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Timestamp: 2019-04-22 10:35:46+00:00

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DAVID A. VANALSTYNE, JR. vs. RICHARD WHALEN.
Present: ARMSTRONG, GREANEY, & SMITH, JJ.
CIVIL ACTION commenced in the Superior Court Department on July 20, 1979.
The case was tried before Urbano, J., and a motion for relief from judgment was heard by him.
David O. Burbank for the defendant.
plaintiff's motion for relief from the judgment, Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(2), 365 Mass. 828 (1974), and ordering a new trial solely on the issue of damages because of newly discovered evidence. The defendant contends that there was no evidence to show that he operated a motor vehicle negligently, or, if he did so operate, to show that his negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. He further contends that evidence that the plaintiff began to suffer from epilepsy shortly after the judgment was entered was not "newly discovered" within the meaning of that term in rule 60(b)(2). We find no error.
1. We summarize the relevant evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Everett v. Bucky Warren, Inc., 376 Mass. 280, 282 (1978), under the familiar standard applicable to motions for directed verdicts grounded on the sufficiency of the plaintiff's case. Such motions must be denied if "anywhere in the evidence, from whatever source derived, any combination of circumstances could be found from which a reasonable inference could be drawn in favor of the plaintiff." Raunela v. Hertz Corp., 361 Mass. 341, 343 (1972), quoting from Kelly v. Railway Exp. Agency, 315 Mass. 301, 302 (1943). See also Alholm v. Wareham, 371 Mass. 621, 627 (1976); Uloth v. City Tank Corp., 376 Mass. 874, 876 (1978), and cases cited.
In June, 1978, the plaintiff, age fifteen, was living with his parents on Undermountain Road in Lenox. He was at the time approximately four feet eight inches tall and was considered extremely small for his age.
Impala sedan with automatic transmission. Roy was in the passenger seat. While the defendant was backing the vehicle out of the driveway of the VanAlstyne home, the plaintiff discovered that the defendant had left a towel behind. The plaintiff, who was dressed in a shirt and gym shorts, went around to the driver's side of the vehicle with the towel. The plaintiff and defendant then began conversing through the open driver's side window, the plaintiff walking alongside as the defendant backed the automobile into the street. At this point, the plaintiff was beside the automobile and leaning on its door. The defendant then drove forward.
The passenger Roy testified that he observed the plaintiff leaning on the automobile and talking to the defendant as the vehicle proceeded southerly on Undermountain Road. Roy described the plaintiff as continuing to "shuffle" alongside the moving vehicle at a pace "like a fast run" for fifteen or twenty feet as the automobile accelerated. Roy then looked away and did not again observe the plaintiff until after the accident. According to Roy, the automobile reached a speed between twenty-five and thirty miles per hour before it stopped. The defendant testified that the plaintiff remained alongside his automobile as it proceeded south on Undermountain Road, at times coming as close as six inches to the vehicle. The defendant also testified that he was aware of the plaintiff's presence beside the moving vehicle for approximately 210 to 230 feet while he continued to increase the vehicle's speed. Although the defendant was no longer aware of the plaintiff after the vehicle had travelled slightly more than 200 feet, he made no attempt to slow down or stop. The defendant later told the plaintiff's mother that "Davie [the plaintiff] was hanging on to the car . . . with his elbows and then . . . he was gone."
left of the road's center relative to the vehicle's direction of travel, and approximately fifteen to twenty feet behind the stopped automobile. The plaintiff suffered severe injuries which left him in a coma for three days and caused bizarre behavior after he woke from the coma. He had no memory of the incident. Although the plaintiff is a diabetic, his neurosurgeon testified that his coma and unusual behavior during recovery were the result of and consistent with a bifrontal cerebral contusion with swelling and areas of hemorrhage in the brain caused by an automobile accident rather than a diabetic coma. Both this physician and the otolaryngologist who set the plaintiff's fractured nose generally agreed that his injuries were "inconsistent with a simple fall for whatever reason."
plaintiff was alongside the vehicle for some distance and then "was gone" made it appear unlikely that he had hitched a ride on the back of the automobile. The fact that there was no precise explanation of exactly how the plaintiff might have become attached to the side of the vehicle is not fatal to recovery. This aspect of the proof, in our view, is governed by the principle that a plaintiff need not prove the exact manner in which the accident happened so long as he proves that there was a greater probability that the harm complained of was due to causes for which the defendant was responsible than any other cause. Power Serv. Supply, Inc. v. E.W. Wiggins Airways, Inc., 9 Mass. App. Ct. 122, 128 (1980), and cases cited; Restatement (Second) of Torts Section 433B comment b (1965). Taking all of the circumstances disclosed by the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the jury were warranted in concluding that the defendant should not have "ignore[d] the presence of the [plaintiff]," and that he failed "to use a degree of care commensurate to the probable harmful consequence that might result . . . from the lack of the exercise of such care." Hanlon v. White Fuel Corp., 328 Mass. 455, 457-458 (1952). See also Margeson v. Town Taxi, Inc., 266 Mass. 192, 194 (1929); DaSilvia v. Dalton, 322 Mass. 102, 103 (1947); Barry v. Panich, 324 Mass. 162, 163-164 (1949), and cases cited. Cf. Zezuski v. Jenny Mfg. Co., 363 Mass. 324, 327-331 (1973). The judge properly denied the defendant's motion for a directed verdict and left the issues of the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's contributing negligence to the jury.
from his head injuries (which as previously noted included a bifrontal cerebral contusion and brain hemorrhage) and with multiple abrasions on his head, torso and extremities. He regained consciousness on the fourth day following. He exhibited spasmodic muscle contractions and unusual restlessness and irritability which generally decreased during the course of a three-week hospital stay. The irritability continued somewhat, however, after his return home. There was evidence of permanent impairment of his intellectual and memory functions. He also suffered serious injuries to his nose and teeth.
