Dykeman v. Ashton

446 P.2d 26, 8 Ariz. App. 327, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 534
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 17, 1968
Docket2 CA-CIV 547
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 446 P.2d 26 (Dykeman v. Ashton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dykeman v. Ashton, 446 P.2d 26, 8 Ariz. App. 327, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 534 (Ark. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

KRUCKER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff (appellee) Barbara Ashton against the defendant (appellant) Jan Dykeman as a result of a two-car motor vehicle accident occurring at the intersection of Ft. Lowell and Swan Road on March 1, 1964.

The plaintiff, Barbara Ashton, was a passenger in a vehicle northbound on Swan Road driven by the defendant, Jan Dyke-man, which failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of East Ft. Lowell and collided with a vehicle driven by George Balón, which was proceeding east on Ft. Lowell Road. Defendant Dykeman was proceeding at a speed of approximately 15 to 20 miles per hour entering the restricted intersection, and in the resulting accident the plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries. Trial was held the first week of November, 1967.

Appellant raises seven issues on appeal, three of which deal with claimed error as to medical evidence issues, and four dealing with so-called instruction and evidence issues.

We will consider them in the order in which they are raised in the appellant’s brief.

The first deals with the trial court’s refusal to permit a physical re-examination of plaintiff. On October 13, 1967, plaintiff and defendant each filed her pretrial memorandum, and in defendant’s memorandum there was a request that defendant be given leave to have plaintiff examined by defendant’s doctor. On October 18, 1967, the pretrial conference was held, and in its order the court granted defendant leave to file a motion to require medical examination of the plaintiff. This motion was filed on the same day, and it was argued to the court on October 23, 1967, at which time the court denied the motion as being untimely made.

Rule V(f), Uniform Rules of Practice of the Superior Court, 17 A.R.S., reads as follows:

“(f) Additional discovery. No party may undertake any pretrial procedures under Rules 26 to 37 of the Rules of Civil Procedure five days before the *329 pretrial conference, or thereafter, except that the Court may, for good cause shown such as the continuous absence from the state of a non-resident party, enter an order allowing such discovery procedures to be undertaken at any time prior to trial.”

It is clear that defendant’s motion was subject to the provisions of the aforesaid Rule V(f), which by its terms prohibits all discovery proceedings within its scope except in the case where the court, for good cause shown, has permitted additional discovery.

The granting or denial of additional discovery under the terms of Rule V(f) is clearly a matter within the discretion of the trial court, and this court will not disturb the trial court’s ruling as to such matters unless it appears that there was a clear abuse of discretion. Colfer v. Ballantyne, 89 Ariz. 408, 363 P.2d 588 (1961).

Defendant has asserted certain grounds as constituting “good cause” in support of her motion, however, she has failed to make any showing that plaintiff was unavailable for the requested medical examination prior to the time that the prohibition in Rule V(f) became effective, or that there were any special circumstances which would warrant an examination at this time and which were not known to the defendant prior to the time that discovery became closed. We do not at this time intend to imply that unavailability of the party to be examined or the existence of newly discovered circumstances must be shown before the trial court may properly grant a motion for additional discovery; however, it is our opinion that where the foregoing have not been shown, and where the trial court has refused to grant additional discovery, that this denial does not constitute an abuse of discretion.

The next issue raised by defendant in her appeal is based on the refusal of the trial court to compel plaintiff to produce reports and notations which were made in connection with recent medical examinations of the plaintiff by her own physician.

On August 16, 1967, defendant, by letter, requested plaintiff to produce reports of recent medical examinations of plaintiff by her doctor. It is not clear whether any response was given to this letter, but in any event, the reports were not produced prior to trial. At the end of the first day of the trial, defendant, by oral motion, advised the court of her request by letter and that this request had not been complied with, and at this time defendant moved the court to order plaintiff to produce the reports in question. Plaintiff at this time denied that she had the reports, and the court thereupon denied defendant’s motion to produce, suggesting that if defendant wished to obtain information from the file of plaintiff’s doctor, that it be done by subpoena.

We do not feel it necessary to decide whether defendant was entitled to an order for production under these circumstances, because we do not find that the denial of defendant’s motion resulted in any substantial prejudice to her. There is nothing to indicate that production by means of a subpoena would have been any less efficient than the order for production requested in defendant’s motion, and furthermore, it appears that defendant had access to the plaintiff’s doctor’s file when he appeared on the second day of the trial.

In order to justify the reversal of a case, there must not only be error, but it must be prejudicial to the substantial rights of the person assigning this error, and it will not be presumed that an error is prejudicial so as to require reversal, but the prejudice must appear from the record. State ex rel. Willey v. Whitman, 91 Ariz. 120, 370 P.2d 273 (1962).

There is nothing in the record to indicate that, had defendant’s motion to produce been granted, the preparation of her *330 case, or the ability to prepare, would have been enhanced in any respect, inasmuch as equivalent alternative means were available by which the desired information could have been obtained.

Since the ruling of the trial court, whether it was correct or otherwise, has not been shown to be prejudicial to the defendant’s cause, there can be no reversal on this basis.

Defendant’s third ground of appeal pertains to the refusal by the trial court to grant defendant’s motion for a continuance for the purpose of permitting defendant to .put on rebuttal medical testimony.

It is well settled in this State that a. motion for continuance is directed to the ¡sound discretion of the trial court, and unless that discretion has been abused the trial court’s ruling will not be disturbed by a reviewing tribunal. Merryman v. Sears, 50 Ariz. 412, 72 P.2d 943 (1937); City of Tucson v. O’Rielly Motor Company, 64 Ariz. 240, 168 P.2d 245 (1946).

Where a party seeks a continuance due to the absence of a witness, there .must be a showing that the witness’s testimony would be material, were he allowed to testify, and that the moving party has used due diligence to procure the attendance of the witness. City of Tucson v. O’Rielly Motor Company, supra.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
446 P.2d 26, 8 Ariz. App. 327, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dykeman-v-ashton-arizctapp-1968.