Winkler v. Shaffer

2015 COA 63, 356 P.3d 1020, 2015 WL 2198508
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 24, 2015
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 14CA0727
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2015 COA 63 (Winkler v. Shaffer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winkler v. Shaffer, 2015 COA 63, 356 P.3d 1020, 2015 WL 2198508 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion by

JUDGE HAWTHORNE

T1 Plaintiffs, John Winkler and Linda Winkler, appeal the judgment entered on a jury verdict for defendant, Jason Shaffer. Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in denying their motion to strike a video deposition and declining to give a negligence per se jury instruction. We conclude that any alleged error with respect to the deposition was harmless and that the court did not err in declining to give a negligence per se instruction because if given the instruction would have been redundant to the jury instructions on common law negligence. We affirm,

I. Facts and Procedural History

12 Plaintiffs were injured in a multi-vehi-cle accident during a snowstorm on an icy highway. Defendant lost control of a semitrailer truck after he was struck by two vehicles, and came to a stop blocking the highway. Plaintiffs vehicle hit defendant's truck in the ensuing pile-up. Plaintiffs sued defendant and a number of other co-defendants, who are not parties to this appeal.

13 At trial, defendants submitted a video deposition of Sergeant Gates. Sergeant Gates was the first law enforeement officer to respond to the accident and witnessed part [1022]*1022of the accident. He described the weather and road conditions on the day of the accident, and concluded that defendant drove reasonably given those conditions. °

{ 4 Following the trial, the jury concluded that plaintiffs had suffered injuries The jury found that some co-defendants were negligent and had caused one hundred percent of plaintiffs' injuries. On the other hand, the jury concluded that defendant and several additional co-defendants were not negligent and had not caused plaintiffs' injuries.

15 The co-defendants that were found negligent at trial are not a party to this appeal. As to the remaining co-defendants, some settled and some were dismissed. So, despite the parties' briefings addressing co-defendants, we only address plaintiffs arguments with respect to defendant.

II, Sergeant Gates's Deposition

16 Plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred in denying their motion to strike Sergeant Gates's deposition. We are not persuaded.

A. Standard of Review and . Applicable Law

17 We review for abuse of disceretion a trial court's decision on whether to impose discovery sanctions under C.R.C.P. 87. See Clements v. Dowies, 217 P.3d 912, 915 (Colo.App.2009). A trial court abuses its discretion if its decision is manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or unfair, Zueger v. Goss, 2014 COA 61, ¶ 8, 343 P.3d 1028. Under Rule 37(c)(1), "[al party that without substantial justification fails to disclose information required by C.R.C.P. Rules 26(a) or 26(e) shall not, unless such failure is harmless, be permitted to present any evidence not so disclosed at trial or on a motion made pursuant to C.R.C.P. 56." Thus, a trial court does not err in declining to impose sanctions under Rule 37(c)(1) if the failure to disclose was harmless. See Trattler v. Citron, 182 P.3d 674; 679-80 (Colo.2008).

In evaluating whether a failure to disclose evidence is harmless under Rule 87(c), the inquiry is not whether the new evidence is potentially harmful to the opposing side's case. Instead, the question is whether the failure to disclose the evidence in a timely fashion will prejudice the opposing party by denying that party an adequate opportunity to defend against the evidence.

Todd v. Bear Valley Vill Apartments, 980 P.2d 973, 979 (Colo.1999).

B. Analysis

-18 Plaintiffs argue that the court erred in admitting Sergeant Gates's deposition because it exceeded the expert disclosure's seope and, therefore, they did not have adequate time before trial to respond to the opinions expressed at the deposition. We disagree.

T9 Defendant's expert disclosure provided the following information about the scope of Sergeant Gates's testimony:

Sergeant Gates may be called to testify based on his education, training, and experience, and/or to discuss his observations and investigation on March 26, 2009. Sgt. Gates was on site when this incident occurred and was the first law enforcement officer to respond to the accident. . ..

Plaintiffs assert that Sergeant Gates provided testimony that defendant did not drive negligently or cause the collision and, therefore, exceeded the scope of this disclosure during his deposition taken ten days before trial. Plaintiffs also contend that ten days was insufficient to prepare their case in response to the new information revealed at the deposition.

110 Plaintiffs fail to establish any prejudice or harm associated with the alleged error on appeal. First, plaintiffs concede they made no offer of proof as to what they would have done or shown had they received adequate time to respond to the deposition. See Ajay Sports, Inc. v. Casazza, 1 P.3d 267, 275 (Colo.App.2000) (concluding that any error permitting undisclosed expert testimony was harmless where party claiming surprise by the testimony does not specify how he was prejudiced or what additional information he could have elicited on eross-examination). Plaintiffs also never requested a continuance after the deposition was taken. If additional time was needed to prepare for trial, a continuance could have provided that time. Failure to request a continuance supports the conclusion that the alleged error was [1023]*1023harmless. Saturn Sys., Inc. v. Militare, 252 P.3d 516, 525 (Colo.App.2011).

11 Next, plaintiffs had access to Sergeant Gates's entire deposition prior to trial, but never asked their expert witness whether he agreed with Sergeant - Gates's opinions. To the extent plaintiffs believed Sergeant Gates's testimony negatively impacted their case, they could have specifically rebutted his testimony with their expert witness, And although plaintiffs did not ask their expert about Sergeant Cates, their expert honetheless rebutted his opinion that defendant was not following too close nor driving too fast for the conditions. Specifically, plaintiffs' expert stated that given the icy roads, defendant should have been driving between zero and ten miles per hour, but concluded that the damage from the accident was consistent with a vehicle traveling at least twenty-five miles per hour. Plaintiffs' expert also stated that defendant was approximately sixty to eighty feet behind the car in front of him, but should have been, at 'a minimum, approximately 220 feet behind any vehicle. And, plaintiffs' expert concluded that defendant caused the accident that resulted in plaintiffs injuries because he was following too closely and driving too fast for the conditions. So, plaintiffs' expert ultimately rebutted defendant's expert testimony.

112 Thus, the alleged error was harmless because plaintiffs had an adequate opportunity to defend against the opinions expressed in the deposition.

III, Negligence Per Se Jury Instruction

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 COA 63, 356 P.3d 1020, 2015 WL 2198508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winkler-v-shaffer-coloctapp-2015.