VITTORIO COPELAND V CARL DOUGLAS MOSLEY JR
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
VITTORIO COPELAND,
UNPUBLISHED
August 15, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
CARL DOUGLAS MOSLEY, JR. and SEVEN-UP
OF DETROIT, INC., a Michigan Corporation,
No. 191831
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 94-430863-NI
Defendants-Appellants.
Before: Smolenski, P.J., and Fitzgerald and Gage, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendants appeal as of right a jury verdict for damages in the amount of $150,000 for
plaintiff ’s economic loss and $50,000 for plaintiff ’s non-economic loss in this personal injury case in
which defendants admitted negligence. We affirm.
Defendants argue that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing an unlisted witness to
testify. We disagree. The witness, who was plaintiff’s supervisor at Harper Hospital, was implicitly
listed on defendants’ witness list as a “representative from Harper Hospital.” Moreover, defendants
were not surprised or prejudiced by the witness’ testimony. Grubor Enterprises v Kortidis, 201 Mich
App 625, 628; 506 NW2d 614 (1993). A theory that defendants advanced to challenge plaintiff ’s
claim to economic damages was that plaintiff was terminated from Harper Hospital because plaintiff
made a fraudulent claim for disability benefits, not because of the injuries that he sustained as a result of
defendants’ negligence. It was through the witness’s testimony that defendants were able to advance
this theory. Finally, defendants’ counsel himself admitted that defendants were not prejudiced by the
failure to explicitly list the witness. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to allow
the witness to testify. Ray v Dep’t of Social Services, 156 Mich App 55, 65; 401 NW2d 307
(1986).
Defendants’ argument that a letter from Harper Hospital regarding the reason for plaintiff ’s
dismissal from employment was erroneously admitted at trial has been waived for failure to file the
necessary record. MCR 7.210(C).
-1
Affirmed.
/s/ Michael R. Smolenski
/s/ E. Thomas Fitzgerald
/s/ Hilda R. Gage
-2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.