Court Opinion

ID: 9571674
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:34:07.302444+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:47.642727
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice TOAL
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. In my view, the majority’s opinion ignores the clear intent of the legislature by holding that sworn testimony by an eye-witness is not the functional equivalent of a sworn affidavit for purposes of S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-170(2) (Supp. 2001). Section 38-77-170 governs when a motorist can recover under an uninsured motorist provision when the at-fault motorist is unknown.
Originally, an action for recovery against an unknown driver was permitted only when the damages were caused by physical contact with the unknown driver. See Act No. 312, 1963 S.C. Acts 535. As the majority points out, the General Assembly relaxed the physical contact requirement in 1987 by allowing an action to proceed when the accident was “witnessed by someone other than the owner or operator of the *472vehicle.” Acts No. 166, 1987 S.C. Acts 1122. In 1989, the General Assembly amended the statute again, adding the sworn affidavit requirement. Act No. 148,1989 S.C. Acts 439.
The majority reasons that a sworn affidavit accomplishes three objectives: fraud prevention, meaningful cross-examination, and prior notice to the insurer for purposes of claim evaluation. I agree wholeheartedly that the legislature intended for the sworn affidavit requirement to prevent fraudulent claims. However, I disagree that the legislature also intended for the affidavit to allow for more effective cross-examination of the witness at trial or for it to serve a notice function.
The ability to cross-examine a witness effectively at trial does not depend on having a prior statement of the witness. If anything, a witness’s testimony at trial should be deemed more, not less, reliable than a statement in a sworn affidavit. Further, as the majority points out in footnote 4, the statute requires separately that the insured report the accident to the police within a reasonable time period after the accident. This provision ensures that the defendant-insurer gets information collected by the police, valuable to the assessment of the insured’s claim, in a timely manner. S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-170(1); See Morehead v. Doe, 324 S.C. 559, 479 S.E.2d 817 (Ct.App. 1996). I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the affidavit is intended to serve as an additional form of notice to the insurer.
In conclusion, I believe that the legislature intended for the sworn affidavit to prevent motorists from filing fraudulent claims, and sworn testimony, by an eye-witness at trial, ensures against fraud even more effectively than the sworn affidavit. Therefore, I would AFFIRM the Court of Appeals’ finding that sworn testimony is the functional equivalent of a sworn affidavit for purposes of S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-170(2).
BURNETT, J., concurs.