Source: http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/category/civil-procedure-british-columbia-personal-injury-law
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 18:39:25+00:00

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Is Evidence of a Withdrawn Ticket Admissible in a Personal Injury Prosecution?
This week the BC Court of Appeal had the opportunity to decide if it is appropriate for a jury deciding fault for a crash in the context of a personal injury lawsuit can hear evidence that a motorist was issued a ticket by the police which was ultimately withdrawn before trial.
Unfortunately the BC Court of Appeal sidestepped the question finding that if such evidence is inappropriate, any harm caused by it can be cured by a warning to the Jury.
In today’s case (Jones v. Frohlick) the Plaintiff was injured in a collision and sued for damages. A jury assessed the Plaintiff’s claim at $30,200 but then cut this down to $4,530 on the basis that they found the Plaintiff 85% at fault for the crash.
 In his ruling, the judge found that the evidence elicited from Mr. Jones on cross-examination regarding the traffic ticket was relevant as it was part of the narrative of the events that occurred at the scene of the Accident, and that any prejudice it may have caused Mr. Jones could be remedied by an instruction to the jury that they could not place any weight on the fact that the ticket was issued or that it was ultimately withdrawn or dismissed. He also noted that counsel for Mr. Jones would be able to cross-examine the attending officer about the ticket and its withdrawal or dismissal, which might even benefit Mr. Jones’ claim.
I will deal at the outset with the fact that you heard evidence that Mr. Jones was initially given a ticket at the scene of the accident and that the ticket was later dismissed or withdrawn. Neither the fact of the initial ticket nor the fact of the subsequent dismissal is relevant to your determination of liability here. Your obligation is to determine the issue based on the evidence that you heard in court and the legal principles that I will explain to you.
 Mr. Jones raises an interesting issue of whether the traffic ticket was incorrectly characterized by the judge as “narrative” evidence given that the traffic ticket was unnecessary to explain the context or background of the events at the scene of the Accident as they unfolded, was disputed by him, and was subsequently withdrawn or dismissed. In support of these submissions he relies on R. v. Taweel, 2015 NSCA 107. He submits that, in these circumstances, the evidence was irrelevant and should not have been admitted as its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value, or lack thereof, and it went to the ultimate issue on liability that was for the jury to decide.
 However, even if the admission of that evidence was erroneous, that is not determinative of the appeal. The determinative issue is, assuming but not deciding that the impugned evidence was inadmissible, whether the prejudice caused by its admission could be remedied by an appropriate and adequate limiting instruction to the jury.
 That brings me to the second ground of appeal: whether the admission of the impugned evidence was so prejudicial that even with an appropriate corrective instruction it would have caused a substantial wrong or would have resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
 The impugned evidence in this case was not inflammatory. Nor was it in my view highly prejudicial as it was potentially open to both unfavourable and favourable inferences to Mr. Jones’ claim, the latter including that the ticket was withdrawn because it had no merit or, as was noted by the judge in his ruling, that it was misguided from the start. In these circumstances, I find no error in the judge’s exercise of his discretion in deciding that a corrective instruction was appropriate to alleviate the potential of any prejudice that may have been caused by the admission of the impugned evidence.
…once it is determined that a corrective instruction was appropriate and adequate, the matter ends. This Court must assume that juries act judicially and responsibly, that is, the instructions of trial judges are followed “unless there is a clear basis for finding otherwise” (Hovianseian v. Hovianseian, 2005 BCCA 61 at para 25). It is not appropriate for this Court to speculate on whether the jury may have disregarded the judge’s corrective instruction.
 The adequacy of the judge’s instructions is also evident in the final award by the jury. While undoubtedly not embraced by either side, it cannot be said that the award for non-pecuniary damages of $24,000 would not meet the test in Nance v. British Columbia Electric Railway,  3 D.L.R. 705 (P.C.) in that it was inordinately high or low, or that the total award of damages was “wholly disproportionate or shockingly unreasonable” (Young v. Bella, 2006 SCC 3 at para. 64).
Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, providing a general overview of when a short-leave applications should be granted and criticizing the frequency with which such applications are brought by defence lawyers in personal injury lawsuits.
 The Masters in chambers, almost daily, are asked to give short leave under Rule 8-5(1). I have heard three of these applications in 1 ½ days of chambers; in one application, plaintiff’s counsel told the court that it was the third short leave application by the defence in that case since October 17. Interestingly, on a quick search I found no authorities to guide the court in granting or refusing applications for short leave. The rule itself offers little guidance, other than an application may be made in circumstances of “urgency”.
