Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne v. Brenda Hendricks (mem. dec.)

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 15, 2019
Docket18A-CT-2731
StatusPublished

This text of Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne v. Brenda Hendricks (mem. dec.) (Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne v. Brenda Hendricks (mem. dec.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne v. Brenda Hendricks (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Aug 15 2019, 9:57 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE R. Jay Taylor, Jr. Teresa L. Todd Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Indianapolis, Indiana Feary, P.C. Indianapolis, Indiana Richard P. Batesky, Jr. Batesky Law Office Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Rentokil North America, Inc., August 15, 2019 and Hunter Horne, Court of Appeals Case No. Appellants-Defendants, 18A-CT-2731 Appeal from the Marion Superior v. Court The Honorable David J. Dreyer, Brenda Hendricks, Judge Appellee-Plaintiff. Trial Court Cause No. 49D10-1704-CT-16285

Barnes, Senior Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CT-2731 | August 15, 2019 Page 1 of 18 Statement of the Case [1] Brenda Hendricks sued Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne

(collectively “Rentokil”) for negligence in connection with an auto accident

involving Hendricks and Horne. The jury determined Rentokil was at fault and

awarded Hendricks $250,000 in damages. Rentokil appeals, and we affirm.

Issue [2] Rentokil raises three issues, which we consolidate and restate as: whether the

trial court erred in its evidentiary rulings prior to and during trial.

Facts and Procedural History [3] On the afternoon of September 13, 2016, Hendricks and Horne collided at the

intersection of Troy Avenue and Brille Road in Marion County. Hendricks was

driving east on Troy Avenue and had the right of way as she approached Brille

Road. Hendricks slowed down to less than thirty-five miles per hour as she

approached the intersection, but Horne drove into Hendricks’ path. Hendricks

swerved sharply to the left and used her brakes prior to striking Horne’s car.

Horne’s automobile was owned by her employer, Rentokil, and she was acting

within the scope of her employment at the time of the accident.

[4] An ambulance arrived at the scene soon after the collision. Hendricks was in

pain but declined to go to the hospital. She went to the hospital later that night

after passing out and experiencing substantial pain and nausea. Doctors later

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CT-2731 | August 15, 2019 Page 2 of 18 determined she sustained significant tissue damage to her right breast as a result

of the collision. Some of the tissue damage is permanent.

[5] On April 24, 2017, Hendricks sued Rentokil, alleging: (1) Horne negligently 1 caused the accident; and (2) Rentokil was responsible for her injury. On

August 15, 2017, the parties filed a proposed joint case management order. In

the order, the parties agreed to procedures and deadlines for discovery

disclosures. For reasons not explained in the record, the trial court clerk failed

to place the order on the chronological case summary, and it was not

transmitted to or signed by the trial court prior to trial.

[6] During discovery, Hendricks took a video deposition of one of her treating

physicians, Nicholas Vornehm, M.D., intending to present the deposition at

trial instead of live testimony. After the deposition, she filed a motion to strike

in part Dr. Vornehm’s recorded testimony. Specifically, Hendricks asked the

court to exclude from evidence any theories by Dr. Vornehm about the speed at

which Hendricks had been traveling at the time of the accident. Rentokil

responded to the motion during a court hearing, and Hendricks filed a reply to

Rentokil’s response. The court granted Hendricks’ motion. Rentokil filed a

motion to reconsider, which the trial court denied.

1 Hendricks also sued J.C. Erlich Co., Inc., but later stipulated to that party’s dismissal from the case.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CT-2731 | August 15, 2019 Page 3 of 18 [7] The case was tried by jury over two days. Hendricks’ theory of the case was

that Rentokil was liable because Horne negligently failed to yield the right of

way to Hendricks. By contrast, Rentokil argued Hendricks was at fault because

she did not drive in a reasonable manner as she approached the intersection.

Among other witnesses, Hendricks presented Dr. Vornehm’s redacted video

deposition and live testimony from Dr. Michael Lutz and Officer Joshua

Kreutzberger. Dr. Vornehm and Dr. Lutz described Hendricks’ injury and

expressed expert opinions about the injury’s cause, extent, and duration.

[8] On August 1, 2018, the jury returned a verdict for Hendricks, determining

Rentokil was 100% at fault. The jury awarded Hendricks $250,000 in damages,

and the trial court entered judgment in her favor. Rentokil filed a motion to

correct error, to which Hendricks responded. The motion was deemed denied,

and this appeal followed.

[9] On April 29, 2019, Hendricks filed with the trial court a motion to correct the

chronological case summary to reflect that the parties had filed the proposed

joint case management order on August 15, 2018. The court granted the

motion and stated the proposed case management order had “governed the

proceedings in this case.” Appellee’s App. Vol. 2, p. 13.

Discussion and Decision 1. Standard of Review [10] Rentokil challenges the trial court’s decisions on the admission and exclusion of

several witnesses’ statements. We review a trial court’s decision to admit or

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CT-2731 | August 15, 2019 Page 4 of 18 exclude evidence, including expert witness testimony, for an abuse of

discretion. Wilkerson v. Carr, 65 N.E.3d 596, 599 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015). A trial

court abuses its discretion when its decision “is clearly against the logic and

effect of the facts and circumstances before the court, or the reasonable,

probable, and actual deductions to be drawn therefrom.” Id. at 599-600. We

presume the trial court’s evidentiary decision is correct, and the party

challenging that decision bears the burden of demonstrating an abuse of

discretion. 5200 Keystone Ltd. Realty, Inc. v. Filmcraft Labs., Inc., 30 N.E.3d 5, 10

(Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

[11] Even if an evidentiary decision is an abuse of discretion, we will not reverse if

the ruling amounted to harmless error. Kimbrough v. Anderson, 55 N.E.3d 325,

334 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016), trans. denied. An error is harmless when the probable

impact of the erroneously admitted or excluded evidence on the factfinder, in

light of all of the evidence presented, is sufficiently minor so as not to affect a

party’s substantial rights. Id.

2. Dr. Vornehm [12] Rentokil concedes Dr. Vornehm was a qualified expert witness and does not

dispute the admissibility of the doctor’s opinions. Instead, Rentokil claims the

trial court abused its discretion by striking the doctor’s video deposition

testimony about the speed at which Hendricks was driving at the time of the

accident. Rentokil argues Dr. Vornehm was qualified to estimate the speed at

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

Related

Witte v. Mundy Ex Rel. Mundy
820 N.E.2d 128 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Bouras
423 N.E.2d 741 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1981)
Hannan v. Pest Control Services, Inc.
734 N.E.2d 674 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
Indiana Department of Environmental Management v. Adapto, Inc.
717 N.E.2d 646 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)
David L. Kimbrough v. Ramona F. Anderson
55 N.E.3d 325 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Carter v. Robinson
977 N.E.2d 448 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2012)
5200 Keystone Ltd. Realty, LLC v. Filmcraft Laboratories, Inc.
30 N.E.3d 5 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Rentokil North America, Inc., and Hunter Horne v. Brenda Hendricks (mem. dec.), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rentokil-north-america-inc-and-hunter-horne-v-brenda-hendricks-mem-indctapp-2019.