One of the most intriguing things about this area of law is that in a matter of 6 months, the same court can make pronouncements that are apparently inconsistent with each other. Some of these inconsistencies are subtle. Some of them are more pronounced.
An example of a sublte change is the pronouncement that an uncertified police report may under certain circumstances be considered admissible evidence in accord with CPLR 4518(a). People v. Hunter, 62 A.D.3d 1207 (3d Dept. 2009); Westchester Medical Center v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 44 A.D.3d 750 (2d Dept. 2007) Compare, CPLR § 4518(c).
Another subtle change involves the proof necessary to demonstrate intoxication in a civil case. A proper certified hospital record or police record will now suffice. Six months prior, it did not suffice. Compare, Westchester Medical Center v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 51 A.D.3d 1014 (2d Dept. 2008)(“A blood alcohol test result, as set forth in a certified hospital record, constitutes prima facie evidence of the test result pursuant to CPLR 4518(c) Thus, the blood alcohol test results contained in a certified hospital record from Sound Shore would be sufficient to make a prima facie showing that Forthmuller was intoxicated at the time of the accident”), with Westchester Medical Center v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 44 A.D.3d 750 (2d Dept. 2007)(“the defendant was unable to establish, prima facie, that Gjelaj was intoxicated at the time of the accident. The result of a blood alcohol test may be admitted on the issue of intoxication in litigation involving an exclusion in a no-fault policy provided that a proper foundation is laid. At bar, the defendant failed to lay a proper foundation for admission of the BAC report by proffering any evidence regarding the care in the collection of Gjelaj's blood sample and its analysis.”)
Then there is the question: what is a prima facie case? I will not even go there, but a NYLJ article that will be published next week will gloss on that issue.
Now we have the workers compensation defense issue. Specifically, is the workers compensation defense one of standing or is it an exclusion. Notice that I left out the word “coverage”. Coverage, as we learned in Fair Price, is only implicated in rare instances. Workers Compensation issues do not implicate coverage.
Last month, the Appellate Division, Second Department, told us that the workers compensation defense is an exclusion that needs to be preserved in a timely denial. The Appellate Term, Second Department, followed suit under principles of stare decisis. I discussed this in prior posts.
The case that triggered this post is LMK Psychological Serv., P.C. v American Tr. Ins. Co. 2009 NY Slip Op 06004 (2d Dept. 2009). The pertinent portion of the opinion is as follows:
“There has been no determination by the Workers' Compensation Board as to whether the assignors are entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits for their injuries. The Workers' Compensation Board has primary jurisdiction to determine factual issues concerning coverage under the Workers' Compensation Law. Where "a plaintiff fails to litigate that issue before the Board, the court should not express an opinion as to the availability of compensation but remit the matter to the Board'"
It is not clear whether the Appellate Division has now decided that the compensation defense is now a standing issue (id), or is precludable as was set forth in Westchester Med. Ctr. v Lincoln Gen. Ins. Co., 60 AD3d 1045 (2d Dept. 2009). Without resort to the record on appeal, it is hard to tell what exactly happened here.
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4 comments:
How do we know that the arrest report in People v. Hunter and the police accident report in Westchester Med. Ctr. v State Farm were uncertified? It appears to me that both decisions were silent as to whether those documents were certified. Both cases cite to CPLR 4518(a), rather that 4518(c), but that doesn't mean the documents were uncertified or that there was some other foundational basis for their admissibility.
See also, Cheul Soo Kang v. Violante, 60 A.D.3d 991 (2d Dep't, 2009), decided a few months ago, and holding that "[t]he trial court erred in admitting a police accident report into evidence. The report did not qualify for admission pursuant to CPLR 4518(c) because it was not certified, and no foundation testimony establishing its authenticity and accuracy was offered."
I have the record on appeal in Westchester v. State Farm. The police report was not certified. I also have the record on appeal from Westchester v. Progressive, and the police report in that case is not certified.
Nerds.
Keep quiet, Gottlieb.
NFD: Was there any other foundational basis for the admissibility of the police reports (e.g., affidavits)? Did the plaintiffs object to the admissibility of the police accident reports before the lower court?
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