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Robinson v. Ellis6/21/2004
Following jury awards of compensatory and punitive damages in their favor, Lonnie and Barbara Robinson appeal. On appeal they contend that (1) the jury's punitive-damages award in their favor was erroneously contradictory and inadequate because different amounts were awarded to each of them, and (2) the trial court erred in allowing the defendant to testify regarding her husband's death and her ill father, and preventing them from presenting evidence regarding the defendant's past drinking history on cross-examination. We discern no error and affirm.
*53 The record reveals that the Robinsons were injured in a car accident when a car driven by Faye Rochelle Ellis crashed into a trailer attached to the back of the Robinsons' van, causing their van to flip onto its side. Since Ellis admitted liability and further admitted that she was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, the parties agreed to a trifurcated trial proceeding, with phase one dealing only with compensatory damages, phase two being devoted to whether punitive damages should be awarded, and phase three dealing with the amount of punitive damages to be awarded.
In phase one, the jury awarded the Robinsons $30,000 each in compensatory damages and awarded Mr. Robinson an additional $1,752.08 for his medical bills and an additional $1,706.40 to Mrs. Robinson for her medical bills.
In phase two, the Robinsons desired to introduce evidence from Ellis's deposition in which Ellis testified that she sometimes drank when she drove and that the accident with the Robinsons was not the first time that Ellis had consumed alcohol before driving. However, the court refused to allow this evidence, reasoning that (1) drinking in and of itself was not a crime, (2) Ellis had never been charged with DUI in the past, and (3) absent evidence that Ellis had driven under the influence or to the extent that it was less safe for her to drive in the past, or Ellis somehow opened the door at trial to relevant evidence of her prior drinking, the evidence should be excluded since it was far more prejudicial than probative.
However, the trial court did allow Ellis's attorney to ask Ellis the following questions on direct examination, over objection from the Robinsons' counsel:
Q: Are you married or single?
A: I'm a widow.
Q: When did your husband pass away?
A: A couple years ago.
Q: Where did you live at the time your husband died?
A: I lived in Matthews [North Carolina].
Additionally, despite the fact that the Robinsons' counsel objected to Ellis giving any testimony regarding her father being ill, Ellis mentioned on cross-examination that she had been spending a lot of time with her father recently because he had cancer and was very ill. Ellis did not make any mention of her father's illness during her direct examination.
The jury found that the Robinsons were entitled to punitive damages. With the Robinsons' counsel's consent, the court provided the jury with two verdict forms for the punitive damages award, *54 reasoning that the jury could, in theory, provide two different punitive damages awards because there were two plaintiffs in the case. The jury awarded Mr. Robinson $2,680 in punitive damages and awarded Mrs. Robinson $4,020 in punitive damages. Following the denial of their motion to set aside the punitive damages award, the Robinsons appeal.
1. In two enumerations, the Robinsons contend that the jury's punitive damages award was erroneously contradictory and inadequate because different amounts were awarded to each plaintiff. However, the record reveals that the Robinsons' counsel consented to the court giving the jury separate punitive damages verdict forms to account for different amounts of punitive damages that the jury might want to award to
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