Court Opinion

ID: 9659263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 21:36:37.115706+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:05.651484
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice,
specially concurring.
Computers and organizational procedures in an insurance company, are they infallible? Do computers make mistakes? Are all procedures in insurance companies for mailing out premium notices perfect?
Are we mortals, who invented the computers, enslaved to their supposed correctness? Or do we still have the intellectual right to question their propriety, authenticity, reliability, and the possibility of malfunction?
Well, lo and behold, plaintiff-appellant testified herein concerning the reliability of a computer, which evidence went into the record without objection and before the jury, that defendant-appellee’s agent in South Dakota, a Mr. Roth, had expressed that his company’s computers had malfunctioned “at that time.” “At that time” referred to the approximate time when premium notices were sent out, which included a time-frame germane to appellant’s premium notice. Indeed, in its defense testimony, the insurance company shored its case up beautifully with personnel from Ohio that its overall procedures were followed to the proverbial “T.” And yes, according to this defense testimony, the computers had safeguards for default provisions, and any malfunction would trigger the computer to recycle and print an entire batch of premium notices. Conclusion: per defense testimony, the computer and all mailing procedures were faultless.
This insurance company, in essence, relied upon its computers, mailing logs, and supposed faultless procedures. Based upon this faultless programming, the trial court determined that the evidence of plaintiff-appellant was not competent or probative, and further determined, by theory, that the South Dakota agent of the insurance company did not have personal knowledge of the Ohio computer operations. The verdict was directed against the plaintiff-appellant for, you see, how could the infallibility of the procedures be questioned? Alas, a human element was in the case for somewhere, somehow, as an agent of the insurance company, Mr. Roth learned of the trouble with the computer operation in Ohio. Oh, woe unto the doctrine of computer infallibility. A key to this is found in the testimony of one of the company’s experts who admitted that the company did not keep the malfunction “as a secret.” From this same expert witness, came the revelation that there were premiums which the company received late and some were as late as approximately 75 days. Grace periods had to be considered. During this phase of the trial, this company expert attempted to restrict these late premiums to a time unrelated to the plaintiff-appellant’s due premium. To repeat: the timetable was germane to plaintiff-appellant’s premium via the testimony of the company’s licensed agent in South Dakota. Company officials described him as one of their top representatives and salesmen. It developed during the testimony that Mr. Roth had access to telephone communication with the company and the malfunction being, no se*304cret, became knowledge to him. The malfunction of the computer which processed premiums was knowledge within the company at Ohio and apparently spilled over into its office at Brookings, South Dakota. Thus, in my opinion, the trial court should not have disregarded, in toto, the testimony of Mr. Roth relating to the computer malfunction. It was highly relevant as to the receipt of a premium notice by plaintiff-appellant. A classic question of fact arose and it was for the jury to determine that question of fact and not the trial court. Further, I add that it is altogether conceivable that there was human error for the facts additionally disclose: that the quarterly notices, first generated by a computer in Ohio, were then sent to Brookings, South Dakota, there matched by hand and placed in an envelope, to be then mailed to policyholders such as plaintiff-appellant.
These presumptions of law are based upon hypothesis. I refuse to hypothesize that computers cannot err. That plaintiff-appellant was presumed to have received this premium notice, was surely a rebut-table presumption.
The presumption of receipt of a letter duly mailed is ordinarily indulged in only when there is an absence of evidence to the contrary. Roshek Realty Company v. Roshek Brothers Company, 249 Iowa 349, 87 N.W.2d 8 (1957); 29 Am.Jur.2d, Evidence § 194 (1967).
Ebert v. Fort Pierre Moose Lodge # 1813, 312 N.W.2d 119, 126 (S.D.1981). By a wisp of mental process, these presumptions of law are created. When facts come into evidence to negate the presumption, these presumptions of law, which flit about in theory like a butterfly, lose their credible force, for they cannot contend against reality. In Matter of Voorhees, 294 N.W.2d 646, 651 (S.D.1980), I expressed my opinion on presumptions of law and it is applicable to my thoughts herein:
A presumption is just that: It is like a night bird, that flits about in the twilight and into the dark, but disappears under the light and sunshine of actual facts. The sunshine of the facts probe and reveal more than a presumption of law; we must never lose sight of this.
As the human dimension of justice cannot be sacrificed for the ostensible purity of the computer world, I join the majority opinion.