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Stewart v. State12/20/2000
e was also unsuccessful.
Because the car was now parked on a downward slope, the county deputies, who were unsure as to whether the car would slip out of gear again, decided to roll the car to the bottom of the hill where it could rest safely. Apparently, one of the deputies was steering the car, one deputy was pushing the car from behind, and the plaintiff was pushing the car somewhere near the driver's side door. As the car was being pushed to the bottom of the hill, the passenger asked one of the county deputies to take her into Hohenwald to notify the owner of the car of its condition. Trooper Ray then prepared to pull his patrol car in behind the Nova to provide any needed assistance once the owner arrived.
Shortly after the Nova reached the bottom of the incline, the plaintiff started to walk back across the road when he was struck by a pick-up truck traveling into town. The impact knocked the plaintiff almost ninety feet away into a guard rail. Although the plaintiff miraculously survived the impact, he suffered substantial injuries to his head resulting in permanent and irreversible brain damage. The plaintiff also suffered, among other things, a severe fracture to his spine and significant injuries to his kidneys. After the plaintiff was struck, Trooper Ray notified the dispatcher to send an ambulance, and he pulled his patrol car behind the Nova on the other side of the road. In the meantime, county deputies notified the city police department and diverted traffic away from the accident site. Less than six minutes had elapsed from the time of Trooper Ray's release of the Nova to the plaintiff's accident.
On July 21, 1993, the plaintiff filed his formal claim with the Tennessee Claims Commission alleging that his injuries were proximately caused by Trooper Ray's negligence in not calling a tow-truck for the disabled car and in failing to properly control traffic around the arrest scene. Eight months later in March of 1994, the State filed a motion to dismiss the claim for failure to allege any grounds of liability within the permissible categories of claims listed in Tennessee Code Annotated section 9-8-307(a)(1). In response, the plaintiff moved to amend his claim to allege that the officer's alleged negligence fell within three specific categories of liability: (1) negligent care, custody, or control of personal property under section - 307(a)(1)(F) based on Ray's "negligent release of custody of the vehicle" and negligence "in refusing to call a wrecker to remove the car"; (2) negligent operation or maintenance of any motor vehicle under section -307(a)(1)(A) "since the operation of the vehicle by the deputies was under the direction and supervision of the Tennessee Highway Patrol"; and (3) actions resulting in a dangerous condition on state-maintained highways under section -307(a)(1)(J) based on Ray's "failure to adequately control and maintain an arrest scene." The Commission granted the plaintiff's motion to amend and denied the State's motion to dismiss, finding that a sufficient jurisdictional basis had been alleged.
Over four years later, the plaintiff's claim was heard before the Commission. After hearing testimony from several witnesses, the commissioner concluded that the issue of whether Trooper Ray was in control of the arrest scene had to be determined by the "actual facts of what went on out there." He then concluded that no one was in charge " ecause these people all knew each other, and they all deferred to each other." The commissioner also concluded that Trooper Ray was not negligent in failing to call a tow truck because a general order from the Department of Safety directed Ray to follow the wishes of the driver in disposing of the vehicle
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