The plaintiff, Lavern Delores Martin, brought a motion under Rules 5.04(2) and 26.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to amend her statement of claim to add Jeffrey Walton (driver) and Marvin Rosenshein (owner) as defendants, more than two years after the accident.
The plaintiff argued that the limitation period had not expired due to discoverability and that the proposed amendments were permissible under the doctrine of misnomer.
The court dismissed the motion, finding that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate reasonable diligence in discovering the identity of the other driver within the presumptive limitation period.
While the court found that Mr. Walton could be identified under the doctrine of misnomer, it exercised its residual discretion to deny the amendment due to significant prejudice to the proposed defendants, particularly the lack of evidence regarding the preservation of relevant evidence and the delay in investigation.
The doctrine of misnomer was found not to apply to Mr. Rosenshein.
