ZARNOCH, J.
This case presents two key issues for resolution: (1) Can a driver be found negligent if an accident occurs when his truck crashes into a parked vehicle but the apparently healthy driver has no memory of the accident? and (2) Is a plaintiff's status as an undocumented immigrant
Appellants Rigoberto E. Domingos Ayala and Jose R. Rodas Santacruz were working for Ebb Tide Tents and Party Rentals ("Ebb Tide") when they were involved in a motor vehicle accident. The truck driven by appellee Robert F. Lee, holder of a commercial driver's license, on behalf of his employer Bay State Pool Supplies of Baltimore, Inc. ("Bay State"), collided with Ebb Tide's parked truck, resulting in severe injuries to Ayala and Santacruz. Ayala, Santacruz, and Imelda Carolina Chavez Ventura, Ayala's wife, sued Lee and Bay State for negligence. A six-day jury trial resulted in a jury verdict for Lee and Bay State, which appellants now ask us to reverse. We agree with appellants and therefore we reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
Ayala and Santacruz were working for William Edward Comegys, Jr., then the owner of Ebb Tide, on September 27, 2010. Comegys was driving the three of them from the company headquarters to a job site in Annapolis and was traveling westbound on Route 50. It was raining, and the truck's windshield wipers stopped working at some point during the drive. After crossing the Bay Bridge, Comegys stopped the truck and pulled over to the right hand shoulder of Route 50. The vehicle was fully out of the travel lanes, with the two right wheels on the grass and the two left wheels on the paved part of the shoulder. The emergency flashers were also on. Comegys, Ayala, and Santacruz all exited the truck and went to work on the windshield wipers. They had just fixed the wipers and were standing in front of the vehicle when suddenly their truck was struck from behind by the truck owned by Bay State and operated by Lee. Comegys was killed as a result of the
Ayala, Santacruz, and Ventura filed a complaint against Lee and Bay State in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County on November 3, 2010.
It became obvious even before trial that Ayala and Santacruz's immigration status would be at issue. Ayala and Santacruz are originally from El Salvador. In 2006, they entered the United States through Texas without presenting themselves to federal immigration authorities. They eventually settled in Maryland. Each acquired a Social Security Number and used it to get a permanent resident card, seek employment, and pay taxes. However, each Social Security Number was acquired illegally. Ayala and Santacruz are therefore undocumented immigrants.
Appellants moved to exclude evidence of their immigration status at trial in a written motion filed on April 26, 2012. The circuit court considered this and other motions in limine at a hearing on May 29, and ruled that immigration status was relevant and admissible evidence. Because Ayala and Santacruz asked for income-based damages, the circuit court reasoned that they had opened the door to inquiries about their immigration status. In the court's view, there was a valid question over whether or not a plaintiff could legally earn the income he was claiming in damages. The court also found that the fact that Ayala and Santacruz had misrepresented their immigration status on employment forms was relevant to their credibility. Accordingly, at the August 2012 trial, the jury heard extensive testimony from Ayala and Santacruz on their legal status and how they came to the United States. Indeed, the second question asked of Ayala during cross-examination was: "You do not have a Social Security Number issued to you by the United States Government?" Counsel for Bay State and Lee also asked almost every other witness questions related to appellants' immigration status.
Lee and Bay State relied on testimony from their own medical expert, who testified that Ayala and Santacruz's injuries were less severe than they claimed, and video evidence from an investigator who had recorded Ayala and Santacruz performing various day-to-day activities. They also presented, over objection, the de bene esse deposition of the woman who had been lawfully issued the Social Security Number Ayala was using. Absent from the trial, however, was Lee himself. Because Lee was hospitalized, his deposition was read to the jury and served as his testimony. Accordingly, the jury heard that Lee was driving about fifty miles per hour in the right travel lane of Route 50. He saw a vehicle in his left side mirror and thought "Buddy, you're getting too close. You're coming into my lane." Lee's next memory was of crashing through the brush on the right side of the highway. He did not remember striking the Ebb Tide truck, nor did he remember seeing the truck. When asked how his vehicle moved to the right shoulder, Lee stated that "I must have just turned the wheel to the right, slightly." When asked if he was guessing, Lee said "I don't remember turning the wheel, but I could have—but it could have been [a] reaction as I was looking, you know."
Appellants moved for "judgment on the issue of liability" at the close of Lee and Bay State's case, which the circuit court denied. The case was submitted to the jury, which found that Lee and Bay State were not negligent. Ayala and Santacruz timely appealed.
Additional facts will be discussed below.
