Laina Roundy v. Travis Staley

Automobile Accident - Negligence - Roundy sustained injuries when she and Staley were involved in an automobile accident. Roundy brought a negligence action against Staley and also sought punitive damages. Before trial, Roundy sought discovery from Staley on two different occasions, requesting information about witnesses and evidence that Staley planned to use at trial. Although Staley's counsel mentioned during jury selection that he might call Ron Gunderson as a rebuttal witness, he never disclosed Gunderson as a witness or the surveillance tape Gunderson had made of Roundy in his answers to her requests for discovery. The trial focused primarily on the color of the traffic light at the time of the accident, which party had the right-of-way, and the nature and extent of Roundy's injuries. Staley called Dr. Gerald Morass to testify as an expert on Roundy's injuries. He prepared an independent medical examination report concluding that Roundy suffered from five percent permanent impairment, but after seeing a surveillance video of Round, testified that he doubted Roundy's truthfulness about the extent of her injuries. When Roundy learned of the tape through Morass's testimony, she requested that the trial court order Staley to disclose Gunderson's identity and the videotape. The trial court denied Roundy's request and the evidence, showing Roundy engaging in activities that she had testified she was unable to perform, was presented to the jury. At the conclusion of the trial, Staley moved for a directed verdict on Roundy's punitive damages claim, and Roundy moved for a new trial based on the admission of Gunderson's testimony and the tape. The trial court granted the directed verdict and denied Roundy's motion for a new trial. The jury subsequently found Roundy sixty percent negligent and Staley forty-percent negligent, preventing Roundy from collecting damages.

The jury found Roundy sixty percent negligent and Staley forty percent neglignet, preventing Roundy form collecting damages.

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The decision was reversed and remanded by the Court of Appeals of Utah. See: 984 P.2d 404 (UtahApp. 1999). The date above reflects the date of the appellate decision and not the trial date. Reported by EMDH.