Hobgood v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

156 So. 3d 1244, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0581, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 3171, 2014 WL 7183863
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 17, 2014
DocketNo. 2014-CA-0581
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 156 So. 3d 1244 (Hobgood v. State Farm Mutual Automobile 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
Hobgood v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 156 So. 3d 1244, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0581, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 3171, 2014 WL 7183863 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

DANIEL L. DYSART, Judge.

|,In this action for damages arising out of an automobile accident, plaintiff appeals a jury verdict in her favor on the basis that the awards for general and special damages are insufficient and should be increased and that the jury’s failure to award the full amount of her medical expenses, in addition to all future medical expenses, was manifestly erroneous. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

On April 23, 2010, plaintiff, Kathleen Hobgood, was involved in an automobile accident with defendant, Jordan Zara. According to her Petition for Damages, on that date, plaintiffs vehicle was rear-ended by Mr. Zara’s vehicle. Plaintiff sued Mr. Zara and his insurer, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”), and two uninsured/underinsured motorist carriers — General Insurance Company of America (“GICA”) and Progressive Security Insurance Company (“Progressive”) — for her personal injuries, including a herniated disc in her lower back, and damages related to same.1

12Prior to trial, the parties stipulated that the accident was caused solely by Mr. Zara; accordingly, the only issues for trial were the nature of the injuries plaintiff sustained in the accident and the amount of damages to which plaintiff was entitled. A trial before an Orleans Parish jury took place from January 6-9, 2014, resulting in a verdict in plaintiffs favor in the sum of $111,000.00, representing the following:

Past medical expenses.$69,000.00
Future medical expenses_$12,000.00
Past lost wages .$1,000.00
General damages.$25,000.00
Loss of enjoyment of life.$1,000.00

On January 15, 2014, the trial court rendered judgment in accordance with the jury’s verdict. Plaintiff then filed a Motion to Tax Costs which was granted by judgment dated March 25, 2014. Plaintiff timely appealed the judgment.

DISCUSSION

Standard of review

A jury’s factual findings are subject to the manifest error standard of review by an appellate court. Johnson v. Mike Anderson’s Seafood, Inc., 13-0379, p. 12 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/11/14), 144 So.3d 125, 134, citing Green v. K-Mart Corp., 032495, p. 3 (La.5/25/04), 874 So.2d 838, 842. As we reiterated in Hammond v. Rahsaana, 13-1202, p. 5 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/26/14), 135 [1247]*1247So.3d 1207, 1210-11, quoting Rabalais v. Nash, 06-0999, p. 4 (La.3/9/07), 952 So.2d 653, 657:

It is well-settled that a court of appeal may not set aside a trial court’s or a jury’s finding of fact ... unless it is clearly wrong.... To reverse a fact-finder’s determination, the appellate court must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding of |sthe trial court, and that the record establishes that the finding is clearly wrong. Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120, 1127 (La.1987). Where the jury’s findings are reasonable, in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse. Even where the court of appeal is convinced that it would have weighed the evidence differently to reach a different result, reversal of the trial court is improper unless the trial court’s, ruling is manifestly erroneous, or clearly wrong.

It is equally well-settled that, where there are two permissible views of the evidence, a fact-finder’s choice cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong; thus, an appellate court “must be cautious not to re-weigh the evidence or to substitute its own factual findings” for those of the trial court. Id., quoting Eisenhardt v. Snook, 08-1287, p. 6 (La.3/17/09), 8 So.3d 541, 545. As a reviewing court, we must resolve the issue of whether the fact-finder’s conclusion was reasonable. Id., 13-1202, pp. 5-6, 135 So.3d at 1211, citing Stobart v. State through Dept. of Transp. and Development, 617 So.2d 880, 882 (La.1993).

With these principles in mind, we turn to plaintiffs assignments of error, addressed in the order in which they were raised, after first outlining pertinent testimony and medical evidence adduced at trial.

Medical testimony and evidence

According to plaintiff, immediately after the Friday, April 23, 2010 accident, she was “shaken” but began to have back, neck and left arm pain over the weekend. She was able, however, to return to her employment as the administrative assistant to attorney Morris Bart on Monday. She then began treating with a chiropractor, Dr. Stephen Brower, her daughter had seen previously.

Dr. Brower testified that he initially saw plaintiff on April 27, 2010, for neck, right lower back pain, leg, joint and buttocks pain in April 27, 2010. By August, 2010, plaintiffs neck pain had resolved, but she continued to complain of |4low back pain radiating into the right leg and her buttocks. Plaintiff had an MRI of the lumbar spine on August 24, 2010, which Dr. Brow-er interpreted to be “positive.” The MRI report indicates no nerve root canal contact and “moderate disc bulges [and facet arthrosis] at the lower three lumbar levels” (i.e., at L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1). Dr. Brower admitted that, at plaintiffs July, 2010 appointment, she reported that her back had improved and that certain testing (straight leg raising test) suggested that there was no disc, problem. Dr. Brower’s records reflect that she had 19 chiropractic treatments from April 28, 2010 through August 6, 2010 (attending 2 sessions a week for 5 of the weeks and once a week for 8 of the weeks).

Dr. Brower recommended that plaintiff see an orthopedist; however, plaintiff next sought medical treatment with Dr. Rand Voorhies, a neurosurgeon, on September 10, 2010, for back pain, radiating into her right buttock and right leg. Dr. Voorhies reviewed plaintiffs MRI and detected an abnormality at the lowest segment of her lumbar spine, which he described as the L5-S1 or L4-L5 “true motion segment.”2 [1248]*1248Dr. Voorhies opined that the primary source of plaintiffs pain was the facet joint at the L5-S1 segment,3 where he also noted an annular tear. Dr. Voorhies referred plaintiff to a pain interventionist and she returned to see him approximately a year later, on August 31, 2011. She continued to see him periodically through October, 2012, returned to see him in October, 2013 and last saw him on November 13, 2013.

|rAs of plaintiffs first appointment with Dr. Voorhies, he thought that she was a candidate for surgery and likely discussed it with her at that time. At the least, he discussed surgery with her as early as November, 2010. However, plaintiff testified that she did not want to have surgery “until [she] can’t take the pain anymore.” Dr. Voorhies confirmed that plaintiff indicated that she did not want to undergo surgery at that time.

On cross-examination, Dr. Voorhies admitted that on almost all of plaintiffs examinations with him, plaintiff ranked her pain level as low (although he noted moderate or severe pain on certain occasions as well). He likewise admitted that there was no sign of nerve damage, disc herniation, central canal stenosis or anything pressing on the spinal cord. Dr.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
156 So. 3d 1244, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0581, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 3171, 2014 WL 7183863, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hobgood-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-lactapp-2014.