Opinion ID: 2804968
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Spinal injury

Text: First, Mr. Mathis challenges the district court’s finding his spinal injuries from the accident were only temporary sprains. He argues the court unduly relied on medical records and that it gave inadequate weight to the testimony of Dr. Beer, Mrs. Mathis, Ms. Waldner, and Mr. Mathis’s former employer, Mr. Waldner. We conclude Mr. Mathis has not shown that the court’s spinal injury finding is clearly erroneous. Trial evidence supported the district court’s finding. The court’s order included 16 findings addressing Mr. Mathis’s spinal injuries from the accident. The court considered extensive evidence presented in Mr. Mathis’s medical records since the accident, including records from Dr. Schulze, Dr. Cook, and Dr. Beer. It also considered the testimony of Mr. Mathis, Mrs. Mathis, Mr. Waldner, Dr. Beer, Dr. Hadley, Dr. Hayes, and others. The court determined Mr. Mathis suffered only temporary muscular-skeletal -14- sprains from the collision, and the sprains resolved in approximately mid-2009. Among other evidence, the court based this finding on post-collision medical records diagnosing Mr. Mathis with “cervical, thoracic, and lumbar sprains”; Mr. Mathis’s two-year gap in treatment when he was engaged in strenuous employment activities; and medical records after the two-year gap in treatment attributing his spinal issues to a degenerative condition and not the accident. App. at 89. The court also based the finding on the testimony of defense experts Dr. Hadley and Dr. Hayes. It determined “Dr. Beer’s differential diagnosis testimony . . . [was] overwhelmed by the other evidence [in the case].” App. at 90. Mr. Mathis’s reference to testimony contrary to the court’s finding does not establish clear error: “[P]ointing to conflicting evidence inconsistent with the district court’s finding is insufficient, standing alone, to establish clear error.” Penncro Assocs., Inc. v. Sprint Spectrum, L.P., 499 F.3d 1151, 1161 (10th Cir. 2007). “[E]very trial is replete with conflicting evidence, and in a bench trial, it is the district court, which enjoys the benefit of live testimony and has the opportunity firsthand to weigh credibility and evidence, that has the task of sorting through and making sense of the parties’ competing narratives.” Watson v. United States, 485 F.3d 1100, 1108 (10th Cir. 2007). The district court resolved the parties’ conflicting evidence in favor of the Defendants. The court’s finding that Mr. Mathis’s spinal injuries were only temporary was not clearly erroneous. -15-