Appellants ask us to review five questions,
Because we conclude that the circuit court erred when it denied appellants' motion for judgment, we do not reach the third and fourth questions. We therefore reverse the denial of the motion for judgment and remand for trial on the issue of damages. Given that appellants' immigration status may again appear relevant at that stage, however, we also consider appellants' second question and address the propriety of evidence of immigration status.
Appellants argue that the facts of the accident "create a presumption of negligence" because Lee failed to maintain control of his vehicle. They assert that Lee violated two Maryland state laws when he crashed into the Ebb Tide vehicle: (1) Md.Code (1977, 2012 Repl.Vol.), Transportation Article ("Trans."), § 21-309(b), which states that a "vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane"; and (2) Trans. § 21-312(b), which states that a "person may not drive a vehicle from any controlled access highway except at the entrances and exits established by public authority." They contend that these violations are prima facie evidence of negligence. They therefore ask us to reverse the circuit court's denial of their motion for judgment. By contrast, appellees argue that Lee did not violate any state laws because restrictions on lane changes and access to and from a highway do not apply to travel to and from the shoulder of a highway. Appellees argue in the alternative that even if the laws apply, they create only an inference of negligence, not a presumption, making the court's denial of the motion for judgment and submission of the case to the jury appropriate.
An appellate court reviews de novo the denial of a motion for judgment in a civil case, applying the same standard as the circuit court. See District of Columbia v. Singleton, 425 Md. 398, 406, 41 A.3d 717 (2012). The evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom are viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id. at 407, 41 A.3d 717 (Citation omitted). If there was "any evidence, no matter how slight, that was legally sufficient to generate a jury question," the motion was properly denied. Address v. Millstone, 208 Md.App. 62, 80, 56 A.3d 323 (2012) (Quotation omitted). But, "where the evidence is not such as to generate a jury question, i.e., permits but one conclusion, the question is one of law and the motion must be granted." Id. (Quotation omitted); see also Brown v. Bendix Radio Div. of Bendix Aviation Corp., 187 Md. 613, 619, 51 A.2d 292 (1947)
Finding negligence as a matter of law requires finding "in the evidence some prominent and decisive act, or failure to act, which permits of but one interpretation and in regard to which there is no room for reasonable minds to differ." Weishaar v. Canestrale, 241 Md. 676, 681, 217 A.2d 525 (1966); see also Baltimore Transit Co. v. Prinz, 215 Md. 398, 403, 137 A.2d 700 (1958) ("[N]egligence and reasonable care derive their significance from a factual background, in which there must be evidence of circumstances which support a legitimate inference that in the exercise of reasonable care injury could have been avoided."). Appellants bear the burden of proof of showing that Lee and Bay State were "guilty of negligence which directly contributed to the accident, since the happening of the accident does not of itself constitute negligence, and evidence of negligence does not give rise to liability unless the negligence was the cause of the injury." Brehm v. Lorenz, 206 Md. 500, 506, 112 A.2d 475 (1955). We believe that appellants have met their burden, as the evidence shows both that Lee was negligent as a matter of law in two significant ways and that his negligence was the cause of appellants' injuries. Lee was negligent as a matter of law because he (1) moved the Bay State truck from a travel lane to the shoulder when it was not safe to do so, and (2) failed to maintain a proper lookout.
Trans. § 21-309(b) states that a "vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and may not be moved from that lane or moved from a shoulder or bikeway into a lane until the driver has determined that it is safe to do so."
Drivers of motor vehicles have a duty to both "observe carefully the road in
The duty to keep a lookout is most frequently implicated in cases where a driver says that he looked and did not see anything, but then crashed into something anyway. For example, in Dashiell v. Moore, 177 Md. 657, 661, 11 A.2d 640 (1940), the defendant was changing the radio station while he was driving and struck a mule that was on the highway. He testified that he kept his eyes on the road while adjusting the radio and that he did not see the mule. Id. at 664, 11 A.2d 640. In affirming the judgment of negligence against the defendant, the Court of Appeals observed that "[i]t is settled law in this state that one will not be permitted to say that he looked and failed to see what he must have seen had he looked." Id. at 666, 11 A.2d 640. The Court explained further:
Id. at 666-67, 11 A.2d 640 (Quotation omitted).
Here, we do not even have testimony from Lee that he looked but did not see anything. He never said he looked ahead or to the right; his attention was focused to his left, where he thought he saw another vehicle "getting too close" to his vehicle.
