Shoemaker Evidence Is Lost on the Freeway

A motorcycle courier, carrying a diagnostic X-ray that was taken the night of Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker’s accident, lost it en route from one lawyer’s office to another, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge was told Monday.

“The X-ray blew out of the package,” said Neil Papiano, one of the attorneys for Shoemaker, a quadriplegic who is suing a hospital and seven doctors for more than $50 million. “This X-ray is vital to the case. There are copies, but they are not sufficient. There’s a need to know why this X-ray was floating around on the eve of the trial. There’s a real question as to whether the copies are as good as the original.”

According to the courier, who made a declaration for the court, the X-ray had been torn into small pieces by the time he retraced his path on the Hollywood Freeway. The incident occurred early in the afternoon last Tuesday.

Judge Frederick J. Lower Jr., who is hearing the case, told attorneys Monday that discussion about the X-ray will continue today.

Defense attorneys, disagreeing with Papiano, said that expert witnesses, including one of Shoemaker’s, had no problems giving depositions while referring to copies of the X-ray.

In another development, the Ford Motor Co., which manufactured the Bronco that Shoemaker was driving, dropped out of the case. Ford, which has paid Shoemaker $1 million with the possibility that it might pay him $1.5 million more in an out-of-court settlement, had considered an indemnity suit against the doctors.

“Ford is out, but they’re still in,” said Michael A. O’Flaherty, one of the attorneys representing Glendora Community Hospital. “In effect, they’re paying Mr. Shoemaker’s expenses for this case.”

Shoemaker, who had retired from riding to train horses, was left in a wheelchair after the single-car accident, in which his vehicle went down a 30-foot embankment. Training horses with marginal success since then, Shoemaker contends that his condition is the result of the treatment he received in the hours after the accident, not of the accident itself.

Lower granted a motion by Shoemaker’s attorneys that will prevent the jury from allowing Shoemaker’s blood-alcohol reading to affect the amount of any possible damages that are awarded. Defense attorneys said that Shoemaker’s drinking before the accident will still be an issue. Shoemaker’s blood-alcohol level tested at .13 after the accident. That is .05 over the state’s limit for drunken driving.

Doctors who attended Shoemaker are expected to testify that his condition affected the way they treated him at the hospital. Shoemaker has said that he wasn’t drunk, and Papiano, who has questioned the validity of the blood test, is expected to focus on what happened at the hospital.

“Why this accident happened is no longer relevant,” he said in court Monday. “The issue is the treatment, not the alcohol.”

Jury selection may start today. Lawyers have estimated that the trial may last six weeks.