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Weber v. Warnke8/28/2002
Defendants Arthur Winker and Cletus Winker, d/b/a Glidden Body Shop, appeal from a district court judgment entered against them in plaintiff's personal injury action arising from a car accident. AFFIRMED.
Arthur Winker and Cletus Winker, d/b/a Glidden Body Shop, appeal from a district court judgment entered against them in Jane Weber's personal injury action arising from a car accident. The Winkers contend the court erred in ruling, on a motion for adjudication of a law point, that they owned a vehicle involved in the accident because their efforts to transfer title prior to the accident were ineffective by virtue of their failure to comply with Iowa Code section 321.52(4)(a) and accompanying administrative regulations concerning out-of-state salvage titles. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND FACTS.
Jane Weber was severely injured when her vehicle collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Michael Warnke. Warnke had pulled out into her lane to pass a semi but had insufficient space, and both drivers swerved onto the shoulder into each other. Weber sued Warnke, his employer, Glidden Body Shop, Glidden's owners, Arthur and Cletus Winker, and her own insurer, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Only Weber's claim against Glidden and the Winkers (collectively the Winkers) is involved on appeal.
Weber's claim against the Winkers was ultimately based on their alleged ownership of the vehicle driven by Warnke. The Winkers moved for summary judgment on grounds they did not own the vehicle. Though the Winkers had owned the car, having purchased it at an auction, they claimed they had sold it to Warnke. The court denied the motion.
Weber filed a motion for adjudication of law points, seeking a determination that the Winkers were the owners of the vehicle based on section 321.52(4)(a) and provisions of the Iowa Administrative Code. Specifically, Weber claimed that because the Winkers had failed to transfer the Nebraska salvage certificate of title for the vehicle to an Iowa salvage title, they could not have sold it to Warnke. The district court sustained the motion. The Winkers conceded Warnke's negligence was the sole proximate cause of the accident, and that Weber's damages exceeded the limits of their liability insurance. Following a jury determination of Weber's damages the district court entered judgment of $783,549.79 against all defendants except State Farm, which had previously been dismissed from the case. The Winkers appeal.
II. SCOPE OF REVIEW.
We review the ruling on a motion for adjudication of law points for the correction of errors at law. State v. Friend, 630 N.W.2d 843, 844 (Iowa Ct. App. 2001).
III. MERITS.
The Winkers contend the court erred in its ruling on the motion for adjudication of law points by determining that section 321.52(4)(a) rather than section 321.493 governed with respect to their liability. They point to facts which they claim demonstrate a bona fide sale actually took place, for instance Warnke drove the vehicle at his own discretion to and from work for a period of time and repaired the vehicle himself, and argue that for liability purposes under section 321.493 it should not matter that they failed to comply with section 321.52(4)(a). In the last paragraph of their single-issue brief the Winkers assert that the trial court failed to address the issue of consent, and there is no evidence that Warnke was driving the vehicle with the Winkers' consent. Weber responds in part that error, if any, concerning consent was not preserved for review.
Section 321.52(4)(a) requires a vehicle rebuilder or a person engaged in the business of buying, selling, or ex
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