Christensen v. Byrd CA5

Filed 7/22/14 Christensen v. Byrd CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

KARLA K. CHRISTENSEN, F066008 Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. S-1500-CV-268020) v.

MATTHEW BYRD et al., OPINION Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kern County. David R. Lampe, Judge. Karla K. Christensen, in pro. per.; Law Office of Donald C. Duchow and Donald C. Duchow for Plaintiff and Appellant. LeBeau - Thelen, Steven Shayer, and Thomas P. Feher for Defendants and Respondents. -ooOoo- Plaintiff Karla Christensen appeals from a defense verdict in her personal injury lawsuit, contending the trial court erred by (1) ruling that a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer could not testify as to his opinion about who was at fault for the

automobile accident and (2) ruling that she could not testify about paid and unpaid medical bills. We conclude that the trial court correctly applied the provisions of California’s Civil Discovery Act when it excluded the CHP officer’s opinion testimony because he had not been designated as an expert.1 Also, any evidentiary error regarding the medical bills would have been harmless because the jury never reached the question of damages. We therefore affirm the judgment. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS On July 7, 2007, at approximately 9:00 a.m. on Granite Road in an unincorporated part of Kern County, Christensen was driving southbound in a silver 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck. At the same time, defendant Matthew Byrd was operating a blue 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser in the northbound lane. According to the traffic collision report, Byrd allowed his vehicle to travel over the solid double yellow line into the southbound lane as Christensen’s vehicle approached and the vehicles collided head-on. After the collision, both drivers were taken to the Kern Medical Center. Christensen suffered serious, permanent injuries. In June 2009, Christensen filed a complaint against Matthew Byrd. Also named as defendants were Aaron Byrd and Lori Byrd as owners of the vehicle that Matthew Byrd was operating at the time of the accident. Trial commenced on May 1, 2012 and the jury reached a verdict on the morning of May 3. The verdict form submitted to the jurors contained six questions. The first