Lee would gain nothing by couching the events that led to the collision as an "unavoidable accident." In Fry v. Carter, 375 Md. 341, 825 A.2d 1042 (2003), the Court of Appeals concluded that an unavoidable accident is not a separate defense and that an instruction on unavoidable accident should no longer be given in negligence actions because it allows the jury "to speculate about last minute happenings." Id. at 356, 825 A.2d 1042. In so doing, the Court "recounted earlier cases discounting the notion that automobile accidents occur without negligence." Id. at 352, 825 A.2d 1042. And the Court found that there was ample evidence of negligence on the part of a tractor-trailer driver who struck and killed a traffic control manager standing in the gore off the road. Id. at 355, 825 A.2d 1042. Although the driver said he did not see the victim, blamed the accident on the State Highway Administration for narrowing the lanes, and argued that he could not have moved left to avoid the accident because of the presence of another vehicle, the Court rejected his contention that the accident was unavoidable and not negligent. Id. at 356, 825 A.2d 1042. The driver "could have slowed his speed further and continued to sound his horn," but did not. Id. at 355, 825 A.2d 1042. In this case, Lee did even less to prevent the collision.
We pause to address two other points Lee raises in arguing that he was not negligent as a matter of law. Lee characterizes the evidence as "merely establish[ing] that he was not speeding, was
To hold that this "I-didn't-see-it-and-I-don't-remember" defense without any real proof of justification is enough to force a negligence question to the jury would only encourage irresponsible behavior and foster bad tort law. We therefore vacate the jury verdict and reverse the denial of appellants' motion for judgment on the issue of liability.
Before the trial, appellants moved in limine to exclude evidence of their immigration status. They argued that their immigration status was irrelevant because "it neither serve[d] to bar [their] right to bring the actions nor as a defense for the Defendants' illegal and negligent actions but merely [was] an attempt to prejudice the jury against [them] for their statuses." In the alternative, appellants argued that their immigration status should be excluded as prejudicial because the evidence "would poison the jury against [them] and prejudice the jury with information utterly irrelevant to the harms committed against [them] or the injuries they suffered." Appellants apparently filed this motion in response to correspondence they received from appellees' attorney, which indicated that appellees planned to a call a witness who would testify that Ayala's and Santacruz's Social Security Number cards and permanent resident cards were not legitimate. Not surprisingly, appellees opposed the motion in limine, arguing that evidence pertaining to immigration status was relevant because appellants were undocumented immigrants who were "prohibited by federal immigration law from earning any wages in the United States." They asserted that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ("IRCA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1324a, and Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137, 122 S.Ct. 1275, 152 L.Ed.2d 271 (2002), suggested that appellants, because of their undocumented immigrant status, could not recover lost future earnings in the United States.
As discussed above, the circuit court ruled that immigration status was relevant and admissible evidence at a motions hearing prior to the trial. The court provided additional reasoning in a written opinion filed just prior to the August 2012 jury trial. It noted that appellants' immigration status was not relevant to the duty of care or the injuries alleged and that "[its]
An evidentiary ruling on a motion in limine "is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge and will only be reversed upon a clear showing of abuse of discretion." Malik v. State, 152 Md.App. 305, 324, 831 A.2d 1101 (2003). The determination of relevancy and admission of evidence at trial is also reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Martin v. State, 364 Md. 692, 705, 775 A.2d 385 (2001).
Because the federal government has the "preeminent role . . . with respect to the regulation of aliens within our borders," Toll v. Moreno, 458 U.S. 1, 10, 102 S.Ct. 2977, 73 L.Ed.2d 563 (1982), questions about immigration status frequently start with an examination of federal law. With the IRCA, Congress declared that "it is unlawful for a person or other entity to hire, or to recruit or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien. . . with respect to such employment." 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1) (2013). However, the IRCA and its enforcement policies typically penalize employers rather than employees,
We likewise conclude that neither the IRCA nor Hoffman mandates denying awards of lost wages or medical expenses to undocumented immigrant employees solely because of their immigration status. In reaching this conclusion, we are guided by the Court of Appeals' narrow view of the IRCA and Hoffman in Design Kitchen & Baths, 388 Md. at 735-40, 882 A.2d 817. We have also considered the decisions reached by courts in other states that have directly addressed the question and determined that neither the IRCA nor Hoffman prevents states from providing damages for lost wages and loss of earning capacity. See, e.g., Continental PET Technologies, Inc. v. Palacias, 269 Ga.App. 561, 604 S.E.2d 627, 631 (2004) (Hoffman "does not preempt Georgia law on the question of whether or not an illegal alien may receive workers' compensation benefits for employment"); Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338, 363, 812 N.Y.S.2d 416, 845 N.E.2d 1246 (N.Y.2006) (holding that the IRCA did "not bar maintenance of a claim for lost wages by an undocumented alien"); Correa v. Waymouth Farms, Inc., 664 N.W.2d 324, 329 (Minn.2003) (concluding that Hoffman does not prevent award of state workers' compensation benefits); Grocers Supply, Inc. v. Cabello, 390 S.W.3d 707, 719 (Tex.App.2012) ("We have found no evidence Congress intended IRCA to combat illegal immigration by encroaching into the States' authority to regulate health and safety matters[.]"); Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Guzman, 116 S.W.3d 233, 244 (Tex.App.2003) (holding that Hoffman did "not apply to common-law personal injury damages" and that "Texas law clearly allows for the recovery of damages for lost earning capacity, regardless of the claimant's citizenship or immigration status.").
