ROBERT GALLUB, APPELLANT,
v.
FRANK DEL VECCHIO AND CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1974-09-17
No. 73-1348
Before PEARSON and HENDRY, JJ., and MELVIN, WOODROW M., Associate Judge.
301 So. 2d 785 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1974) Caution
Cited by 20 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Appellant Robert Gallub appeals a $12,000 judgment in a negligence case where he was shot in both legs by a police officer. Gallub sought a new trial on damages, arguing the trial court erred by refusing to issue bench warrants for two absent expert witnesses and by preventing him from calling the defendant's expert as his own witness. The appellate court affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion in the trial court's management of the trial.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in either respect. The plaintiff's own testimony regarding his permanent injury was sufficient to justify a jury instruction on that issue, and the trial was fairly conducted with evidence supporting the jury's verdict.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court has discretion to control the conduct of a trial, and its rulings will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion.

[2] A trial court may refuse to issue bench warrants for the appearance of witnesses when the party seeking the warrants has not demonstrated an abuse of discretion.

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Key Quotes

“We hold that neither point demonstrates reversible error. In our opinion, the appellant has not shown an abuse of discretion by the trial court in controlling the conduct of the trial in this case.”

Establishes the standard of review and the court's holding that trial court management was within proper discretion

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Facts & Procedural History

Robert Gallub was shot in both legs when a revolver carried by police officer Frank Del Vecchio discharged. The defendant admitted liability for negli…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

From a $12,000 judgment in his favor, the plaintiff, Robert Gallub, appeals. He seeks a new trial on the issue of damages.

Appellant was shot in both legs when a revolver, carried by the defendant, Frank Del Vecchio, at the time a police officer for the City of Miami Beach, discharged.

The defendant-appellee admitted liability for negligence, and the cause was tried before a jury only on the question of the fair amount of damages sustained by the plaintiff.

During the course of the trial, the plaintiff experienced difficulty obtaining three doctors whom he had previously subpoenaed to appear in court to testify.

The court permitted the defendants to put their own witness, Dr. Lyle Russell, on the stand out of turn. Dr. Russell was called by the defendants specifically to impeach the plaintiff’s previous testimony regarding the permanence of his injury.

After he had cross-examined Dr. Russell, plaintiff’s-counsel sought to call the doctor as his own witness. The court, however, sustained an objection to this procedure made by defendants’ counsel.

In a proffer made to the court, it appeared that plaintiff wished to establish that Dr. Russell had examined the plaintiff sometime after he was shot and determined that he had been left with a 10% permanent disability.

On the next day, plaintiff was able to have one of his three doctors appear to testify. The doctor had operated on one of the plaintiff’s legs after he was shot. His testimony revealed that shrapnel-like fragments still remain in the plaintiff’s leg, and could not be removed during surgery. However, it was the doctor’s opinion that from an anatomical standpoint, the plaintiff is not permanently disabled.

Following this doctor’s testimony, plaintiff’s counsel informed the court that he had no other witnesses, other than the two physicians who had failed to appear. Further, counsel indicated that one of these two doctors had examined the plaintiff for workman’s compensation purposes, and he, like Dr. Russell, would indicate the plaintiff suffered' a 10% permanent disability. He also stated for the record that both he and the trial judge, who had telephoned the two doctors’ -offices, had made efforts to obtain the appearances of the two doctors.

The court thereupon declined to delay the trial further, or to issue bench warrants for appearances of the two doctors. He directed the plaintiff either to take a nonsuit or to rest his case, and when counsel for the plaintiff refused either option, the court ruled that he had rested his case.

The record of this case also reveals that the trial judge determined that sufficient medical and lay evidence had been presented to the jury to warrant the introduction of mortality tables. The court also instructed the jury with respect to the issue of permanent disability as well as the use of mortality tables.

Appellant urges two points for reversal. First, he contends the court erred by refusing to issue bench warrants for the appearance of plaintiff’s two doctors or alternatively in requiring that the plaintiff rest his case.

Second, appellant argues that the court should have permitted him to call Dr. Russell as his own witness.

We hold that neither point demonstrates reversible error. In our opinion, the appellant has not shown an abuse of discretion by the trial court in controlling the conduct of the trial in this case. Stager v. Florida East Coast Railway Company, Fla.App.1964, 163 So. 2d 15; F & B Ceco, Inc. of Florida v. Galaxy Studios, Inc., Fla.App.1968, 216 So. 2d 75.

The plaintiff’s own testimony respecting his permanent injury was suffi cient to justify a charge to the jury, which the court gave upon that issue. Salvador v. Munoz, Fla.App.1966, 193 So. 2d 442. The doctor who did appear as plaintiffs witness did not testify favorably to the plaintiff on the issue of permanent disability.

The cause was fairly tried, and we cannot find any indication that the jury’s verdict was unsupported by the evidence. Therefore, for the reasons stated, the judgment appealed is affirmed.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Teala Ritter v. Jimenez, 343 So. 2d 659 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
    …etion in limiting the number of witnesses. The limiting of a number of witnesses for a given side has long been recognized as appropriate. Stager v. Florida East Coast Railway Company, 163 So. 2d 15 (Fla.3d DCA 1964). Also see Gallub v. Del Vecchio, 301 So. 2d 785 (Fla.3d DCA 1974). The remaining points on appeal are without merit and will not be discussed. Affirmed. . See, for example, Brown v. State, 91 Fla. 682, 108 So. 842 (1926); Sutton v. State, 239 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970); Chapman v. State, 3…
  • Graff v. McNEIL, 322 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)
    …. Sup.Ct.Fla.1956, 89 So. 2d 482 . Fla.App. 1st 1962, 138 So. 2d 525 . Fla.App. 2nd 1966, 184 So. 2d 892 . Please see McClurkin v. Parrish Volvo, Inc., Fla.App. 1st 1975, 317 So. 2d 85 . See, however, Gallub v. Del Vecchio, Fla. App. 3rd 1974, 301 So. 2d 785…
  • Corbett v. Dade Cnty. Bd. OF Pub. Instruction, 372 So. 2d 971 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
    …Danile v. Oak Park Arms Hotel, Inc., 55 Ill.App.2d 2, 203 N.E. 2d 706 (1964). . This court has twice held that lay testimony of the continuing effects of an injury is sufficient to justify an instruction on permanent damages. Gallub v. Del Vecchio, 301 So. 2d 785 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), cert. denied, 314 So. 2d 774 (Fla.1975); Salvador v. Munoz, 193 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966); cf. Sullivan v. Price, 368 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Wages v. Snell, 360 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). These cases provide a f…

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