 Such applications should be restricted to emergent circumstances and should not reward inefficiency, inattention to a particular case, or a lack of oversight. To abridge the time limits imposed by the Supreme Court Civil Rules is, presumably, to prejudice the other party who is, naturally, entitled to rely on timelines imposed by the Rules and to expect the opposing party to do likewise.
a) The application, of course, is to be made by Requisition, usually without affidavits, and may be made before a Registrar, Master, or Judge.
b) While undue formality in the application is discouraged, the application should be made in court, on the record (even if by video or telephone) and not online as an e-filed application.
c) Applicant’s counsel should notify the opposing counsel or party of an intention to apply for short leave so that counsel can appear. At the very least applicant’s counsel should canvass with his or her friend their availability on the proposed chambers date and whether he or she is opposed to the short leave.
d) The applicant should be prepared to give a full accounting of the facts, circumstances, context, and chronology leading to the application for short leave, all of which should establish that the applicant has been affected or surprised by events or developments not reasonably foreseeable.
e) If opposing counsel is not present should, as in the case of without notice applications, be prepared to give both favourable and unfavourable details.
f) If any important or pivotal fact or element is disputed by opposing counsel the applicant should be prepared to offer affidavit evidence on the point and, as always, counsel should not speak to his or her own affidavit if the matter is contested.
g) Busy schedules for the applicant counsel will usually not be sufficient reason for short leave; in that case counsel should arrange for a colleague or agent to speak to the chambers application on the usual notice required by the rules.
 Ultimately, taking these points into consideration, the court will balance the prejudice both to the other party by potentially disrupting their schedules and trial preparations as well as service to other clients and to the applicant by virtue of reasonably unforeseen facts, circumstances, or developments that have inhibited the applicant’s preparation in the normal chronology that the rules contemplate and mandate.
 Some areas of the law tend to offer more emergencies or crises than others; family law would likely fall in this category. Despite this, however, of late more applications for short leave seem to arise from personal injury/motor vehicle accident cases than in any other. And most of those applications for short leave seem to be on behalf of the defence, seeking short leave to bring an application for an IME close to trial. In that respect, this case is completely typical of that growing practise.
 In many cases, the applicant can point to genuine circumstances giving rise to surprise or the advent of claims or circumstances the applicant could not have reasonably anticipated. This, and many similar applications, is not in that category. In too many cases, in my view, the defence, either assuming that settlement is likely or simply by applying triage or prioritizing in busy offices with large caseloads, have not given due attention and focus in a timely way to the possible claims and damages of the plaintiff. Lawyers are extremely busy professionals. They have many cases other than the one specifically before the court. Every master and judge knows that. Still, that cannot be permitted to affect the other party’s right to due process and adherence to the rules unless clearly justified; it is the court’s function to prevent that.
 I have opined often, from the bench, about the template nature of pleadings in personal injury cases. Often, it seems, the only change to pleadings are the names of the parties and the date and location of the accident. The damages claimed and particulars of alleged negligence are almost rote. Still, when a party specifies concussion, cognitive impairment, nightmares, sleep disruption, and driving related anxiety (which, to be fair, not all plaintiffs claim), it should be an obvious announcement to the defence that psychiatric enquiry is justified.
 With the advent of standardized pleadings, an obvious problem for the defence arises: what really are the damages (if any) to this particular plaintiff? It is my conclusion that very often the true issues in the claim are not established until expert medical (and sometimes economic) reports are delivered. And, yes, very often these reports are delivered at or very near the 84-day deadline. I do understand the defence dilemma in that, but even when faced with standardized pleadings, nothing prevents the defence from, as here, conducting the usual steps for disclosure and discovery. The chronology or timing of that is very much for the defence to decide and control.
 In this particular case, Ms. Stewart is right; there were multiple indications to the defence that Ms. O’Callaghan was not only making a claim for psychiatric injuries, but that she was firm in her allegation and that in her view the damages were significant and long-lasting. Both the clinical records and her discovery evidence should have reinforced that assertion. Her denial of the facts contained in the defence notice to admit was a further obvious sign. But preceding all of those indicators was the NOCC which, despite my complaints of template pleadings in general, was clear in alleging specific psychiatric or psychological injuries and consequences of the accident.
Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Court of Appeal confirming the limited appeal rights from small claims lawsuits.
In the recent case (Jacques v. Muir) the Plaintiff brought a medical negligence claim in small claims court that was dismissed based on a previous release that was signed. The Plaintiff appealed to the BC Supreme Court where the claim dismissal was upheld.
 The chambers judge properly held that s. 13(2) precludes an appeal to this Court of the order dismissing Ms. Jacques’s application. As this Court said in Pour, “no order of the Supreme Court made in appeal proceedings in a small claims action can be appealed to this Court” (at para. 7).
5 (1) Any party to a proceeding under this Act may appeal to the Supreme Court an order to allow or dismiss a claim if that order was made by a Provincial Court judge after a trial.
(2) No appeal lies from any order of the Provincial Court made in a proceeding under this Act other than an order referred to in subsection (1).
 As the order of Judge Low was not made “after a trial”, arguably pursuant to s. 5(2) of the Small Claims Act the order was not appealable at all, but I need not decide this issue in the circumstances.
 For these reasons I would dismiss the application to vary.
Reasons for judgement were published today by the BC Court of Appeal discussing the unique nature of the notice limitation period for suing local governments.

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