Pinney v. Carrera

469 P.3d 970

Kathleen PINNEY, Respondent,

v.Ricardo CARRERA, Petitioner.

No. 20190117

Supreme Court of Utah.

Heard February 10, 2020

Filed July 6, 2020

Blake W. Johnson, Orem, for respondent

Barbara K. Berrett, Matthew H. Wood, Salt Lake City, for petitioner

Chief Justice Durrant authored the opinion of the Court, in which Associate Chief Justice Lee, Justice Himonas, Justice Pearce, and Judge Pullan joined.

On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals

Chief Justice Durrant, opinion of the Court:

Introduction

¶1 In this automobile accident case, defendant Ricardo Carrera raises two challenges to a general-damages award granted to plaintiff Kathleen Pinney. First, Mr. Carrera argues that Ms. Pinney should not have received any general damages, because she failed to satisfy the requirements set out in Utah Code section 31A-22-309, a prerequisite to receiving general damages in most automobile accident cases. Specifically, Mr. Carrera argues that Ms. Pinney failed to satisfy the statutory requirement because she did not show that she sustained a "permanent disability or permanent impairment based upon objective findings ."¹

¶2 Although Mr. Carrera concedes that Ms. Pinney presented evidence of a permanent impairment, he argues that this evidence does not satisfy the statute, because it was tainted by the personal bias of Ms. Pinney's treating physician. So Mr. Carrera interprets the statutory phrase "based upon objective findings" to require findings that are untainted by bias. We disagree. Instead, we interpret the phrase "based upon objective findings" to require only that findings regarding a permanent disability or impairment be based on externally verifiable phenomena, rather than on an individual's subjective perceptions or feelings regarding the injury. Accordingly, Mr. Carrera's statutory argument fails.

¶3 Alternatively, Mr. Carrera argues, under Rule 59 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, that a new trial on the amount of damages should be granted. The crux of Mr. Carrera's argument on this point is that the amount of general , or noneconomic, damages Ms. Pinney was awarded—$300,000—is excessively disproportionate to the economic damages awarded in this case—$0. In making this argument, Mr. Carrera does not attempt to rebut any of the evidence Ms. Pinney presented regarding her pain and suffering—evidence relevant to an award of general damages. Instead, he focuses on Ms. Pinney's failure to present evidence that would support an award of specific damages. But because specific and general damages are aimed at measuring different types of harm, the fact finder is free to consider different factors in calculating an appropriate amount for each type of award. So there is no reason why the amount of one type of damage award would need to be proportional to the other. Accordingly, Mr. Carrera's proportionality argument also fails.

Background

¶4 After running a stop sign, Ricardo Carrera crashed into a vehicle driven by Kathleen Pinney. Ms. Pinney brought a civil action against Mr. Carrera for damages. At trial, Ms. Pinney focused on non-economic (or general) damages that resulted from the accident. Specifically, she argued that she should be compensated for pain and suffering stemming from an injury to her neck and a herniated disc in her back.

¶5 To support her claim for pain-and-suffering damages, Ms. Pinney called several witnesses to testify on her behalf. Her daughter and friend testified that her injuries limited her ability to perform many tasks she had regularly performed before the accident. For example, Ms. Pinney's daughter testified that Ms. Pinney could not ride certain amusement park rides and struggled to pick up small children. And Ms. Pinney's friend, with whom Ms. Pinney had lived for sixteen months following the accident, testified generally about the negative effect the injuries had on Ms. Pinney's life.

¶6 Additionally, Ms. Pinney called Dr. Dan George, her chiropractor, to testify regarding the nature of her injuries. Dr. George testified that the accident caused Ms. Pinney to sustain a herniated disc in her back. And he specifically testified that the herniated disc constituted "a permanent injury." He also testified that scar tissue in her neck, which stemmed from injuries sustained in the accident, inhibited Ms. Pinney's range of motion, and that treatment failed to restore her range of motion back to "100 percent." And he testified that "the scar tissue is permanent."

Importantly, all of his conclusions were based on multiple x-rays and an MRI of Ms. Pinney's injuries, as well as on his medical examinations of her during the course of her treatment. Based on this evidence, Ms. Pinney requested the jury award her general damages equal to $50 or $75 per day until she turned eighty. This amounted to a request ranging from approximately $419,000 to $630,000.

