Englert v. Carondelet Health Network

13 P.3d 763, 199 Ariz. 21, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2000 Ariz. App. LEXIS 169
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 28, 2000
Docket2 CA-CV 00-0017
StatusPublished
Cited by116 cases

This text of 13 P.3d 763 (Englert v. Carondelet Health Network) 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
Englert v. Carondelet Health Network, 13 P.3d 763, 199 Ariz. 21, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2000 Ariz. App. LEXIS 169 (Ark. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

OPINION

HOWARD, Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 In this medical malpractice wrongful death case, appellants Dr. Randall Bennett1 and Carondelet Health Network challenge the trial court’s post-verdict orders granting appellee Denise Englert a new trial.2 Dr. Bennett also challenges a pretrial, interlocutory order precluding him from arguing that a Carondelet nurse (Nurse Carr) was comparatively negligent. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Dwight Englert and his wife, Denise, went to Carondelet’s hospital’s emergency room around midnight because Dwight felt pressure in his chest and pain radiating to his neck and ear. Dr. Bennett met with Dwight and Denise, examined Dwight, conducted tests, and diagnosed him as having esophagitis. Dr. Bennett sent Dwight home but prescribed Mylanta and instructed Dwight and Denise to return to the hospital if the pain recurred.

¶ 3 Approximately an hour and a half later, Denise called Nurse Carr at the hospital because Dwight’s symptoms had returned. The nurse spoke to Dr. Bennett, who instructed her to tell Denise that Dwight should take another dose of Mylanta and, if his pain did not subside, that Dwight should return to the hospital. Dwight took a second dose of Mylanta and he and Denise went to bed. When Denise awoke, Dwight was unresponsive. After being rushed to the hospital, Dwight died that morning from a “sudden cardiac event” caused by “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”

¶ 4 Denise sued Dr. Bennett and Carondelet for Dwight’s wrongful death from their alleged medical malpractice. A jury awarded her $280,000 in damages and apportioned ten percent of the fault to Dr. Bennett, seventy-five percent to the Englerts, and fifteen percent to a non-party physician. Denise then filed a motion for new trial, claiming she had been denied a fair trial because, over her objection, the court had allowed Dr. Bennett to argue an undisclosed affirmative defense in his closing argument: that the Englerts were comparatively at fault for withholding from Dr. Bennett information about Dwight’s medical history. The trial court granted the motion for new trial, finding that Dr. Bennett’s withholding of medical history theory was not disclosed before trial and that the court’s erroneous decision to permit Dr. Bennett to argue that theory to the jury had affected Denise’s rights. After Carondelet filed a motion for clarification, in which Dr. Bennett joined, the trial court specifically ordered that the new trial address all contested issues of liability and damages. This appeal followed.

[25]*25NEW TRIAL

¶ 5 Dr. Bennett challenges, on several grounds, the trial court’s decision to grant a new trial. The trial court has the discretion to grant a new trial when it has made a legal error or error in admitting evidence that materially affects a party’s rights. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 59(a)(6), 16 A.R.S. Absent an abuse of that discretion, we will not interfere with a trial court’s decision to grant a new trial on this basis. MacConnell v. Maricopa County Med. Society, 150 Ariz. 505, 506, 724 P.2d 591, 592 (App.1986). “We review an order granting a new trial under a more liberal standard than an order denying one____” State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Brown, 183 Ariz. 518, 521, 905 P.2d 527, 530 (App.1995).

¶ 6 The trial court found that it should have sustained Denise’s objection to Dr. Bennett’s withholding of medical history theory because that affirmative defense had not been disclosed before trial. A party is required to timely disclose its legal defenses and the factual bases for them, a “fair description” of each witness’s expected testimony, and “the substance of the facts and opinions” of each expert’s expected testimony. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 26.1(a)(1), (2), (3), and (6). If a party fails to do so before trial, it is not permitted to use that information at trial absent specific extenuating circumstances. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 37(c)(3).

