Inskeep v. Busby

California Court of Appeal Sep 26, 1962 No. Civ. 25945Published

Before: Jefferson

AI Brief

AI-generated · verify before citing

Holding. The court held that the medical expert testimony was properly admitted and supported the findings of fact, but that the trial court erred in entering a judgment against the vehicle owner exceeding the statutory liability limit of $5,000 because the issue of agency was removed by the pretrial order.

Issues

Whether the trial court erred in admitting medical expert opinion testimony regarding the existence and cause of a herniated disc.
Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court's findings of fact.
Whether the trial court erred in entering judgment against the vehicle owner in excess of the statutory limit under Vehicle Code section 17151.

Disposition. modified and affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“In regard to the causal connection between the injury and the accident, it is proper for a medical expert to give his opinion whether a certain agency might have produced a particular injury.”

“It was error for the court to have entered judgment against defendant Tanaka for any amount in excess of $5,000”

JEFFERSON, J.

This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries which were sustained in an automobile accident. The matter was tried before the court without a jury. Liability on the part of both defendants was admitted, and by stipulation the issues were limited to the nature and extent of the injuries, if any, and the amount of damages to be awarded.

On March 4, 1959, at about

:30 a. m., a collision occurred at a street intersection in Pasadena between the automobile driven by plaintiff and the automobile operated by defendant Busby and owned by defendant Tanaka. Plaintiff’s automo

[850]

bile was struck on the left side at the driver’s door. When asked on direct examination what occurred at the time of the collision, plaintiff replied, “Well, when I woke up, I was laying with my head on the seat to the right, .with a dent in the door where my head hit it and pitched me over. ’ ’ Plaintiff testified that after the accident he had pain in his head, neck and back. He indicated that the pain in his back was right above the belt line in the center. Plaintiff testified that he had never had any trouble with his back prior to this accident, and this was supported by his wife’s testimony that she had never heard her husband complain of any trouble with his back before the accident.

For more than 10 years prior to the accident plaintiff had been suffering from the effects of encephalitis and Parkinson’s disease. The effects of this illness were characterized by tremor and muscular spasticity. Plaintiff’s treating physician, a general practitioner, and a neurosurgeon who was assisting as a specialist, gave their diagnoses that plaintiff’s back trouble was resulting from a herniated disc in the area of the fourth lumbar vertebra. Both doctors testified that the muscular spasm attributable to the herniated disc could be distinguished from the muscular spasticity caused by Parkinson’s disease.

On September 24, 1959, the doctors performed a laminectomy on plaintiff, and they discovered a softened disc and an impinged nerve in the area of the fourth lumbar vertebra. One of the doctors testified that a softened disc will herniate and compress nerves. Both of the doctors testified as medical experts that in their opinion the automobile accident of March 4, 1959, caused the “softened” or herniated disc. One of the doctors testified that plaintiff would suffer permanent disability as a result of the accident.

Inskeep v. Busby

AI Brief

JEFFERSON, J.

More from California Court of Appeal

Related research

AI Brief