¶7 After considering the evidence presented by both parties, the jury awarded Ms. Pinney $300,000 in general damages. In response, Mr. Carrera filed a post-trial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. In his motion, he argued that Ms. Pinney was barred from receiving general damages because she failed to satisfy the requirement set forth in Utah Code section 31A-22-309(1)(a). This statute bars an award of general damages where a plaintiff has not sustained one of five types of injury identified in the statute.² In this case, the only injury type at issue is a "permanent disability or permanent impairment based upon objective findings."³ Citing this statute, Mr. Carrera argued that Ms. Pinney failed to demonstrate "objective findings" of a permanent injury.

¶8 Mr. Carrera based his argument on statements Dr. George had made during cross-examination. During cross-examination, Dr. George stated that he had not issued Ms. Pinney a "permanent impairment rating." He explained that he no longer issued impairment ratings to his patients because impairment ratings "tend to hold more clout if another physician"—"one [who] hasn't worked with [the patient]"—"does them."⁴ Because Dr. George testified that he did not issue Ms. Pinney a permanent impairment rating, Mr. Carrera argued that Ms. Pinney had failed to provide "objective findings" of a permanent injury.

¶9 The district court denied this motion. It concluded that the statute does not contain a "specific requirement that there be a permanent disability rating or a permanent impairment rating." And it concluded that Dr. George's testimony regarding the nature of Ms. Pinney's injuries was "sufficient to be an objective finding of a permanent injury." The court of appeals affirmed this ruling, holding that the term "objective findings" requires only that a plaintiff demonstrate a permanent disability or impairment "through evidence other than the plaintiff's own subjective testimony."⁵

¶10 Before the district court, Mr. Carrera also brought a motion for a new trial under Rule 59 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Specifically, he argued that the court should order a new trial on the amount of damages because (1) the damage award was not supported by the evidence on record and (2) the damage award amount was so excessive that it appeared to have been given under the influence of passion or prejudice.

¶11 The district court also denied this motion, explaining that the "amount of the award was supported by the evidence presented at trial in the form of Dr. George's testimony, the MRI showing permanent injuries, and testimony related to [Ms. Pinney's] limitations, pain, and effect on her life." And the court explained that the award was not so excessive that it appeared to have been given under the influence of passion or prejudice, because of the ample evidence regarding Ms. Pinney's pain and suffering and because the jury "did not provide the full amount" that Ms. Pinney had requested.

¶12 The court of appeals affirmed. It held that evidence on the record "gave the jury a reasonable basis upon which to rely when it awarded damages."⁶ And in so doing, it noted the district court's finding that Ms. Pinney's counsel requested a damage award much greater than what the jury awarded.⁷

¶13 Mr. Carrera filed a petition for a writ of certiorari regarding the court of appeals’ interpretation of the term "objective findings" as it is used in Utah Code section 31A-22-309 and its holding related to Mr. Carrera's motion for a new trial. We granted the petition on both issues. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(a).

Standards of Review

¶14 "On a writ of certiorari, we review the decision of the court of appeals ... and apply the same standard[s] of review used by the court of appeals."⁸ In conducting this review, we grant no deference to the court of appeals’ decision.⁹ Mr. Carrera asks us to review two aspects of the court of appeals’ decision. First he asks us to review the court of appeals’ interpretation of a statute. "We review questions of statutory interpretation for correctness."¹⁰ Second, he asks us to review the court of appeals’ affirmance of the district court's denial of his motion for a new trial. We review a district court's denial of a motion for a new trial for an abuse of discretion.¹¹

Analysis

¶15 Mr. Carrera raises two issues regarding the court of appeals’ decision. First, he argues that it erred in interpreting the term "objective findings" as it appears in Utah Code section 31A-22-309(1)(a)(iii). The court of appeals interpreted "objective findings" to mean findings that are "based on externally verifiable phenomena, as opposed to an individual's perceptions, feelings, or intentions."¹² Mr. Carrera, on the other hand, argues that "objective findings" means findings that are not tainted by an individual's bias. Although the term "objective" is commonly used in either sense, we conclude that, in the context of section 31A-22-309(1)(a), Mr. Carrera's proposed interpretation is unworkable. So we affirm the court of appeals on this point.

¶16 Second, Mr. Carrera...