Boggs v. Durrani

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 210

Syllabus

CIV.R. 50(B) — JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT — CIV.R. 59(A) — MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL — CONSOLIDATED TRIALS — CIV.R. 42 — COMMON QUESTIONS OF LAW OR FACT — EXPERT TESTIMONY — EVID.R. 601 — EVID.R. 1002(Y) — HEARSAY — EVID.R. 702 — HARMLESS ERROR — JURY INSTRUCTIONS — FUTURE MEDICAL DAMAGES — SETOFF — PREJUDGMENT INTEREST: The trial court did not abuse its discretion under Civ.R. 42 by joining plaintiffs' medical claims for trial where plaintiffs proceeded under similar legal theories, underwent similar surgeries by defendant doctor, and presented identical expert witnesses, thus creating common questions of law and fact. [See CONCURRENCE: Concurring in the majority's opinion on this issue but adding a postjudgment assessment of prejudice from the joinder of trials that reveals no reversible error.] The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it permitted plaintiffs and plaintiffs' experts to testify about prior surgeries performed on each plaintiff by defendant doctor, even though those prior surgeries were not at issue in the cases, because the testimony was in line with the court's limiting instruction and any deviation from that instruction was harmless error. While the trial court erred by admitting hearsay expert testimony, the error was harmless where if the challenged testimony was excised the record still supported the jury's verdicts. The trial court did not err in admitting testimonial evidence from plaintiffs' experts as defendants' various challenges concerning whether an expert was qualified to provide testimony under Evid.R 601, whether an expert's testimony was admissible under Evid.R. 702, and alleged irrelevant evidence were meritless. The trial court did not err when it denied defendants' motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, because defendants failed to demonstrate that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to support the jury's future-damages awards. The trial court erred in denying defendants' request for a s