Redding v. Ortega

840 A.2d 1224, 2003 Del. LEXIS 611, 2003 WL 22992197
Supreme Court of Delaware·Decided December 18, 2003·No. No. 682,2002·Published

Opinion

HOLLAND, Justice:

This is an appeal from final judgments that were entered in the Superior Court. The plaintiffs-appellants, Charisma Red-ding and Nephaterie Redding, filed suit against the defendant-appellee, Vladimir Ortega, Jr., for personal injuries sustained as a result of a motor vehicle collision. The Reddings moved for a default judgment after Ortega failed to answer or otherwise plead. An inquisition hearing was held to determine the amount of the Red-dings’ damages, including medical expenses.

The Superior Court held that the medical expenses sought by the plaintiffs were inadmissible pursuant to Del.Code Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(h). Therefore, the Superior Court held that the Reddings were precluded from introducing those medical expenses into evidence at the inquisition hearing. Based upon its review of the other evidence presented, and excluding the Reddings’ medical expenses, the Superior Court entered judgment for Charisma Redding in the amount of $17,000 and judgment for Nephaterie Redding in the [1226] amount of $15,000. The Reddings are aggrieved parties who have standing to appeal, notwithstanding the entry of final judgments in their favor, because they did not receive all of the relief that they requested.1

The only issue raised on appeal is whether the Superior Court properly ruled that the Reddings’ medical expenses were inadmissible pursuant to DeLCode Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(h). The Reddings’ argue that section 2118 prohibits the introduction of medical bills only for those damages that are payable pursuant to a Delaware no-fault automobile policy. The Reddings’ submit that the statutory prohibition in section 2118 is not applicable in this case because, since there was no Delaware no-fault insurance coverage.

We have concluded that the Reddings’ position is meritorious. To the extent that the judgments of the Superior Court denied recovery of the Reddings’ medical expenses they must be reversed.

Facts

On February 14, 2001, Nephaterie and Charisma Redding were driving a motor vehicle that Nephaterie had borrowed from a friend. Unknown to the Reddings, that vehicle had no automobile insurance. The Reddings also had no Delaware automobile insurance of their own.

The vehicle occupied by the Reddings was hit by another vehicle being driven by Vladimir Ortega, Jr. There is evidence that the impact was significant. As a result of Ortega’s negligence, the Reddings suffered injuries resulting in aggregated medical expenditures of $23,688.50.

The Reddings testified as to their medical expenses. Charisma Redding had outstanding medical bills in the amount of $14,493. Nephaterie Redding had outstanding medical bills of $9,195.50. They further testified that these expenses were not covered under any Delaware automobile insurance policy. Ortega objected to that testimony on the ground that evidence of medical expenses was barred under Del. Code Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(h). The Superi- or Court sustained Ortega’s objection and excluded the evidence.

Evidentiary Prohibition Delaware’s No-Fault Insurance Statute

DeLCode Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(h) provides that “[a]ny person eligible for [insurance] benefits described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section,2 other than an insurer in an action brought pursuant to subsection (g) of this section,3 is precluded from pleading or introducing into evidence in an action for damages against a tortfeasor those damages for which compensation is available under paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section without regard to ... whether or not such benefits are actually recoverable.” Under this subsection, two questions must be answered to determine whether the eviden-tiary prohibition applies: first, is the plaintiff a “person eligible for benefits” for the purposes of section 2118(h); and second, does the evidence sought to be admitted relate to injuries “for which compensation [1227] is available under paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a)” of section 2118.

For the evidence to be barred, the answers to both questions must be affirmative. It is undisputed that the damages alleged in this case fall within the type that are normally covered by either paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a). Thus, the dispositive issue is whether the Reddings are “person[s] eligible for benefits” for the purposes of DeLCode Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(h).

The seminal case for determining whether an individual is a “person eligible” is Read v. Hoffecker;4 in which this Court adopted the standard set forth in Deel v. Rizah5 In Hoffecker, we held that “person eligible” means “any person within the class of persons to whom the statutorily required no-fault insurance coverage extends.” 6 This includes three distinct groups of people:

(1) All persons who are injured while “occupying” a motor vehicle which is registered and insured in Delaware. Del.Code Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(a)(2)(c).
(2) All persons who are the named insureds of a Delaware motor vehicle insurance policy or are members of the named insured’s household and
a. are injured while occupying any registered motor vehicle other than a Delaware insured vehicle; or
b. are struck while a pedestrian by any vehicle other than a Delaware insured motor vehicle. Del.Code Ann, tit. 21, § 2118(a)(2)(d).
(3) All pedestrians who are struck in Delaware by a motor vehicle registered and insured in Delaware. Del. Code Ann. tit. 21, § 2118(a)(2)(e).7

Evidentiary Prohibition Inapplicable to Uninsureds

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Redding v. Ortega, 840 A.2d 1224, 2003 Del. LEXIS 611, 2003 WL 22992197 (Del. 2003).

840 A.2d 1224 (Redding v. Ortega) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Forney v. Apfel
524 U.S. 266 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Deel v. Rizak
474 F. Supp. 45 (D. Delaware, 1979)
National Union Fire Insurance v. Fisher
692 A.2d 892 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1997)
Read v. Hoffecker
616 A.2d 835 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1992)
Crum & Forster Insurance Group v. Wright
634 A.2d 373 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1993)