Grace v. Mansourian

Following an automobile accident, Timothy Grace (plaintiff) prevailed on a negligence action against Levik Mansourian, who drove the other car, and Satina Mansourian, who owned it (defendants). Timothy alleged that Levik ran a red light, injuring Timothy and causing him to suffer injury to his ankle, back, and neck. Timothy filed a motion to recover costs of proof for the failure of the Mansourians to admit certain requests for admissions regarding negligence, causation, and damages. Specifically, Timothy asked the Mansourians to admit that Levik failed to stop at the red light; that such failure was negligent and the actual and legal cause of Timothy’s damages, which included pain, suffering, and emotional distress; and that Timothy was not negligent. Timothy also asked for an admission that because of the accident, Timothy required and received necessary medical treatment that was within the standard of care and that all medical bills were reasonable. The Mansourians denied all these requests and repeated the denials after retaining experts. However, the Mansourians offered no expert testimony or other evidence at trial as to liability other than Levik’s testimony that he did not believe that he ran a red light, despite eyewitness and expert evidence to the contrary, which they knew about before trial. The trial court denied Timothy’s motion, finding that the Mansourians had a reasonable basis to deny the requests. Timothy appealed.