Court Opinion

ID: 1002818
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 18:16:19.372771+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:42:04.958796
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

JOAUN W. HILL,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.
                                                                     No. 00-1528
MILTON RUBEN CHEVROLET,
INCORPORATED; MICHAEL V. FOWLER,
Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of South Carolina, at Aiken.
Cameron McGowan Currie, District Judge.
(CA-98-728-1-22)

Submitted: September 26, 2000

Decided: October 17, 2000

Before MICHAEL and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and
HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

H. Clayton Walker, Jr., SWAGART, WALKER & REIBOLD, P.A.,
Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellants. Michael C. Eubanks, Bre-
vard, North Carolina, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Milton Ruben Chevrolet, Incorporated, and Michael V. Fowler
appeal a district court order disposing of all claims raised in a negli-
gence action brought by Joaun W. Hill. Hill commenced an action
alleging that she was injured as a result of an automobile accident
caused by the Appellants' negligence. On appeal, the Appellants
claim that: (1) the district court erred by refusing to convene a new
jury pool after it disclosed during the voir dire of the jury pool that
the Appellants had liability insurance; (2) Hill did not establish by
expert testimony that her herniated disc and related injuries were the
result of the automobile accident; (3) the district court erred by
instructing the jury on concurrent causation; and (4) the district court
erred by refusing to grant the Appellants a new trial on the issue of
damages related to Hill's herniated disc. Finding no reversible error,
we affirm.

"The district court enjoys broad discretion in deciding the questions
to ask venire members during voir dire," and"it is a rare case in
which a reviewing court will find error in the trial court's conduct of
voir dire." Sasaki v. Class, 92 F.3d 232, 238-39 (4th Cir. 1996). We
find that the Appellants were not prejudiced by the district court's
question to the jury pool. See, e.g., Gleaton v. Green, 156 F.2d 459,
461 (4th Cir. 1946).

We also find that the district court did not err by denying Appel-
lants' motion for a partial judgment as a matter of law. The expert
opinion established a probability that Hill's herniated disc was caused
or aggravated by the automobile accident. In addition, we find that the
district court did not abuse its discretion by denying the Appellants'
motion for a new trial on the issue of damages as a result of the herni-
ated disc.

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Finally, we conclude that the district court properly instructed the
jury on concurrent causation. There was competent evidence on the
issue supporting the instruction. See Perlmutter v. U.S. Gypsum Co.,
4 F.3d 864, 872 (10th Cir. 1993).

Accordingly, we affirm the district court's order. We dispense with
oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid in the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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