Opinion ID: 1981956
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Crash Test Film

Text: A pretrial order was entered on December 16, 1986. The terms of the original pretrial order provided that General Motors would identify its exhibits on or before the date sixty (60) days prior to the trial date and that McLain and the other defendants would be permitted to inspect the exhibits and file any objections on any ground. Paragraph 12 of the pretrial stipulation was amended, by order of the Superior Court, on May 21, 1987. Under the terms of amended paragraph 12, a cut-off date of July 6, 1987, as to expert discovery, was imposed. On October 5, 1987, the morning of the first day of trial, GMC presented a motion to supplement the pretrial order. McLain's attorney was not served with the motion until that morning. The only portion of the motion at issue on appeal is the request for the trial judge to permit supplementation of the existing pretrial order in this matter to include as an exhibit a videotape, photographs, and motion picture of a barrier crash test performed on October 1, 1987. GMC's attorneys argued that the supplementation of the pretrial order was necessary to prevent manifest injustice because seventeen days before trial, and subsequent to the final day on which discovery was permissible under the amended pretrial order, GMC learned that McLain's theory of GMC's negligence had changed. Over McLain's objection, the trial judge granted GMC's motion to present the film and videotape of the barrier crash test to the jury as evidence and also allowed GMC to admit still photographs of that test into evidence. The alleged change in McLain's theory of negligence relates to a report by one of McLain's experts. On October 10, 1986, almost one year in advance of trial, McLain's attorney furnished GMC with the report of John Marcosky, P.E. (Marcosky), one of McLain's witnesses, who was identified as an expert in automotive design and crashworthiness. The first paragraph of Marcosky's report stated that the front of Dellavecchio's Firebird contacted the right rear of Wolfe's Grand Prix, resulting in the apparent counterclockwise rotation of the Firebird. In response to GMC's interrogatories in June, 1987, and July, 1987, McLain confirmed the opinion of Marcosky that the Firebird rotated counterclockwise during the accident. However, on September 17, 1987, McLain's attorneys advised GMC that the reference to counterclockwise rotation in Marcosky's October 10, 1986 report was a typographical error, and that the correct word should have been clockwise. GMC submits that prior to September 17, 1987, it had no reason to prepare to rebut a claim that the Firebird rotated in a clockwise direction. According to GMC's motion to supplement the pretrial order, police officers Paul Taylor and Michael Smith, who had investigated the scene of the accident, passenger Gills and driver Dellavecchio had all given deposition testimony that, during the accident, the Firebird rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Based on the deposition testimony, and the information McLain provided to GMC prior to notice of the typographical error, GMC argues the parties were in apparent agreement as to the issue of the direction of the rotation of the Firebird during the accident. According to GMC, on September 17, 1987, it learned for the first time that Marcosky was really of the opinion that the Firebird rotated clockwise during the accident. On September 21, 1987, after having consulted its experts, GMC notified McLain's attorneys that in view of the typographical error, GMC reserved the right to take whatever action is appropriate in order to respond to this complete change of vehicle direction. Coincidentally, on this same day, McLain's attorneys informed GMC that Dr. Steven C. Batterman, Ph.D. (Batterman), another of McLain's witnesses, previously identified as an expert in biomechanical engineering, motor vehicle accident reconstruction, and crashworthiness, would testify that the Firebird rotated clockwise. Two days later, on September 23, 1987, McLain's counsel informed GMC that Marcosky would not be testifying at trial as an accident reconstructionist. GMC conducted the crash barrier test on October 1, 1987, and the results were available on the afternoon of October 2, 1987. [4] In their motion to supplement the pretrial order, GMC argued that the rotation of the Firebird would be an important issue if McLain maintained her rebound theory, i.e., that she first flew forward against the back of the front seats and then backward, thereby hitting the back of her head on the seat belt retractor. GMC submitted that if the car spun in a counterclockwise direction, as originally stated in the Marcosky report, the area of the seat belt retractor would have been moving away from McLain when she rebounded off the front seat. Conversely, GMC acknowledged if the Firebird spun clockwise, McLain could have rebounded in the direction of the area of the seat belt retractor, after hitting the front seat. Therefore, GMC argued that when McLain changed her position on the rotation of the Firebird, it became necessary for GMC to examine McLain's contention regarding the direction and velocity of her rebound by conducting a crash barrier test. Delaware Superior Court Civil Rule 16(a) provides, in part, that a pretrial order controls the subsequent cause of the action, unless modified at the trial to prevent manifest injustice. The Superior Court found that the correction of the typographical error changed McLain's case in a significant way. The Superior Court permitted GMC to present evidence of the barrier crash test because it concluded that the change in McLain's case unfairly surprised GMC, only seventeen days before trial, after the discovery deadlines imposed by the pretrial order had passed. The record reflects that a major issue in this case, which involved the application of accident reconstruction techniques, was the post-impact rotation of the Firebird and the resulting movement of McLain within that vehicle. The typographical error in Marcosky's original report was not corrected for more than a year. The statement of Marcosky's original theory of counterclockwise rotation by the Firebird, following impact, was consistent with the pretrial deposition testimony and interrogatory responses. Under the circumstances of this case, we find that the Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in granting GMC's motion to supplement the pretrial order, to prevent manifest injustice. Super.Ct. Civ.R. 16.