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Ream v. Burke Asphalt Paving9/9/2003
UNPUBLISHED
In this negligence case arising from a motor vehicle accident, defendants appeal as of right from a judgment in favor of plaintiffs, following a jury trial. We affirm.
I.
On October 30, 1999, at approximately 3:00 p.m., plaintiff Terry Ream was driving a motorcycle westbound on Catholic Church Road, approaching the intersection of Hermitage Farm Lane, a private gravel road, in Stockbridge, Michigan. His wife, Linda Ream, was a passenger on the motorcycle. They were traveling directly behind defendant Chan Culbert, who was driving a 1996 Ford dump truck owned by defendant John Burke, d/b/a Burke Asphalt Paving. According to plaintiffs, as they attempted to pass the truck on the left, Culbert suddenly began a left turn onto Hermitage Farm Lane, without slowing or signaling. His left front quarter-panel struck plaintiffs' front tire , and then Linda Ream's left leg, causing both plaintiffs to be thrown from the motorcycle Plaintiffs testified that, rather than stop, Culbert pulled his truck into a driveway on Hermitage Farm Lane, backed up, drove past plaintiffs, and then drove westbound on Catholic Church Road. As he passed plaintiffs, Culbert allegedly stuck his head out the truck window, yelled to them that his turn signal was on, and stated that he was going to get his boss.
After the accident, Culbert proceeded to his job site, but the parties dispute what occurred after that. Evidence was presented that Culbert told defendant Burke about the accident and that Burke told Culbert that he did not think that Culbert was covered on his insurance. Burke then allegedly told Culbert to take the keys to Burke's pickup truck, to leave the area, and to take the truck to Burke's home, while Burke would go to the accident scene and "take care of everything." However, when Burke arrived at the accident scene, he told the police that he did not know the identity of the person who had been driving the truck and misled the police about his knowledge of the accident. Plaintiffs apparently overheard this conversation. The police later determined that Culbert was driving the truck, and Culbert implicated Burke in attempting to deceive the police regarding the identity of the driver.
Defendant Burke, on the other hand, testified that when Culbert arrived at the job site, he immediately drove the dump truck into the rear end of another truck. Culbert told Burke that he had just been in an accident, and left to go home. Burke claimed that he thought Culbert was referring to the accident at the job site, which led him to furnish inaccurate information to the police. He testified that he first became aware that one of his trucks had been involved in the accident with plaintiffs when he was approached by an unidentified person who later arrived at the job site. Burke later admitted, however, that he had intentionally provided false information to the police.
Culbert subsequently pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor offenses, failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident, MCL 257.617a, and obstructing an officer's investigation of an accident, MCL 750.479, in return for the dismissal of a more serious charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident involving serious injury or death, MCL 257.607.
Both plaintiffs were injured in the accident. Plaintiff Linda Ream suffered a comminuted fracture to her right femur, and comminuted compound fractures to both her right tibia and right fibula, which left her with a condition described by her treating physician as a "floating knee." She also had an open laceration above her right knee, and suffered a comminuted fracture to her right wrist (radius). While the wrist injury wa
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