Hoskins v. Reich

174 P.3d 1250
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 8, 2008
Docket35150-1-II
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 174 P.3d 1250 (Hoskins v. Reich) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoskins v. Reich, 174 P.3d 1250 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

174 P.3d 1250 (2008)

Michael D. HOSKINS, Appellant,
v.
Derek REICH and "Jane Doe" Reich, individually and the marital community thereof, Respondents.

No. 35150-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

January 8, 2008.

*1251 Paul Alexander Lindenmuth, Ben F. Barcus & Associates PLLC, Tacoma, WA, for Appellant.

Elizabeth Ann Jensen, Attorney at Law, Fircrest, WA, for Respondents.

VAN DEREN, J.

¶ 1 Michael D. Hoskins appeals the judgment and jury verdict awarding him $25,095 in past economic damages, nothing in future economic damages, and $15,000 in past and future noneconomic damages for the injuries he suffered in an automobile accident caused by Derek Reich. Hoskins seeks reversal and remand for a new trial, contending that the trial court erred when it (1) admitted evidence of his pre-accident chiropractic treatment and (2) denied his CR 59 motion for a new trial.

¶ 2 We hold that the trial court erred when it admitted evidence of asymptomatic preexisting conditions but, in this instance, the error did not prejudice the jury's verdict and was harmless. We also hold that the trial court did not err in refusing to grant a new trial under CR 59. Thus, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3 On May 10, 2001, Reich's automobile struck Hoskins's pickup truck from behind. Hoskins sued Reich for damages, alleging neck, back, and arm injuries. Reich admitted that he was "liable for any injury or damage which was proximately caused by the" accident. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 120.

¶ 4 On May 11, 2001, Hoskins sought treatment from his chiropractor, Dr. Gordon Rody, who treated him regularly until August 2001. On July 23, 2001, Rody cleared Hoskins to return to work. Hoskins saw Rody a final time in February 2002, when Rody told him that his neck and shoulder pain was not from "an accident-related injury." CP at 343. Nineteen months later, Hoskins saw a family practitioner, Dr. Lowell Finkelman. He consulted Finkelman from September 11, 2003, through April 2004. He told Finkelman that his chiropractic visits had not been helpful, and he complained of neck, back, and arm pain. Finkelman referred Hoskins to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Richard Wohns,[1] in May 2004.

¶ 5 Before trial, Hoskins moved to exclude "all references to [his] asymptomatic, preexisting [medical] conditions." CP at 10. Hoskins later renewed his motion to exclude this information because:

[Reich] clearly desire[d] to introduce evidence of [Hoskins]'s prior efforts at seeking medical treatment for conditions that were similar but not the same as or which were asymptomatic since the subject accident. Such efforts to confuse the jury and to invite speculation, should be precluded as being irrelevant pursuant to ER 402, ER 403,[[2]] and the [Harris v. Drake, 152 Wash.2d 480, 99 P.3d 872 (2004)] decision.

CP at 12. Hoskins argued his motion to exclude at the beginning of the jury trial and the trial court reserved ruling on the issue and admonished the parties not to mention any preexisting medical conditions until it could consider an offer of proof in the form of expert testimony outside the jury's presence.

*1252 ¶ 6 Rody testified to his treatment of Hoskins after the May 10th collision and, on cross-examination, Reich made an offer of proof outside the presence of the jury. Reich asked the trial court to allow Rody to testify about Hoskins's pre-accident chiropractic treatment. When the trial court asked about the relevance of such evidence, Reich responded: "I want to be able to show the jury . . . that there was [a prior] injury, that [Rody] worked on [Hoskins], got him down to sporadic treatments, and then there wasn't very much, and then you get something new." CP at 346.

¶ 7 During the offer of proof, Rody testified that on October 20, 2000, Hoskins complained of right arm numbness and a weak grip and that on November 13, 2000, six months before the accident, Hoskins had complained of neck pain. When asked by the trial court whether a doctor was going to testify that preexisting conditions were "lighted up" by the accident, Reich's attorney responded in the negative and argued that Hoskins "was not a perfect clean slate when he got in this accident of May 10th, 2001. And the fact that he had the prior condition and treatment is relevant to his current injury." CP at 364. Reich admitted that "there's no information that [Hoskins] was having difficulties in the weeks and months immediately before this accident, but he did have a physical condition." CP at 378. Hoskins responded that the "fact that he had previous chiropractic treatment does not establish any particularized preexisting condition." CP at 378.

¶ 8 Over Hoskins's objection, the trial court ruled that the evidence was admissible and denied Hoskins's immediate motion for a mistrial. But in response to Hoskins's further argument that the danger of prejudice outweighed the probative value of such evidence, the trial court excluded any evidence of prior accidents. Hoskins also made a continuing objection to the admission of any pre-accident treatment evidence.

¶ 9 On further cross, and over Hoskins's continuing objection, Rody testified about Hoskins's pre-accident chiropractic treatment, beginning with x-rays in 1998 until November 2000. On redirect, Rody acknowledged that by the time he completed Hoskins's treatment, some six months before the accident, Hoskins was no longer suffering any symptoms. Rody indicated that when Hoskins received treatment after the accident, he looked at the 1998 x-rays to help determine whether the accident injuries were new.

¶ 10 Finkelman testified that Hoskins did not have pre-accident "chronic pain syndrome." Finkelman at 41.[3] Finkelman repeatedly stated that Hoskins had preexisting carpal tunnel syndrome that the accident "lit up." Finkelman at 13. Wohns testified that Hoskins was not experiencing pain before the accident. Both Finkelman and Wohns recommended "[c]ervical fusion surgery" for Hoskins's neck area. Finkelman at 21.

¶ 11 Dr. Robert Colfelt, a defense expert, stated that he consulted, among other things, Rody's records, including pre-accident reports and the 1998 x-ray, and Finkelman's and Wohns's records and deposition testimony, to use as a basis for his opinion that Hoskins's accident injuries had resolved by August 2001, and that treatment after that date was not related to those injuries. Colfelt also testified that any future work loss would not be related to the accident and that Hoskins's carpel tunnel syndrome resulted from repetitive use of his hands and wrists and that the accident did not "light up a dormant carpal tunnel syndrome." CP at 440. Finally, Colfelt stated that, regardless of causation, he did not agree that Hoskins needed the neck surgery Finkelman and Wohns recommended.

¶ 12 Both Hoskins and Reich proposed instruction number 9, taken from 6 Washington Practice: Washington Pattern Jury Instructions: Civil 30.18 at 311 (2005) (WPI), which the trial court gave. The instruction states:

If you find that:
*1253 (1) before this occurrence the plaintiff had a bodily condition that was not causing pain or disability; and
(2) because of this occurrence the preexisting condition was lighted up or made active,

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Bluebook (online)
174 P.3d 1250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoskins-v-reich-washctapp-2008.