 29, 1998. Defendant, having discovered that both Savnik and Conant were listed in DMV records as registered owners of the Suburban, brought a motion in limine to exclude all evidence of non-economic losses suffered by both plaintiffs. Plaintiffs countered that retroactive application of Proposition 213 to the case at bar would be unconstitutional. Plaintiff Conant also contended that Proposition 213 did not apply to her because she "did not have the incidents of ownership" and was unaware that DMV registration records showed her listed as an owner.
The matter came up in a pretrial chambers conference. The court tentatively ruled that evidence of non-economic damages as to both plaintiffs could come in, but "both counsel are put on notice that if there are any economic damages awarded, I will grant a new trial. I'm doing this so as to eliminate the necessity of trying the case a second time should the Appellate Court rule that that prohibition against recovery by a noninsured would be in error and also by virtue of the fact that there's also an issue, as I understand it from counsel, as to whether Michele [Conant] was an owner. And if she were not an owner, then the prohibition 3333.4 would not apply to her, . . ."
At trial, the parties stipulated that the Surburban Savnik was driving was un
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