5D10-3188 Nationwide v. Darragh

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D10-3188

Case Date: 06/04/2012

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2012

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. MARK W. DARRAGH, Appellee. _______________________________________/ Opinion filed June 8, 2012 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Seminole County, Michael J. Rudisill, Judge. Richard A. Sherman, Sr., of Richard A. Sherman, P.A., Fort Lauderdale and Sonya S. Wesner, of the Law Office of Patricia E. Garagozlo, Orlando, for Appellant. Jeffrey M. Byrd, of Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A., Orlando, for Appellee. LAWSON, J. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company appeals from a final judgment entered following a $3.99 million jury verdict entered in favor of Nationwide's insured, Mark W. Darragh. Nationwide provided uninsured motorist coverage in the amount of $200,000 to Darragh. We agree with Nationwide that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury to reduce future economic damages to present value in rendering its Case No. 5D10-3188

verdict. See Dupuis v. Heider, 152 So. 659, 686 (Fla. 1934); Florida East Coast Ry. Co. v. Young, 140 So. 467 (1932); Florida East Coast Ry. Co. v. Lassiter, 50 So. 428 (1909). Milton v. Reyes, 22 So. 3d 624, 624-25 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009); Howell v. Woods, 489 So. 2d 154, 155 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986); Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Burdi, 427 So. 2d 1048, 1050 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Garrison, 336 So. 2d 423, 425 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Norman v. Mullin, 249 So. 2d 733, 734 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971).1 Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the verdict awarding future

economic damages, and remand for a new trial as to future economic damages only. See, e.g., Milton, 22 So. 3d at 625. We find no error in the trial court's decision to allow testimony of the full amount of Darragh's past medical bills pursuant to section 768.76,

At trial, Nationwide requested that the jury be instructed as to this issue using Standard Jury Instruction 6.10. The trial court declined to give the instruction after hearing argument from Darragh's counsel, who believed that the case law requiring a trial court to instruct the jury to reduce future economic damages to present value had been superceded by an amendment to section 768.77, Florida Statutes, in 1999. See Ch. 99-225,

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