William G. Woodward

The defendant brought a motion to compel the plaintiff husband to answer questions on discovery regarding the injuries sustained by his co-plaintiff wife in a motor vehicle accident.

The plaintiff had refused to answer, arguing they were 'witness questions' outside the scope of issues between him and the defendant.

The court allowed the motion, adopting the expansive approach to discovery that requires a party to answer any proper question relevant to any matter in issue in the action, not just issues between the examining party and the party being examined.

In an addendum to a trial judgment, the court corrected a calculation error in the damages award based on the jury's decision.

With the agreement of counsel, the court recalculated the award by applying a 20 percent reduction for contributory negligence to the pecuniary damages, and applying the statutory deductible followed by the contributory negligence reduction to the non-pecuniary damages.

The total judgment was amended to $136,483.20.

Following a jury trial for a motor vehicle accident where the plaintiff was awarded $160,480 after a 20% deduction for contributory negligence, the court determined the costs of the action.

One of the plaintiffs abandoned her claim on the eve of trial.

The court declined to award costs directly against the abandoning plaintiff but reduced the successful plaintiff's costs to reflect the shared representation.

The successful plaintiff was awarded $72,000 in costs on a partial indemnity basis, with a deduction for an insurance premium disbursement.