Smalley

In this personal injury case where defendants conceded liability and contested only damages, the trial court granted defendants’ motion to exclude evidence that plaintiff had paid his own medical bills. The jury ultimately awarded plaintiff less in economic damages than he had already paid out of pocket for medical expenses. We conclude the trial court’s ruling was a prejudicial abuse of discretion that compels reversal.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On March 11, 2003, plaintiff James Smalley, having stopped on Lindhurst Avenue in Yuba City to make a left turn, was rear-ended by a track driven by defendant Orville Ray Baty, Jr., while in the course of his employment by defendant California Cascade Industries, Inc.

On August 15, 2003, Smalley filed a complaint for personal injury against defendants. The case came on for jury trial on June 8, 2004.

Before trial, defendants moved to bar plaintiff from introducing evidence that he had paid his medical bills personally. They asserted that, though “marginally relevant to the issue of special damages,” such evidence should be excluded because “an over emphasis [sic] on the fact that the Plaintiff personally paid for…