Doyle v. Central Mutual Insurance Co.

139 So. 2d 766, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1784
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 9, 1962
DocketNo. 536
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 139 So. 2d 766 (Doyle v. Central Mutual Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doyle v. Central Mutual Insurance Co., 139 So. 2d 766, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1784 (La. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

HOOD, Judge.

This is a tort action arising out of a motor vehicle collision which occurred on June 9, 1960. The suit was instituted on June 9, 1961, by Dorman Doyle and his wife, Mary Janelle Doyle, and by Ezra Doyle, individually and as administrator of the estate of his minor daughter, Linda Sue Doyle. The defendants are John E. Khoury and his public liability and property damage insurer, Central Mutual Insurance Company. Plaintiffs contend that as a result of the accident Mrs. Mary Janelle Doyle and Miss Linda Sue Doyle were injured.

After issue was joined the case was tried by jury, and the trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiffs and against defendants, as follows: For Dorman Doyle $175.00; for Mrs. Mary Janelle Doyle $5,000.00; for Ezra Doyle, as administrator of the estate [767]*767of his minor daughter, Linda Sue Doyle, $1,500.00; and for Ezra Doyle, individually, $140.00. A judgment in accordance with the verdict was rendered, read and signed, and defendants have appealed from that judgment.

The only issues raised on this appeal relate to quantum. Defendants apparently do not question the awards made to Dorman Doyle and to Ezra Doyle, individually, but they contend that the amounts awarded to Mrs. Mary Janelle Doyle and for the injuries sustained by Linda Sue Doyle are excessive. Plaintiffs contend that the awards are fair and should not be disturbed. Since no question has been raised as to the awards made to Dorman Doyle and to Ezra Doyle, individually, we will review the judgment only insofar as it relates to the awards in favor of Mrs. Doyle and in favor of Ezra Doyle, as administrator for the estate of his minor child.

There were no applications for a new trial, so we do not have the benefit of an expression from the trial judge as to the correctness or the fairness of the awards made by the jury.

Immediately before the accident which gave rise to this suit occurred Mrs. Doyle (whose name also appears in the record as Mrs. Francis L. Doyle) was driving an automobile, owned by the community which existed between her and her husband, in a' westerly direction across the Calcasieu River bridge, in Lake Charles. Her car stalled while on the bridge and shortly thereafter it was struck in the rear by an automobile bein/¿ driven by the defendant, John E. Khoury. The cars apparently collided with some force, because plaintiff’s vehicle sustained considerable damage as a result of the accident.

There were two passengers in the car which Mrs. Doyle was driving. One was her seven-month old baby, and the other was Mrs. Doyle’s sister-in-law, Linda Sue Doyle, who was then 15 years of age. The baby was not injured as a result of the accident, but Mrs. Doyle and Linda Sue Doyle sustained the injuries which are hereinafter-described.

The evidence shows that at the time this accident occurred Mrs. Doyle was 25 years of age, and she had been pregnant for about two months. No complications-developed during her pregnancy and the baby was born in January, 1961, at the time it was expected. The birth was normal in every way, and plaintiffs concede that the accident produced no ill effects either as to-the pregnancy or as to the child.

Mrs. Doyle did not experience any pain or discomfort immediately after the accident, occurred. Shortly thereafter she, in fact, told the defendant, John E. Khoury, and the State Trooper who investigated the accident that she was not injured. After the investigation had been completed, however, a passing motorist took her to her home in West-lake, Louisiana, in his car, and she testified that on the way to Westlake her back started bothering her. Later that afternoon she and her sister-in-law went to DeQuincy, a distance of about 23 miles, where they were both examined by Dr. David J. Drez. Dr. Drez, a general practitioner, had been. Mrs. Doyle’s family physician for many years and was treating her then during her pregnancy. Mrs. Doyle further testified that her back has bothered her continuously since that time. She says that sometimes it will “just ache,” and at other times it “hurts-pretty bad,” with pain radiating down her right leg. She stated that her neck has; bothered her also, but “it don’t hurt me like my back does,” and that “now it don’t bother me so much as it used to.”

Mrs. Doyle consulted Dr. Drez about once-every three weeks before and after the accident for pre-natal care incidental to her pregnancy, and she visited him on some occasions after the child was born. Dr. Drez testified that in checking his records for the 17-month period which elapsed between the date of the accident and the time case was tried he found that Mrs. Doyle complained of her back on six of those visits,, the last such visit having occurred on Sep[768]*768tember 21, 1961. During all of that time, however, Dr. Drez was unable to find any muscle spasm or objective signs of injury, and the treatment which he administered consisted of physiotherapy and some drugs. He testified that in his opinion, Mrs. Doyle sustained a strain of the muscles on the right side of her neck and a possible strain of the back. He did not consider her injuries to be of such a nature, however, as to warrant an X-ray examination at any time. All of the treatment administered to Mrs. Doyle by Dr. Drez for complaints relating to her back was carried out in the doctor’s office. His total bill for the six visits during which Mrs. Doyle complained of back pain amounted to $30.00.

Dr. George P. Schneider, an orthopedic surgeon, examined Mrs. Doyle on May 1, 1961, almost 11 months after the accident ■occurred, at the request of Dr. Drez. He made no examination of her neck at that time, because she had only minimal or insignificant complaints as to that part of her body, but he did make a clinical and X-ray •examination of her back. Dr. Schneider, like the two other examining physicians, found no muscle spasm or other objective ■signs of injury, but from Mrs. Doyle’s complaints he concluded that as a result of the accident she had sustained a sprain of the low back area which was complicated by her pregnancy, and he felt that she would fully recover within “several months” after he examined her. He stated, however, that although the backache of which Mrs. Doyle •complains could have been caused by the accident, it also could have been caused by her pregnancy or by a pre-existing lordotic curve of her back, neither of which conditions had any relation at all to the accident.

Dr. C. V. Hatchette, an orthopedic surgeon, made a clinical and X-ray examination of Mrs. Doyle on July 14, 1961, at the request of defendants. He also was unable to find any muscle spasm or objective signs of injury, and he concluded that she had fully recovered from any injury which she map have sustained as a result of the accident which occurred on June 9, 1960.

The evidence convinces us that the injury sustained by Mrs. Doyle was of a relatively minor nature. She was never hospitalized or placed in traction, and it was not necessary at any time for her to wear a neck brace or a back support as a result of the injuries which she sustained. None of the doctors who examined her ever suggested or recommended that she use such a brace or support. She apparently has been disabled or inconvenienced very little, if any, because of these injuries. About the only testimony tending to show a disability is her statement with reference to her housework that, “I might stop if it hurts pretty bad,” and her husband’s testimony that, “It seems like it takes her more time in lifting things and she don’t rush like she used to in doing things.

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Related

Cannon v. Standard Accident Insurance
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163 So. 2d 377 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1964)

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Bluebook (online)
139 So. 2d 766, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doyle-v-central-mutual-insurance-co-lactapp-1962.