Rohm & Haas Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.

61 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 89
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedFebruary 26, 2002
Docketno. 3449
StatusPublished

This text of 61 Pa. D. & C.4th 311 (Rohm & Haas Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rohm & Haas Co. v. Continental Casualty Co., 61 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 89 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

HERRON, J.,

Plaintiff Rohm & Haas Co. (R&H) has presented a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, leave to conduct discovery and for a hearing. The motion is based on allegedly prejudicial events that took place nearly five years ago and that R&H discovered nearly three years ago. Because of R&H’s delay in presenting the motion, as well as the substantive difficulties with the motion itself, it is denied.

BACKGROUND

This case originated in November 1991 as a declaratory judgment action brought by R&H against defendants The Home Insurance Company, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, Certain London Market Insurance Companies, and a number of its other insurers. The focus of the dispute was coverage under comprehensive general liability insurance policies for environmental remediation at two separate R&H sites in Myerstown, Pennsylvania (Whitmoyer site) and Bristol, Pennsylvania (Bristol site).

The trial was bifurcated by stipulation. The liability phase was tried before a jury from January 22, 1997 to March 26, 1997. On April 1, 1997, the jury returned a [313]*313verdict in favor of the defendants on liability for both sites and denied coverage,1 whereupon R&H filed a motion for post-trial relief. On July 21,1997, Judge Jaffe granted R&H’s motion for judgment n.o.v. with respect to the Whitmoyer site, but denied the motion with respect to the Bristol site. Judge Jaffe then proceeded to try the damages phase without a jury from September 16, 1997, to November 7, 1997, and on December 31, 1997, entered judgment denying coverage as to the Bristol site but requiring the defendants to pay certain costs associated with the Whitmoyer site. The defendant then filed an appeal with regard to the Whitmoyer site judgment.2

On appeal, the Superior Court issued a decision on May 6, 1999, reversing Judge Jaffe’s grant of judgment n.o.v., reinstating the jury’s verdict and remanding the case for entry of judgment on the verdict. R&H then appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the Superior Court’s decision in all respects on October 18,2001. The Supreme Court denied R&H’s petition for reargu[314]*314ment on December 5, 2001, and the case was remanded to the court of common pleas on December 18, 2001.

While this matter was on appeal, a complicating event was brought to the attention of Robert N. Feltoon, counsel for R&H. On May 20, 1999, Judge Jaffe, who had retired from the bench soon after judgment was entered, returned Mr. Feltoon’s phone call regarding the Superior Court’s decision and told him that during the jury phase, Sharon Dennison, one of the jurors, approached him in the courthouse but outside the courtroom and outside the presence of counsel. Ms. Dennison told Judge Jaffe that she was reading A Civil Action, a book about a lawsuit brought by residents of a Massachusetts town against W.R. Grace Corporation and Beatrice Foods for the adverse health effects that the corporations’ industrial pollution had on the town’s residents. Ms. Dennison commented further that the suit in the book was “just like this case” and that the book discussed one of the witnesses at trial in the instant case.3 This witness was Dr. George F. Pinder, who testified on behalf of R&H with regard to the Bristol site and who is supposedly portrayed in an unflattering light in the book. Judge Jaffe made no record of the exchange, and R&H remained unaware of Ms. Dennison’s comments until May 20, 1999.

R&H now asserts in the motion that Ms. Dennison’s conduct undermined her ability to fulfill her obligations as an impartial juror and requires that a new trial be held. [315]*315In the alternative, R&H asks that it be permitted to engage in discovery to develop a record on alleged juror misconduct. At no time prior to filing the motion did R&H raise these issues or the underlying evidence before the appellate courts or this court.

DISCUSSION

The key issues raised by the parties are twofold: first, the procedural question of whether the motion is untimely, and second, the substantive question of whether R&H is entitled to the relief it seeks. On both of these issues, the defendants are correct, and the motion is denied.

I. R&H Has Waived Its Right To Have the Motion Considered

The defendants argue that R&H’s failure over the past two and one-half years to raise its “new evidence” in the manners available to it bar it from even presenting the motion. According to the defendants, both the trial court and the appellate courts provided forums for presenting the evidence, and R&H failed to take advantage of these opportunities. This argument is persuasive and poses an obstacle to reaching the merits of the motion.

As a general rule, Pa.R.C.R 227.1(c) requires that post-trial motions, including motions for a new trial, be filed within 10 days of the date of entry of a verdict. However, this is not a hard and fast deadline, and under certain circumstances, a court may allow post-trial motions to be heard. See e.g., Wittig v. Carlacci, 370 Pa. Super. 584, 586, 537 A.2d 29, 30 (1988) (A court has [316]*316“broad discretion” to entertain untimely post-trial motions.).

The defendants contend that the broad discretion afforded the court is not so far-reaching as to make the motion appropriate. The primary case on which the defendants rely is Hornick v. Bethlehem Mines Corp., 310 Pa. 225, 165 A. 36 (1933), where the trial court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on January 8, 1932, and the Superior Court affirmed on April 28, 1932. On May 17,1932, the defendant presented a petition to open the judgment to the trial, asserting that new evidence had been discovered since the trial.4 After the trial court denied the defendant’s petition, the defendant filed a second appeal, in response to which the Superior Court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court had abused its discretion:

“It is to be observed... that no reason is given for not moving on or about March 1,1932, as soon as the information is said to have been acquired. At that date, by appropriate petition, defendant could have brought the matter to the attention of this court before the appeal was disposed of on the merits as appellant then presented them. Instead of applying to the court below, as defendant apparently might have done, during the long period between the date of the verdict, January 17, 1931, and the time of taking the appeal to this court, January 29, 1932, or of thereafter applying to this court prior to argument March 21, 1932, as was done, for example, in [317]*317Ralston v. Phila. Rapid Transit Co., No. 2, 267 Pa. 278, 282, 110 A. 336 (1920), or prior to the decision of April 11, 1932, defendant filed a petition for reargument, as has been stated, and even then said nothing about the alleged after-discovered evidence. In such circumstances, we cannot say that there was abuse of discretion in dismissing the petition.” 310 Pa. at 230-31, 165 A. at 38.

Thus, Hornick indicates that newly discovered evidence may be brought to the attention of an appellate court while the matter is on appeal to preserve the discovering party’s right to present the issue. Cf.

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Bluebook (online)
61 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rohm-haas-co-v-continental-casualty-co-pactcomplphilad-2002.