¶7 Although Dr. Bennett insists that he had disclosed the affirmative defense before trial, the record supports the trial court’s finding that he had not. Dr. Bennett had previously alleged the Englerts’ comparative fault, but on entirely different grounds. He had not included his theory of comparative fault based on the Englerts’ withholding of Dwight’s medical history in his disclosure statements or the joint pretrial statement. Although we agree with Dr. Bennett that Rule 26.1 does not require “detailed ‘scripting’ of expected testimony,” Bryan v. Riddel, 178 Ariz. 472, 476 n. 5, 875 P.2d 131, 135 n. 5 (1994), his pretrial disclosures did not provide Denise with any notice that he would be arguing this theory of comparative fault. See Clark Equip. Co. v. Arizona Property & Cas. Ins. Guar. Fund, 189 Ariz. 433, 440, 943 P.2d 793, 800 (App.1997) (“The purpose of disclosure is ... to give each party adequate notice of what arguments will be made and what evidence will be presented at trial.”). Because the trial court’s finding is supported by the record and the undisclosed affirmative defense should have been precluded, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering a new trial.

¶ 8 Dr. Bennett contends, however, that Denise waived her claim for a new trial because she did not object to the introduction of evidence about Dwight’s medical history. But Denise contends she did not object to the evidence because she believed Dr. Bennett was introducing it to prove the nonparty physician’s fault. Had Dr. Bennett complied with the disclosure rules, he could have avoided any such misunderstanding. And, the issue is not whether the evidence was admissible, but whether Dr. Bennett should have been allowed to argue that it supported an undisclosed theory of comparative fault. Failure to object to the medical history evidence, therefore, was not a waiver of the claim for a new trial based on the undisclosed affirmative defense.

¶ 9 Dr. Bennett also contends Denise waived her claim for a new trial because her objection, made before closing argument, concerned only the admission of an exhibit, not the undisclosed affirmative defense. The trial court implicitly found that Denise’s objection included an objection to the new affirmative defense; the court specifically stated in its minute entry granting Denise a new trial that “this Court should have sustained Plaintiffs objection to the theory being argued at closing.” Moreover, even if Denise had not objected at trial to the undisclosed affirmative defense, her failure to object would not require us to overturn the trial court’s grant of a new trial.

[Tjhough a party risks forfeiting a potential ground for appeal by withholding prompt objection to an opponent’s misconduct, he does not forfeit the right to assert such misconduct as a basis for sustaining the trial court’s new trial order if the trial court finds the impropriety sufficient to [26]*26warrant a new trial despite the absence of a prompt objection.

Liberatore v. Thompson, 157 Ariz. 612, 620, 760 P.2d 612, 620 (App.1988); see also Sadler v. Arizona Flour Mills Co., 58 Ariz. 486, 489-90,121 P.2d 412, 413 (1942).

¶ 10 Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Bierbrodt
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2025
Seguridad v. Wheeler
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2024
Duran v. Terrones
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2024
Moldovan v. Long
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2024
Tucson v. Orbitz
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2024
Fleming v. Fripps
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Collier v. Johnson
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
McLaughlin v. McLaughlin
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
In Re Term of Parental Rights as to C.G.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
McCombs v. Joyce C. Miller Trust
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
In Re Dependency as to A.G. and J.W.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Timothy C., Judy C. v. Natalie S.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Amica v. Hemadi
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Bennie v. Johnson
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2022
Ronnie McDaniel v. Payson Healthcare
Arizona Supreme Court, 2022
Rosenberg v. Conzoner
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2022
Tammy R. v. Lance B., A.R.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2021
Harry W. v. Dcs, L.M.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2021
Wright v. Wright
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2020
Maria v. v. Dcs, Z.G.
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2020

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 P.3d 763, 199 Ariz. 21, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2000 Ariz. App. LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/englert-v-carondelet-health-network-arizctapp-2000.