Opinion ID: 1058744
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: admission of statistical evidence

Text: In their first assignment of error, the Defendants challenge the trial court's decision to admit statistical evidence consisting of information from bar graphs contained in a nursing journal article and information kept and compiled by Riverside regarding other patient fall cases at Riverside. Our review of the record, as discussed below, shows that the Defendants failed to preserve their objections to this evidence.
During opening statements, the Estate showed the jury bar graphs displaying various information about patient falls in the general hospital population, and referred to the information on the graphs. The Defendants objected, stating that although the graphs could be properly relied on by experts and read to the jury pursuant to Code § 8.01-401.1, the graphs and articles were not evidence and [it was] certainly impermissible to argue to the jury statistics in this case. The trial court overruled the objection. Nurse Wendy E. Jenvey, the Estate's expert witness, then testified that the journal article containing the bar graphs was the type of source normally relied upon by others in the nursing field to form opinions, and that she considered the article to be a reliable authority. Jenvey described the content of the article and the graphs to the jury. The Defendants did not object to this testimony. The Estate again referred to information in the bar graphs during closing argument, again without any objection from the Defendants. Although shown to the jury, neither the journal article nor the bar graphs were introduced into evidence. In the absence of any objection to the bar graph references during Jenvey's testimony or closing arguments, only the Estate's reference to the bar graphs made in opening argument is before us in this assignment of error. Rule 5:25. In objecting to statements made in the opening argument, the Defendants argued that the bar graphs and journal article were not evidence and that arguing such statistics to the jury was impermissible. The assignment of error challenges the admission of evidence; however an opening statement is argument of counsel, and does not involve admission of evidence. To the extent the assignment of error addresses the propriety of the Estate's argument and the trial court's determination that including reference to the bar graphs was permissible, that ruling, if error, is harmless error. As the record reflects, the jury heard the same information during Jenvey's testimony without objection.
The Defendants next contend that the trial court erred in admitting statistical evidence about other patient falls at Riverside (the Fall Evidence). This evidence consisted of testimony based on a report generated by Riverside listing patient fall data from January through October 1997. In a pre-trial motion in limine, the Defendants argued that this information was irrelevant, prejudicial, and likely to confuse and mislead the jury. The Estate countered that the information was relevant to establishing notice under the punitive damage claim. The trial court agreed with the Estate and ruled that patient falls which took place after the patient had gotten out of bed were similar to Johnson's fall, and that data about those falls was admissible for purposes of notice for the punitive damage claim. The trial court suggested that a cautionary instruction could be given to the jury to clarify the purpose of such information. At the close of evidence, the Estate nonsuited the claim for punitive damages. The Defendants did not renew their objection to the Fall Evidence on the basis of relevance, and did not ask for any cautionary jury instruction regarding consideration of the Fall Evidence. The Estate maintains that the Defendants waived their objection to the Fall Evidence because they did not renew their relevancy objection following the nonsuit of the punitive damage claim. The Defendants contend that once they noted their exception to the denial of their motion in limine, they were not obligated to renew their objection to the Fall Evidence. The purpose of Rule 5:25 is to afford the trial court the ability to address an issue. If that opportunity is not presented to the trial court, there is no ruling by the trial court on the issue, and thus no basis for review or action by this Court on appeal. Furthermore, Rule 5:25 requires that parties state objections with reasonable certainty. See Fisher v. Commonwealth, 236 Va. 403, 413-14, 374 S.E.2d 46, 52 (1988) (holding defendant had waived objection pursuant to Rule 5:25 by offering a general objection that failed to put the trial court on fair notice). In this case, the Defendants, in their pretrial motions and during Friend's testimony, clearly objected to the admission of the Fall Evidence as irrelevant, immaterial and confusing or prejudicial to either the issue of notice or negligence. The trial court allowed the Fall Evidence for the purpose of notice; however, the punitive damage claim ultimately was not presented to the jury. Although the Defendants are correct that they did not have to renew their objection to the introduction of the Fall Evidence as it related to the notice claim, [2] under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that the Defendants' failure to reassert their objection that the Fall Evidence was irrelevant to the issue of negligence, or to ask the trial court to give the jury a cautionary instruction regarding the use of such evidence, precluded the trial court from considering whether further action or ruling should be made regarding that evidence after the Estate's punitive damages claim was nonsuited. In Riner v. Commonwealth, 268 Va. 296, 601 S.E.2d 555 (2004), the defendant did not object when the trial court took defendant's pre-trial motion for change of venue under advisement. We held that because the defendant did not renew the motion or remind the court that the motion was still pending prior to the seating of the jury, the change of venue motion was waived and could not be raised on appeal. Id. at 309-310, 601 S.E.2d at 562-63. In this case, while the trial court did not take under advisement the Defendants' objection to the admission of the Fall Evidence as irrelevant and prejudicial to the negligence issue, the court also did not specifically address this objection in ruling that the evidence could be admitted for the limited purpose of notice in connection with the punitive damage claim. [3] When the punitive damage claim was nonsuited, the complexion of the litigation changed significantly. The Defendants recognized this change and sought to strike portions of the motion for judgment relating to the punitive damage claim and coauthored a joint statement read to the jury explaining that punitive or exemplary damages were no longer part of the litigation. They took no steps, however, to bring to the attention of the trial court the irrelevance of the Fall Evidence in light of the changed circumstances of the case, nor did they seek a cautionary instruction regarding the jury's use of that evidence. Thus, as in Riner, the Defendants did not afford the trial court in this case an opportunity to rule on their objections to the Fall Evidence in the sole context of the negligence issue. We reject the Defendants' argument that they renewed their relevance objection by moving to strike portions of the Motion for Judgment affected by the nonsuit. Nothing in this motion referred to either the statistical evidence of which they now complain or to its relevance to the negligence count. Thus, this motion also fails to meet the reasonable certainty requirement contained in Rule 5:25. For these reasons we conclude that the Defendants did not preserve their objections to the statistical evidence involving patient falls at other hospitals and at Riverside Hospital and we will not consider this assignment of error further. Rule 5:25.