Miklos v. Caliendo

514 N.E.2d 35, 161 Ill. App. 3d 132, 112 Ill. Dec. 639, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 3221
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 24, 1987
Docket2-86-0605
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 514 N.E.2d 35 (Miklos v. Caliendo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miklos v. Caliendo, 514 N.E.2d 35, 161 Ill. App. 3d 132, 112 Ill. Dec. 639, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 3221 (Ill. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

JUSTICE DUNN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Frank T. Miklos, as guardian of the estate of his disabled son, Jeffrey, filed suit against defendant, Anthony Caliendo, for injuries Jeffrey sustained when he was struck by a truck driven by defendant. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and plaintiff appeals. We find that an issue of material fact exists which precludes entry of summary judgment, so we reverse.

In the early morning hours of September 15, 1983, defendant was driving a tanker truck westbound on what was then known as 1-5, an interstate highway now known as 1-88. Approximately four-tenths of a mile east of the Naperville Road exit from 1-5, defendant’s truck came in contact with Jeffrey Miklos. Jeffrey’s body was found on the north shoulder of the highway, 5.6 feet from the edge of the northernmost lane of traffic. His body was at an angle, with his head pointing in a northeasterly direction and his feet pointing southwest.

A State trooper called to the scene, Trooper Dreyer, examined the area of the accident, but according to his deposition testimony, he was unable to determine where the impact had occurred. The only blood at the scene was under Jeffrey’s body. Jeffrey’s injuries included a large laceration on the right shin, an irregular laceration of the scalp and a fractured skull. The scalp laceration and skull fracture were just above and behind the left ear. Jeffrey also sustained abrasions to his right arm, right hip, left hip, left iliac crest and the left side of his back, and a contusion affecting the left ankle.

Trooper Dreyer also examined defendant’s truck. He noticed that the fiberglass right front fender was cracked or broken. While he could not be certain that the fender damage was caused by the accident, the damage appeared fresh to Trooper Dreyer. He also noticed that the screen over the muffler on the right side of the truck was dented. There was blood on the screen, located less than five feet from ground level, approximately even with the bottom of the door of the semi.

When defendant moved for summary judgment, he supported the motion with the transcript of the discovery deposition of Jeffrey, and an affidavit in which defendant set forth his version of the accident. Plaintiff objected to defendant’s affidavit as violative of section 8— 201(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 110, par. 8 — 201(a)), commonly known as the Dead Man’s Act, because, due to his injuries, Jeffrey has no recollection of the accident. Plaintiff did not obtain a ruling on the objection, but it does not appear that the trial court considered defendant’s affidavit. Rather, in granting summary judgment, the trial court stated that the reason for doing so was that the record contained nothing to indicate negligence on the part of defendant.

Plaintiff moved for a rehearing and supported the motion with his own affidavit as to the careful habits of Jeffrey, the accident report of Trooper Dreyer, and a medical report from Dr. Mousavi, one of Jeffrey’s treating doctors, which disclosed the character of Jeffrey’s injuries. Plaintiff also attached the transcript of defendant’s deposition which, plaintiff argues, contains an admission that defendant had given a different version of the occurrence to Trooper Dreyer than the version contained in defendant’s affidavit.

Defendant moved to strike the Mousavi and Dreyer reports, objecting that it was improper for plaintiff to support his motion with documents that would not be admissible at trial. Plaintiff then filed supplementary exhibits consisting of the depositions of Trooper Dreyer and Dr. Mousavi, photographs of defendant’s truck after the accident, and the affidavit of Joseph Kostur, an accident reconstruction expert. Defendant moved to strike Kostur’s affidavit on several grounds and also replied that there was still no evidence of negligence. The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for rehearing and considered the new submissions. The court then struck Kostur’s affidavit and again granted summary judgment for defendant.

Plaintiff argues on appeal that the trial court erred in striking Kostur’s affidavit and in granting summary judgment for defendant. Defendant responds that the trial court acted properly in striking Kostur’s affidavit and in entering summary judgment. In addition, defendant argues that the statement of facts contained in plaintiff’s appellate brief is not in compliance with Supreme Court Rule 341(e)(6). (107 Ill. 2d R. 341(e)(6).) Specifically, defendant argues that plaintiff’s statement of facts is merely a collection of arguments and does not state the facts accurately and fairly without argument or comment. Defendant urges us to strike plaintiff’s statement of facts and to dismiss the appeal as an appropriate sanction. After examination of plaintiff’s statement of facts, however, we find no violation of Rule 341(e)(6) worthy of such sanction. The complained-of portions merely set forth the positions of the parties in the proceedings below and are not argumentative in themselves. We turn now to the merits of the appeal.

The first issue we must decide is whether the trial court properly struck Kostur’s affidavit. We examine this point first because if we decide that the trial court erred in striking the affidavit, we can also consider the affidavit in determining if summary judgment for defendant was proper. We hold, however, that the trial court properly struck Kostur’s affidavit because the affidavit does not set forth the facts on which Kostur based his conclusions.

Kostur’s affidavit first describes his qualifications as an accident reconstruction expert. Although defendant questions whether Kostur’s background as set forth qualifies him as an expert, we will assume that it does for purposes of the following discussion. The affidavit then states that Kostur read the depositions of Trooper Dreyer, Dr. Mousavi, defendant, plaintiff and Jeffrey, and that he also examined the police report, photographs of the truck and Jeffrey’s medical records. He also states that this type of information is customarily and ordinarily relied upon by experts in his field. Then, stating that his opinions were based upon a reasonable degree of accident construction and scientific certainty, Kostur concluded that Jeffrey was most likely struck while on the shoulder of the roadway and that the accident could not have happened as defendant described it in his deposition testimony and affidavit.

Supreme Court Rule 191 states in pertinent part:

“Affidavits in support of and in opposition to a motion for summary judgment under section 2 — 1005 of the Code of Civil Procedure *** shall be made on the personal knowledge of the affiants; shall set forth with particularity the facts upon which the claim, counterclaim, or defense is based; *** shall not consist of conclusions but of facts admissible in evidence; and shall affirmatively show that the affiant, if sworn as a witness, can testify competently thereto.” 107 Ill. 2d R. 191(a).

Kostur’s affidavit is devoid of any facts on which he based his conclusions. He simply states that he has read various depositions and records, but in no way indicates which facts contained in those documents led him to his conclusions. Kostur’s affidavit thus did not meet the requirements of Rule 191 and was properly stricken. Kosten v. St. Anne’s Hospital (1985), 132 Ill. App.

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Miklos v. Caliendo
514 N.E.2d 35 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
514 N.E.2d 35, 161 Ill. App. 3d 132, 112 Ill. Dec. 639, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 3221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miklos-v-caliendo-illappct-1987.