Title: Mathews v. Tuscaloosa County
Citation: 421 So. 2d 98
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: September 24, 1982

421 So. 2d 98 (1982)
Shannon Paige MATHEWS, etc., et al.
v.
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY.
81-110.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
September 24, 1982.
Rehearing Denied October 22, 1982.
J. William White of McCain &amp; White, Tuscaloosa, and Shay Samples and M. Clay Alspaugh of Hogan, Smith &amp; Alspaugh, Birmingham, for appellants.
James G. Lee of Lee, Barrett &amp; Mullins, Tuscaloosa, and Nelson Burnett, Birmingham, for appellee.
MADDOX, Justice.
This is an appeal from an adverse judgment in a wrongful death action. The plaintiff (appellant) raises several issues on appeal. The dispositive issue concerns the propriety of defense counsel's remarks during his opening statement regarding the decedent's workmen's compensation insurance carrier and whether the insurance company was entitled to any proceeds from a judgment for the plaintiff.
Gregory Lee Mathews was killed in a one vehicle accident when the coal truck he was driving overturned. The accident took place at a dead end "T" intersection in Tuscaloosa County. The accident occurred during the early morning hours of a night when the roadway was covered with heavy fog. There was a stop sign placed at the intersection, but the evidence showed that a warning "stop-ahead" sign approaching the intersection had been knocked down. The defendant, Tuscaloosa County, had failed to replace this sign. The plaintiffs, Mathews' minor daughters and administratrix, filed a wrongful death action asserting that the failure to maintain the "stop-ahead" sign constituted negligent and wanton conduct. The defendant countered that no duty existed to erect a "stop-ahead" sign and further, *99 that the decedent's conduct constituted contributory negligence. The jury rendered a verdict for the defendant.
The record does not contain any portion of either the plaintiffs' or the defendant's opening statements. Thus the plaintiff, pursuant to ARAP 10(f)[1] sought to have the record supplemented, to include the defense counsel's remarks regarding workmen's compensation insurance.
Affidavits by Shay Samples, attorney for the plaintiffs, Paige Pugh, court reporter, and James Lee, attorney for the defendant, were attached to appellant's motion under Rule 10(f). The trial judge did not grant the motion but stated in his order the following:
ARAP 10(f) grants the appellate court the power to conform the record so that material inadvertently omitted is included. While no stenographic transcription of counsel's opening statements is usually made in Tuscaloosa County, the court reporter did state in her affidavit that "I was supposed to have recorded, by tape recorder, said opening statements and closing arguments, but this was apparently, inadvertently not done...." Even though the defense counsel's actual spoken words are not preserved in the record, the records do show with reasonable certainty what was said in the court below.
During the defendant's opening statement, the record indicates that an objection was made regarding the characterization of the parties in the case. The trial court overruled the objection. A subsequent discussion in the trial judge's chambers, which was transcribed by the court reporter, sheds some light on the matter being considered.
The plaintiff's attorney recorded his recollection in an affidavit attached to his ARAP Rule 10(f) motion:
The record shows with reasonable certainty that defense counsel made reference to workmen's compensation insurance. Even though the exact statement made by counsel was not preserved because the court reporter did not transcribe it, we find that the record on appeal discloses "with reasonable certainty what was said in the court below." Flowers v. State, 269 Ala. 395, 397, 113 So. 2d 344 (1959); Southern Electric Generating Company v. Lance, 269 Ala. 25, 30, 110 So. 2d 627 (1959).
This Court has held many times "that any showing that the plaintiff has received insurance benefits for his injuries is prejudicial to his case and should not be admitted." Jones v. Crawford, 361 So. 2d 518, 521 (Ala. 1978); Vest v. Gray, 275 Ala. 286, 154 So. 2d 297 (1963); Coleman v. Hamilton Storage Co., 235 Ala. 553, 180 So. 553 (1938).
Based on the foregoing, the judgment of the trial court is due to be reversed and the cause remanded.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
TORBERT, C.J., and JONES, SHORES and BEATTY, JJ., concur.
[1]  "(f) Correction or modification of the record. If any difference arises as to whether the record truly discloses what occurred in the trial court, the difference shall be submitted to and settled by that court and the record made to conform to the truth. If anything material to either party is omitted from the record by error or accident or is misstated therein, the parties by stipulation, or the trial court either before or after the record is transmitted to the appellate court, or the appellate court, on proper suggestion or of its own initiative, may direct that the omission or misstatement be corrected, and if necessary that a supplemental record be certified and transmitted. All other questions as to the form and content of the record shall be presented to the appellate court. (Amended 10-14-76, eff. 1-16-77.)"