Partlow, L. v. Gray, K.

165 A.3d 1013, 2017 Pa. Super. 187, 2017 WL 2590738, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 437
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 15, 2017
DocketPartlow, L. v. Gray, K. No. 2560 EDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 165 A.3d 1013 (Partlow, L. v. Gray, K.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Partlow, L. v. Gray, K., 165 A.3d 1013, 2017 Pa. Super. 187, 2017 WL 2590738, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 437 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

DUBOW, J.:

Kahlile Gray (“Appellant”) appeals from the July 12, 2016 Judgment entered by the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas following a jury trial. We affirm.

The relevant facts, as gleaned from the trial court’s September 15, 2016 Opinion and the certified record, are as follows. On April 4, 2013, Decedent, Calvin Wilson, Jr., and his friend had been riding their motorcycles throughout Philadelphia. Decedent had recorded their ride with a Go Pro video camera, which Decedent mounted on his motorcycle, and the recording showed, inter alia, that in the half-mile before the accident, Decedent had performed three wheelies. Appellant was,driving in the opposite direction in a Dodge Durango, and both lanes of travel had green lights. Decedent was not speeding.

Appellant attempted to make a left-hand turn through Decedent’s lane of travel. Appellant hit Decedent’s motorcycle and killed Decedent. A police officer observed Appellant’s bloodshot and watery eyes after the accident, as well as Appellant’s lethargic behavior. Appellant denied consuming alcohol at any point that day. Two hours after the accident, Appellant’s blood alcohol content (“BAG”) was 0.073. Appel-lee’s expert opined that Appellant’s BAC two hours after the accident indicated his BAC was .104% at the time of the accident.

Lenora Partlow, the Administratrix of the Estate of Calvin Wilson, Jr. (“Appel-lee”), filed a Writ of Summons on June 15, 2013, and a Complaint on January 7, 2014, asserting a survival action and a wrongful death action.

The trial court heard several Motions in Limine prior to trial regarding, inter alia, the admissibility of the Go Pro video recording, the evidence of Appellant’s alcohol consumption and intoxication, and expert testimony based on the evidence of Appellant’s alcohol consumption and intoxication. The trial court admitted evidence of Appellant’s alcohol consumption and intoxication, *1016 as well as limited portions of the Go Pro video, recording.

Following a jury trial from February 5, 2016 to February 11, 2016, at which Appellant conceded liability but claimed that Decedent had been comparatively negligent, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Appellee for $3.1 million. 1 The jury awarded $1,850,000 for net loss earning capacity for the survival action and $1,250,000 for the wrongful death action.

Appellant filed Post-Trial Motions, which the trial court denied on July 12, 2016. The same day, the trial court entered Judgment in favor of Appellee for $3.1 million.

Appellant, filed a timely Notice of Appeal. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Appellant presents the following four issues for our review:

[1.] Whether the [tjrial [court] abused its discretion in'allowing the admission of alleged intoxication when it was clearly not relevant and, to the extent it was relevant on the negligence issues, its probative value was far outweighed by the prejudice to [Appellant], especially when the [c]ourt initially denied [Appellant’s] Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the punitive damages claim but later granted [Appellant’s] Motion for ’Compulsory Nonsuit on the issue of punitive damages?
[2.] Whether the [t]rial [c]ourt abused its discretion in allowing evidence of alleged intoxication and/or alcohol use by [Appellant], including but not limited to testimony from [Appellee’s] toxicology expert witness, when there was insufficient and inadequate corroborating evidence?
3. Whether [t]he [t]rial [c]ourt abused its discretion in excluding extremely relevant portions of the Go Pro video preceding the subject crash, which demonstrated that decedent Calvin Wilson, Jr. was driving negligently and carelessly? 4. Whether the [t]rial [c]ourt abused its discretion in redacting' portions of [Appellant’s] accident reconstructionist expert report and as a result precluded the testimony on the redacted matters?

Appellant’s Brief at 4-5 (reordered).

Each of Appellant’s four issues challenges the trial court’s evidentiary rulings at trial. We review a trial court’s evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. Lykes v. Yates, 77 A.3d 27, 30-31 (Pa.Super. 2013). “[W]here the evidentiary ruling turns on a question of law our review is plenary.” Id. at 31.

Evidence of Appellant’s' Unfitness to Drive

In his first two issues, Appellant challenges the admission of evidence of Appellant’s intoxication and unfitness to drive. We will address these issues together.

Our standard and scope of review are as follows:

Questions regarding the admissibility or exclusion of evidence are also subject to the abuse of discretion standard of review. Pennsylvania' trial judges enjoy broad discretion regarding the admissibility of potentially misleading and confusing evidence. Relevance is a threshold consideration in determining the admissibility of evidence. A trial court may, however, properly exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Generally, for the purposes of this *1017 evidentiary rule, “prejudice” means an undue tendency to suggest a decision on an improper basis. The erroneous admission of harmful or prejudicial evidence constitutes reversible error.

Rohe v. Vinson, 158 A.3d 88, 2016 PA Super 305, *5 (2016) (citation omitted). See also Pa.R.E. 401-403; Daniel J. Anders, Ohlbaum on the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence § 401.06 et seq., § 403.06 et seq. (2017 ed. LexisNexis Matthew Bender).

When a driver’s reckless or careless driving is at issue, evidence of that driver’s intoxication and unfitness to drive is relevant, and a trial court does not err in permitting such evidence provided it is adequately corroborated. Rohe, supra at *6. However, a trial court may not admit evidence of a driver’s consumption of alcohol to prove intoxication, without more, because it is unfairly prejudicial. Id. Similarly, a driver’s BAC test results “alone may not be admitted for the purpose of proving intoxication [and unfitness to drive].” Id.

In order to admit intoxication evidence to prove unfitness to drive, our case law requires sufficient corroboration demonstrating more than the “mere hint” of intoxication. Id. If the evidence is tenuous and only proves a “mere hint” of intoxication, that evidence is too prejudicial and inadmissible.

Relevant corroborating evidence of intoxication and unfitness to drive can include the consumption of alcohol prior to the accident, a driver’s BAC test results, expert testimony interpreting those results, and testimony about the driver’s physical condition shortly after the accident.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
165 A.3d 1013, 2017 Pa. Super. 187, 2017 WL 2590738, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/partlow-l-v-gray-k-pasuperct-2017.