Sharman v. Skaggs Companies, Inc.

602 P.2d 833, 124 Ariz. 165, 1979 Ariz. App. LEXIS 619
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedSeptember 24, 1979
Docket2 CA-CIV 3253
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 602 P.2d 833 (Sharman v. Skaggs Companies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sharman v. Skaggs Companies, Inc., 602 P.2d 833, 124 Ariz. 165, 1979 Ariz. App. LEXIS 619 (Ark. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

HATHAWAY, Judge.

Appellant-plaintiff brought this personal injury action for damages in the Pima County Superior Court on January 26, 1977, alleging that through the negligence of appellee, the antenna on a television set offered for sale in one of appellee’s stores toppled and struck her left eye causing injury. The cause was tried to a jury and a defense verdict was returned.

Upon denial of plaintiff’s motion for new trial, this appeal followed raising three questions:

1. Did the trial court commit reversible error by allowing the curriculum vitae and the report of defendant’s medical expert, whose testimony had been suppressed pursuant to Rule 26(e)(1)(B), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., because of the defendant’s failure timely to identify him in answers to interrogatories, to be placed before the jury for cross-examination of plaintiff’s medical expert on the basis of those documents and by reading them to the witness and the jury in the course of that cross-examination?

2. Did the trial court commit reversible error in its refusal to instruct the jury on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?

3. Did the trial court commit reversible error by refusing to give a cautionary instruction after defense counsel stated in closing argument that “[Defendant is] not an insurance company.”?

We are of the opinion that question one requires an affirmative answer and reverse.

The only expert to testify was plaintiffs’ ophthalmologist, Dr. Kolker, who originally saw her on December 14, 1976, the day after the incident. Defendant’s expert, Dr. Kingham, an ophthalmologist at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, specializing in diseases and injuries to the retina, examined Ms. Sharman on September 19, 1978, and on that day, defendant’s attorneys filed supplemental answers to interrogatories to include the names of Dr. Kingham and other witnesses, not known when the original answers were filed July 11,1977. Dr. King-ham spoke with plaintiff’s attorney immediately after the examination. Plaintiff’s motion to suppress the testimony of Dr. Kingham and the other additional witnesses on the basis of Rule 26(e)(1)(B), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., as amended September 1, 1978, was filed on September 28, 1978, and granted the next day. Finding that the trial court had not abused its discretion, we declined special action relief on October 2, 1978.

Plaintiff testified at trial that she felt a sharp pain in her left eye when the antenna struck and that the pain persisted in the form of a stinging, burning, scratching and itching sensation in her eye. She stated that tears were flowing from her eye and that it was red and swollen, the eyelid was marked and her vision was blurry. Later that day, she went to see an ophthalmologist selected from the telephone directory. The doctor prescribed medication and eye-drops. The next day she contacted Dr. Kolker and advised him of her persisting eye problem. Dr. Kolker observed tenderness in the area of plaintiff’s left eye, but found no visible damage. Her vision, which had previously been normal, tested normal for the right eye and 20/100 for the left. Dr. Kolker prescribed an antibiotic.

Dr. Kolker saw plaintiff again on December 17, 1976, at which time she described *168 the feeling in her eye as stinging and as having the sensation of a foreign body in her eye. She complained of inability to read or drive. The doctor again tested the eye for visual acuity with the same result. He examined her four days later and the left eye tested 20/200. He concluded that the plaintiff’s poor vision was not correctable with a lens. Seeing nothing physically to account for plaintiff’s loss of visual acuity in her left eye, although he was convinced that the tests administered accurately revealed its diminution, Dr. Kolker concluded that in view of plaintiff’s history, her problem was accountable from trauma to the eyeball causing pressure to the internal workings of the eye, or through direct trauma to the optic nerve. He referred her to Dr. Novalis, an ophthalmologist specializing in the retina and diseases of the retina. Dr. Novalis confirmed that a shock to the eyeball could indirectly injure the optic nerve. Dr. Kolker’s testimony alluded also to the possibility that a small blunt instrument could strike around the eyeball and directly injure the optic nerve without visible damage.

Dr. Kolker testified, upon cross-examination by defense counsel, that he did not personally know Dr. Kingham. When confronted, over objection, with Dr. Kingham’s curriculum vitae, he conceded that Dr. Kingham is “a very well-qualified ophthalmologist” specializing in the retina and optic nerve and “. . . he’s written vari-

ous papers, book reviews, a member of various associations, had various publications, and so on, and seemed to be a well-qualified ophthalmologist.” Dr. Kolker testified that he had not seen Dr. Kingham’s report before. During trial, however, he apparently looked at it, but testified that it would not have affected his opinion. The following testimony, pertinent to the question before us, was elicited on cross-examination:

“Q. And would you agree that the findings hereon reported by Dr. King-ham were that essentially there was no objective evidence of any injury, or any eye problem that Mrs. Sharman has, except the reporting again by physical examinations like you did, that she didn’t see any better than, in fact, 20 over 300 in the left eye. Is that what he has reported?
A. Yes.
Q. But otherwise he found nothing wrong, no objective evidence, just like you, and had found nothing really wrong to explain this?
A. That’s correct.
Q. And that he reports in detail, doesn’t he, his examination of her. And he did certain examinations, in fact, you didn’t do, isn’t that correct?
A. I don’t believe he did anything I didn’t do.
Q. Well, the visual field, didn’t you say?
A. I did- a visual field the last time, looking at this report. I have two visual field examinations, one of them recent, one of them some time ago.
Q. His was done, this was done on just a few days ago, September 20, 1978, isn’t that correct?
A. That’s correct.
Q. And I’m going to read you the impression and ask you if you agree with this.
MR. MILLER: Just, this is the point that I really disagree with.
THE COURT: Well, I think the record shows you disagree with it. I’ll allow you to make your record later. You have a continuing objection.
BY MR. JONES:
Q. Anatomically this woman has a normal eye examination, including normal optic disc and normal retina. Both in the macula region and the retina periphery. The visual acuity confrontation visual field and the Goldmann visual field are all recorded as abnormal but these are subjective tests. And I can find no objective findings to corroborate the abnormal subjective findings. *169

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Bluebook (online)
602 P.2d 833, 124 Ariz. 165, 1979 Ariz. App. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharman-v-skaggs-companies-inc-arizctapp-1979.