Having determined that federal law does not preclude outright the award of lost wages or medical expenses in a personal injury action, for the guidance of the circuit court on remand we address whether evidence of appellants' immigration status would be relevant or prejudicial to the damages to which appellants may be entitled. Appellees argue that evidence of
Immigration status is relevant to a claim for lost wages for the simple reason that the legal ability to work affects the likelihood of future earnings in the United States.
Yet relevant evidence "may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice." Md. Rule 5-403. Immigration status is prejudicial in that it "introduces a factor into the case that might encourage the jury to dislike or disapprove of [a party] independent of the merits."
Accordingly, courts that have balanced the relevance and prejudice inquiries have frequently come down on the side of "prejudicial" because of the low probative value of evidence of immigration status. The risk of deportation of an undocumented immigrant is very small,
If the court determines that evidence of a party's immigration status is not unfairly prejudicial, its relevance typically relates to whether a party is entitled to lost wages at a United States pay rate or at the home country rate.
Immigration status alone does not reflect upon an individual's character and is thus not admissible for impeachment purposes. See Figeroa v. U.S. I.N.S., 886 F.2d 76, 79 (4th Cir.1989) ("An individual's status as an alien, legal or otherwise, however does not entitle the [government] to brand him a liar."); Galaviz-Zamora, 230 F.R.D. at 502 (finding no connection between immigration status and witness credibility); Mischalski v. Ford Motor Co., 935 F.Supp. 203, 207-08 (E.D.N.Y.1996) (no support for "the conclusion that the status of being an illegal alien impugns one's credibility"). Immigration violations that involve false statements, such as false employment papers, are more likely to be relevant, but are still subject to an intensive inquiry into the likelihood of prejudice, as discussed above. See Serrano, 970 A.2d at 1070 (observing that the likelihood of evidence of "employment-related false statements" leading to "other witnesses who could offer negative opinions or reputation testimony about plaintiffs' truthfulness" that would be admissible seems exceedingly low). Further, the relevance of an immigration-related false statement, standing on its own, is limited if the party against whom it is offered is not charged with an immigration-related
However, we cannot ignore the fact that in this case, appellants clearly opened the door to questions about their immigration status when their answers to interrogatories differed substantively from documents they later submitted as evidence.
In the event that questions are raised about appellants' immigration status at a future jury trial on damages, we summarize the limitations on such inquiries. The out-of-state case law suggests a multi-part inquiry into the circumstances of a party's immigration status. Facts for the jury to weigh include: whether there is an imminent risk of deportation; how long the party has been in the United States; his or her work history in the United States; whether he or she has a family in the United States; what the United States wage rate is; and what the comparable home country wage rate would be, among other considerations. See Part II.D.1, supra. There was some evidence of these questions before the circuit court. A future jury hearing the damages portion of the trial would benefit from a full exposition of these and other relevant facts, with the circuit judge serving as an alert monitor of any questioning or evidence that veers too far on the side of prejudice. For example, in our opinion the immigration-related questioning of certain witnesses, such as the medical experts and appellants' expert economist, went too far. While it would be proper to establish that the figures those witnesses relied on were based on United States dollars, any further attempt to elicit their opinion on costs outside of the country would be irrelevant. Appellees would benefit from securing their own expert witness who could testify about the likely costs in appellants' home country.
Further, it may be that appellants' applications for asylum have made some progress, which would be relevant to the question of whether they would leave the United States (assuming that if the applications were approved, appellants would stay). Even if the applications have not been approved, the fact that they exist and that appellants are actively seeking asylum is certainly germane to the question of
For all these reasons we reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.
