KRAMLICH ASSOCIATES, INC., AND THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA, APPELLANTS,
v.
GRACE EVELYN ROBINS, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1975-05-20
No. V-465
BOYER, J., and STURGIS, WALLACE E., Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
312 So. 2d 543 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1975) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

In this slip-and-fall premises liability case, the Florida appellate court reversed a jury verdict for the plaintiff and remanded for a new trial, finding that the trial court erred by allowing the plaintiff to introduce building code excerpts and ordinances without expert testimony to explain their technical terms, while the defendant was unable to obtain rebuttal experts due to inadequate notice.


Holding

The court held that the submission of ordinances and building code provisions to the jury without expert testimony to explain and interpret technical terms may have confused the jury or given them an incomplete picture, warranting reversal and remand for a new trial.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may abuse its discretion by admitting evidence that unfairly surprises a party, especially when that evidence requires expert interpretation and was disclos…

[2] A pretrial order mandating the exchange of evidence and discovery is a binding agreement that governs the scope of evidence admissible at trial.

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Key Quotes

“the submitting of the Ordinances and Southern Standard Building Code to the jury without the benefit of the appellants' expert witnesses to explain and interpret the meanings of the terms used may have confused the jury or at least given the jury an unfinished picture”

States the core holding regarding why reversal was warranted—lack of expert explanation for technical code provisions

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Facts & Procedural History

The appellee fell on a sloped walkway while leaving the appellant's premises. At a pretrial conference on February 11, 1974, the parties stipulated th…

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Opinion of the Court
JOHNSON, Acting Chief Judge.

JOHNSON, Acting Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment, after jury verdict in favor of appellee arising from a slip and fall.

The points upon which this appeal must be decided do not involve the fact of the slip and fall, but are more technical.

The appellee fell when leaving the premises of appellant, walking down the incline from the entrance. There is some evidence that immediately adjacent to the entrance of the building, the walk appears level for a short distance before the slope down to street level begins. It was on the slope portion on which appellee fell. We use the term “slope” portion, because the questions of the terms of “slope” and “ramp” are materially a part of this opinion.

In the early stages, in fact February 11, 1974, at a pretrial hearing, certain facts and stipulations were agreed upon and reduced to a pretrial order. Inter alia, it was ordered that all witnesses to be used would be furnished to respective parties; that all physical objects of evidence of every kind and nature intended to be used should be exhibited to the respective counsel. All of this was to be done not later than March 1, 1974, and any other discovery completed before 7 days prior to trial, which was set for March 12, 1974.

Among the items submitted at the pretrial conference, there were two pages of a publication, identified as Section 1118 entitled “Ramps”, and another page excerpt, of Chapter 7, Building and Housing.

At trial, the plaintiff-appellee attempted to introduce not only the Section 1118 entitled “Ramps”, but also in addition to the one page of excerpt of Chapter 7, more of the Building Code, part of the Southern Standard Building Code, which, according to appellants’ counsel went much further than the excerpts submitted at the pretrial conference. Counsel for appellants contended that without some support or authorizing identification, the two “one-page” documents would have been inadmissible, and he made no effort to obtain expert witnesses to explain the Code and what was included in the term “Ramp”.

In affidavits attached to the post-trial motion for new trial it appears that appellants’ counsel had good cause to object.

This question of the Code and Ordinance were first called to appellants’ attention the afternoon before trial. Appellant tried to remedy his situation by calling for experts of the Southern Standard Building Code with which to combat appellee’s apparent method of attack in trial. It was at this point that the term “Ramps” and what it really meant came into focus. Appellants’ counsel was able to get across some contradiction about the term — as well as whether the slope had met the Building Code of 1964 when the building was built, which was favorable to appellants. But, with the testimony of the desired experts the decision of the jury may have been different. We think the trial court felt that he was giving enough leeway to appellants to insure justice, but in the light of the whole record, testimony and all affidavits supporting the post-trial motions, we are of the opinion that the submitting of the Ordinances and Southern Standard Building Code to the jury without the benefit of the appellants’ expert witnesses to explain and interpret the meanings of the terms used may have confused the jury or at least given the jury an unfinished picture.

Therefore, we reverse the verdict and judgment and remand this case for a new trial, not in conflict with the reasons herein given.

Reversed and remanded for a new trial.

BOYER, J., and STURGIS, WALLACE E., Jr., Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Rodriguez v. Rattan, 402 So. 2d 1337 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
    …; Sections 673.3-408 and 673.3—415, Florida Statutes (1979). Compare: Eastern Steamship Lines, Inc. v. Martial, 380 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); King Pest Control v. Binger, 379 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Kramlich Associates, Inc. v. Robins, 312 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975); Mr. Land, Inc. v. Rabinowitz, 134 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961).…
  • Lackow v. Walter E. Heller & Co. Se., Inc., 466 So. 2d 1120 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …the case properly for trial.1 Since this was a non-jury proceeding, providing such an opportunity would not have been disruptive. We, therefore, reverse the final judgment and remand the case for a new trial. See Kramlich Associates, Inc. v. Robins, 312 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975); cf. Thorsell v. Miller, 180 So. 2d 677 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965) (not an abuse of discretion to admit exhibit not produced at pre-trial conference where plaintiffs made aware of exhibit at time defendant deposed and evidently were prep…

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