"I am a licensed and practicing neurologist in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In my capacity as a neurologist, I examined and treated David A. VanAlstyne, Jr., of Lenox, Massachusetts, for the first time in June 1981, at which time he had an arrest of speech. This was due to epileptiform discharges from the speech area of the left temporal lobe hemisphere, as evidenced on EEG. Resolution of the problem followed institution of Dilantin therapy. There was no motor deficit.
"CT scanning demonstrated atrophy in the left temporal lobe region as manifest by a ventricular enlargement in the area.
"In my opinion, with reasonable medical certainty, this condition which presented itself with seizure activity in May 1981, was a direct consequences of a head injured that David suffered in an automobile accident of June 25, 1978. This condition is another aspect of the known, pre-existent head injury which was undiagnosable until its manifestation in May 1981. No amount of care could have revealed this pre-existing condition until its manifestation in May and June of 1981.
"David's health status is significantly worsened by the appearance of this disorder which is of a permanent nature requiring life-long use of anticonvulsant medication in order to avoid reoccurrence of the symptoms."
A hearing was held on the motion. In addition to Dr. Stowe's affidavit, the plaintiff presented records from the Berkshire Medical Center pertaining to the hospitalization which ultimately led to the diagnosis of epilepsy. The defendant offered no medical evidence by means of affidavit or otherwise to contradict the plaintiff's materials. Further, the defendant conceded at the hearing that the material in Dr. Stowe's affidavit was undisputed.
On October 2, 1981, the judge allowed the motion, stating in his memorandum of decision, that "the evidence of the plaintiff's epileptic condition is newly discovered, would materially affect the amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff, could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial and thus justifies relief from the operation of the judgment." The judgment was vacated and a new trial ordered solely on the issue of damages.
of the plaintiff's epilepsy does not satisfy the quoted requirement.
(1981) (applying common law principles of cases cited in DeLuca to motions for new trials on grounds of newly discovered evidence in criminal and domestic relations proceedings, respectively).
supply former deficiencies. But courts cannot close `their eyes to injustice on account of facility of abuse.' Nevertheless, most critical scrutiny must be given to the kind of evidence offered in support of the motion, to the sources from which it comes, and the circumstances under which it is produced." We think the admonitions just summarized will cause trial judges to look gimlet-eyed at the proffered new evidence and to reject most attempts to reopen the case. These principles, coupled with the breadth of the trial judge's discretion in allowing or denying a motion for new trial, whatever its ground, see Torre v. Harris-Seybold Co., 9 Mass. App. Ct. 660, 663-665 (1980), and parallel considerations of discretion in the rule 60 area, see generally Berube v. McKesson Wine & Spirits Co., 7 Mass. App. Ct. 426, 433-434 (1979), provide adequate safeguards for institutional needs.
At oral argument, the defendant expressed concern that he would be at a disadvantage at retrial before a jury if left without the liability evidence and instructed to proceed solely on the issue of damages, based on what appears to be a significant newly discovered medical condition. The power to grant a retrial solely on the issue of damages is, of course, well within the scope of the rule. Obviously, the defendant's failure to rebut the plaintiff's offer of proof at the motion stage does not foreclose the production of contradictory evidence at the new trial on any issues relevant to damages, including medical causation. Moreover, the new assessment of damages will, on issue preclusion principles, be reduced by the percentages of comparative negligence found by the first jury. Finally, it is likely that the jury rehearing damages will become oriented to the salient features of the liability evidence by way of background information explained by counsel or through the testimony of the medical witnesses.
enter vacating only that portion of the judgment which pertains to the amount of damages, as to which the case is remanded for further proceedings. So much of the judgment as pertains to liability is affirmed.
[Note 1] There was testimony at trial as to the prognosis for the plaintiff (including indicated future medical procedures and the permanent effects of his head injuries) which the jury may have used in their computation of damages. See Rodgers v. Boynton, 315 Mass. 279, 280 (1943); Cuddy v. L & M Equip. Co., 352 Mass. 458, 462 (1967). There was nothing before the jury, however, to indicate a likelihood that his injuries could lead to future epileptic seizures. There is no basis to conclude that the jury's award of damages contained compensation for the plaintiff's being at risk with respect to epilepsy as a result of the accident.
[Note 2] An illustrative case in which the two tests would lead to different results is United States v. 449 Cases, More or Less, Containing Tomato Paste, 113 F.Supp. 114 (E.D.N.Y. 1953).
[Note 3] We find nothing to suggest that the term "newly discovered evidence" in rule 60(b)(2) was intended by the drafters of the rules to mean something different from the same term in rule 59(a)(1). As previously noted, commentators have concluded that the test under both rules is the same.
[Note 4] We note that new trials have been allowed in other jurisdictions upon newly discovered evidence of more serious medical conditions than those shown to exist at the time of trial. See, e.g., Bousman v. Stafford, 71 Kan. 648 (1905) (plaintiff discovered to have a ruptured intestine and abdominal abscess in posttrial operation); Bakelja v. James E. Strates Shows, Inc., 349 Pa. 442 (1944) (broken leg, assumed at trial to be "normal" fracture, revealed by posttrial operations to involve presence of foreign matter preventing proper healing and affecting prognosis).

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