Dabestani v. Bellus

961 P.2d 633, 131 Idaho 542, 1998 Ida. LEXIS 79
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJune 24, 1998
DocketNo. 23509
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 961 P.2d 633 (Dabestani v. Bellus) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dabestani v. Bellus, 961 P.2d 633, 131 Idaho 542, 1998 Ida. LEXIS 79 (Idaho 1998).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Justice.

This is an automobile accident case. We grant a new trial.

I.

THE BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Soheil Dabestani (Dabestani) was traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 93 (the highway), approximately seven miles south of Twin Falls, Idaho, just after midnight when he came upon a milk tanker truck and trailer (the truck), driven by Murt Parmor Bellus (Bellus) and owned by Avonmore West, Inc. (Avonmore), stretched across both lanes of the roadway from the driveway of the Delaney Dairy (the dairy). Bellus was in the process of backing the truck into the dairy. Dabestani, whose blood alcohol concentration showed he had been drinking, was unable to stop in time. His vehicle went under the left side of the truck, causing him severe injuries that have incapacitated him.

Dabestani’s guardian (the guardian) sued Bellus and Avonmore (the defendants) on Dabestani’s behalf. After a trial on the issue of liability only, the jury found Dabestani fifty percent negligent, Avonmore forty percent negligent, and Bellus ten percent negligent. The guardian asked the trial court to grant a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (j.n.o.v.) or in the alternative a new trial, both of which the trial court denied. The guardian appealed.

II.

THE GUARDIAN IS NOT ENTITLED TO A J.N.O.V.

The guardian asserts that the trial court should have granted a j.n.o.v. We disagree.

A j.n.o.v. is simply a delayed motion for a directed verdict. I.R.C.P. 50(b); Quick v. Crane, 111 Idaho 759, 763, 727 P.2d 1187, 1191 (1986). A party moving for j.n.o.v. must admit the truth of the other party’s evidence and this evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the other party. Id. In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion for j.n.o.v., we must determine whether or not “there can be but one conclusion as to the verdict that reasonable minds could have reached;” that is, whether there is substantial and competent evidence justifying the verdict. Id. at 764, 727 P.2d at 1192.

Considering as true all the evidence presented by the defendants and viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to the defendants, we conclude that there is substantial and competent evidence to support the jury’s verdict that Dabestani was fifty percent responsible for the accident.

III.

THE GUARDIAN IS ENTITLED TO A NEW TRIAL

The guardian asserts that he is entitled to a new trial. We agree for several reasons.

A. Lack of Safety Committee Meeting by Avonmore After the Accident.

The guardian asserts that the trial court should not have prevented cross-examination concerning the lack of a safety committee meeting by Avonmore after the accident. We agree.

There was no safety committee meeting held by Avonmore following this accident. Bellus’s supervisor (the supervisor) testified that it was standard procedure for Avonmore to hold a safety committee meeting whenever a driver indicated that he was not at fault for a given accident but that no safety meeting would be held if a driver admitted fault. The trial court would not permit cross-examination to explore the issue further, ruling that it was irrelevant and would result in allowing the jury to make an impermissible inference. We conclude that the absence of a safety committee meeting is significant circumstan[545]*545tial evidence that Bellus admitted to Avon-more that he was at fault in the accident. The nonexistence of a safety committee meeting is relevant because it tends to make the existence of the liability of the defendants more probable.

Although in its oral ruling from the bench the trial court only addressed the relevancy of this evidence, in its written order the trial court mentioned both irrelevancy and unfair prejudice under Idaho Rule of Evidence (I.R.E.) 403. The written order is the final order pursuant to I.R.C.P. 16(f). See Ross v. Coleman Co., Inc., 114 Idaho 817, 837-38, 761 P.2d 1169, 1189-90 (1988) (determining that since no written order was ever issued, the trial court could overrule its initial oral ruling on the motion in limine by a subsequent oral ruling). Therefore, we must review the discretionary aspect of this I.R.E. 403 ruling by the following three step test:

(1) whether the trial court correctly perceived the issue as one of discretion; (2) whether the trial court acted within the outer boundaries of its discretion and consistently with the legal standards applicable to the specific choices available to it; and (3) whether the trial court reached its decision by an exercise of reason.

Sun Valley Shopping Ctr. v. Idaho Power Co., 119 Idaho 87, 94, 803 P.2d 993, 1000 (1991). In the trial court’s conclusory statement in the written order, no reasoning is mentioned for the ruling concerning I.R.E. 403. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in making this ruling.

The trial court should have permitted cross-examination concerning this issue.

In Hake v. DeLane, 117 Idaho 1058, 793 P.2d 1230 (1990), the Court said: “An error in the exclusion of evidence is not grounds for granting a new trial unless refusal to do so is inconsistent with substantial justice. We will disregard the error if it does not affect the substantial rights of the parties. I.R.C.P. 61; I.R.E. 103.” Id. at 1065, 793 P.2d at 1237. Because the jury found that responsibility for the accident was equally divided between Dabestani on one side and Bellus and Avonmore on the other, this evidence could have been critical for the jury to consider. We conclude the error affects Dabestani’s substantial rights and is grounds for granting a new trial. I.R.C.P. 61; I.R.E. 103(a).

B. The Trial Court Should Have Permitted Cross-examination of the Defense’s Accident Reconstruction Expert Concerning Bellus’s Statement to an Insurance Adjuster.

The guardian asserts that the trial court should have allowed cross-examination of the defense’s accident reconstruction expert (Blotter) concerning Bellus’s statement to an insurance adjuster. We agree.

Bellus provided a statement concerning the accident to the insurance adjuster for Avonmore (the adjuster). The trial court correctly ruled that this statement was work product and free from discovery. The record does not disclose what Bellus told the adjuster. The guardian determined through discovery that Blotter was not provided with a copy of Bellus’s statement to the adjuster. Blotter based his opinion concerning causation for the accident on his review of the police report and accompanying statements, depositions, views of the scene, and views of the vehicles. The trial court would not permit any cross-examination concerning Blotter not having been provided Bellus’s statement to the adjuster. Opposing counsel is entitled to question an expert on “the underlying facts or data [giving rise to the expert’s opinion] on cross-examination.” I.R.E. 705. This permits cross-examination concerning which materials the expert relied on and those which the expert did not rely on.

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Bluebook (online)
961 P.2d 633, 131 Idaho 542, 1998 Ida. LEXIS 79, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dabestani-v-bellus-idaho-1998.