Justices rule school pastor entitled to future non-economic damages

The CNMI Supreme Court has ruled that a school pastor who was awarded $13,797 in damages in connection with his lawsuit against the Commonwealth Health Center and two of its former doctors for misdiagnosing his fractured ankle as a sprain is entitled to future non-economic damages.

The high court determined that Grace Christian pastor Alvin Owens is entitled to a new trial for past economic damages and future non-economic damages.

Associate Justice John A. Manglona penned the opinion Thursday last week. Retired chief justice Miguel S. Demapan and associate justice pro tem Edward Manibusan concurred with Manglona’s ruling.

The justices reversed the Superior Court’s denial of Owens’ motion for judgment on the issue of his future non-economic damages and vacated the Superior Court’s denial of Owens’ motion for a new trial on the issue of non-economic damages.

According to court records, Owens filed the lawsuit in 2004 against CHC and Drs. Bernedette Saccamanno and J. David Southcott.

The complaint stated that on March 6, 2004, Owens had an accident on a moped. He sought treatment at CHC’s emergency room the following day as his ankle was bothering him. Saccamanno ordered an X-ray of the ankle and diagnosed his injury as a sprain.

In April 2004, a Pacific Medical Center doctor re-examined Owens’ ankle and determined that it was a fracture.

In May 2004, an orthopedic specialist performed an operation on Owens’ ankle and a portion of the bone was removed.

Owens sued CHC. In 2007, a local jury awarded him $13,797 in damages.

The jurors actually awarded Owens $22,995 in damages for past non-economic loss, including physical and mental pain and suffering. The jurors, however, agreed that Owens’ negligence was also a substantial factor in causing his harm. The jurors assigned 60 percent of negligent responsibility to the Commonwealth and 40 percent to Owens. This reduced CHC’s liability to the pastor to just $13,797.

Owens and the government stipulated that CHC was negligent when it came to the conduct of Drs. Saccamanno and Southcott.

Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman, who presided over the jury trial, determined that CHC was negligent when it failed to have Owens’ X-rays reviewed by a radiologist within 24 hours.

Owens then appealed to the Supreme Court the trial court’s denial of his motion for judgment as a matter of law and his alternative motion for a new trial.

In his appeal, Owens, through counsel, argued that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law or alternatively, a new trial on the issue of his future economic and non-economic damages.

Owens also appealed the trial court’s conclusion that the fees he paid to his expert witnesses are not recoverable against the government.

In the high court’s opinion, the justices found that the Superior Court did not err when it refused to grant Owens’ motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial on the issue of future economic damages.

On the future non-economic damages issue, the justices said considering the uncontroverted testimony that Owens’ injury produced physical pain following strenuous activity and prevented or restricted his participation in a number of physical activities he had enjoyed prior to his injury, they find that no reasonable jury could have concluded Owens’ future non-economic damages to be zero.