Court Opinion

ID: 9567357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:53:01.674354+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:00:34.271039
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Chief Judge,
concurring specially.
I agree that the judgment should be affirmed but I do not fully concur in the opinion.
1. Out of the presence of the jury, the court heard testimony and argument with respect to whether the police officer was qualified as an expert to give his opinion with respect to how the collision occurred. The court expressly refused to permit the officer to testify as to his conclusions about the path of the motorcycle prior to the collision, applying its understanding of the ruling in Emory v. Dobson, 206 Ga. App. 482 (426 SE2d 50) (1992). In that case, the Court held that “the trial court correctly prohibited the officer from opining concerning which party was at fault in the accident.” Id. at 484.
The court in this instance distinguished the opinion on the ultimate question and the opinion that the skid marks coming towards the truck on the truck’s lane of travel came from the motorcycle because they were single, fresh and led right to the vehicle’s impact with the truck. If what was excluded was admissible as expert testimony pursuant to Jefferson Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Clark, 202 Ga. App. 385, 391-392 (3) (414 SE2d 521) (1991), it would have undermined the plaintiffs’ case. The officer’s opinion was that the motorcyclist swung wide as he exited the driveway from work on the left side of the street *524and traveled in the oncoming truck’s lane, locked his brakes when he saw the truck, and skidded head-on into the right front wheel well area of the truck as it tried to move to the left to avoid him. I do not agree that the court should have deemed the officer an expert witness for the purpose of presenting this evidence. It was not necessary for the purpose of helping the jury understand the sequence of events and the placement of the vehicles, particularly the motorcycle, as they traveled towards each other. See Allison v. State, 256 Ga. 851, 853 (5) (353 SE2d 805) (1987).
Plaintiffs’ sole enumeration of error is that the court erred in admitting defendant’s Exhibit 1 into evidence over objection. It was the drawing of the scene of the collision, made by the officer in fulfillment of his duty as the investigating officer. This was not reversible error because the drawing merely visually illustrated the officer’s unobjected-to descriptive testimony of what he observed and where the vehicles were coming from, that is, defendant coming from the south in the northbound lane and plaintiff coming from his place of work on the west side of the road. The crucial difference between the defendant’s exhibit and the plaintiffs’ exhibit is the line of skid marks; the plaintiffs show them as beginning on the opposite side of the road from where the officer testified he found them.
2. I do not agree with appellee that plaintiffs as appellants were required to submit the entire transcript of the four-day trial. It was not necessary for our review of their sole enumeration of error. Plaintiffs should not be faulted for exercising efficiency and care in reducing the costs of appeal. This not only makes good sense, but it is in keeping with the statutes and with the spirit of the constitutional mandate for Georgia courts to have rules which provide for the “speedy, efficient, and inexpensive resolution of disputes.” 1983 Ga. Const., Art. VI, Sec. IX, Par. I.
OCGA §§ 5-6-37, 5-6-38, 5-6-41, and 5-6-42 not only allow a partial record to be selected by appellant but provide a method for additional portions of the record to be added if appellee desires such in order to support appellee’s position. See Brand v. Montega Corp., 233 Ga. 35 (209 SE2d 583) (1974). In their notice of appeal, the Drummonds expressly pointed out that they had ordered only part of the transcript to be included in the record, and it was already filed. What plaintiffs have done here does not constitute a failure to fulfill their obligation to have transmitted to us those portions of the record which show the harmful error complained of. See, e.g., Tadlock v. Duncan, 215 Ga. App. 441 (451 SE2d 80) (1994). “[F]or a civil litigant to present for appellate review a claim of error made during the course of the proceedings at trial, the litigant must include, at the barest minimum, a transcript of that portion of the proceedings in which the alleged error occurred. ...” (Emphasis supplied in part *525and omitted in part.) Id. at 443 (1). In City of Atlanta v. Barton, 153 Ga. App. 426 (265 SE2d 345) (1980), the case cited in the majority opinion, the enumerations of error challenged the trial court’s findings of fact, and no transcript of evidence was provided for this court to examine. It thus was deprived of the material on which to base a knowledgeable decision. That is not the case here.
Decided October 20, 1995
Reconsideration denied December 19, 1995
Flournoy & Gentry, Matthew C. Flournoy, William C. Gentry, for appellants.
Downey & Cleveland, Joseph C. Parker, for appellee.
I am authorized to state that Judge Ruffin joins in this special concurrence.