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Hawley v. Cash12/31/2002
PUBLISHED
Defendants, Charles Cash ("Mr. Cash") and Roseway Transportation, Inc., appeal from a judgment granting plaintiff, James Hawley ("Mr. Hawley"), $2.5 million for personal injury and $20,000 for property damages. Defendants appeal the denial of their motion for new trial. On appeal, defendants contend that the trial court erred in two ways: I. By granting plaintiff's motion for directed verdict as to defendants' claim that plaintiff was contributorily negligent in causing the collision; and II. By denying defendants' motion for new trial because the damages awarded were excessive, the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict, the jury manifestly disregarded the court's instructions, and the verdict was contrary to law. We disagree. Accordingly, we affirm the lower court's judgment.
On 17 August 1999, at around six o'clock in the morning, defendant, an employee of Roseway Transportation, Inc., was driving a tractortrailer on Interstate 85 near Oxford. At approximately the same time, plaintiff was driving his 1969 pickup truck to work. Plaintiff entered Interstate 85 at exit 204. After plaintiff had traveled seven-tenths of a mile north of exit 204, defendant hit plaintiff's truck from behind, causing plaintiff's truck to cross the median and overturn. The one independent eyewitness to the accident, Julian Lowery ("Mr. Lowery"), testified that he was driving north on Interstate 85 in the passing lane. Mr. Lowery estimated that Mr. Cash was traveling at about 65 miles per hour and that Mr. Hawley was driving at 45-50 miles per hour even though this was a 65 mile per hour zone. Mr. Lowery testified that he noticed Mr. Cash "had his cab light on, and was leaning a little bit over to the inside, like he was getting something between the seats or something." After Mr. Lowery passed the tractor-trailer, he "passed this pickup truck that was running slower than the tractor and trailer." When Mr. Lowery looked in his rearview mirror after passing the pickup truck, he saw the tractor-trailer hit the pickup truck "right dead center in the back end, and knocked it across the median, and flipped it upside down." The parties stipulated that defendant Cash was negligent. Thus, the only issue before the jury was what amount of compensatory damages plaintiff was entitled to recover for personal injury and for property damage. Mr. Cash died, of causes unrelated to the accident, before service of the complaint. Roseway Transportation was included as a defendant under the theory of respondeat superior.
I. Contributory Negligence Issue
Defendants first argue that the trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for directed verdict on defendants' affirmative defense of contributory negligence. In defendants' amended answer to plaintiff's amended complaint, defendants stated as an affirmative defense:
Plaintiff was contributorily negligent in that he traveled on an interstate highway at an excessively slow speed, without activating his four-way flashers. Said low speed was in violation of G.S. ยง 20-141(c) and (h) or, in the alternative, was less speed than a reasonably prudent person would be using under the circumstances.
In his reply, plaintiff "denie the allegations of negligence . . . and denie that any negligence on part . . . contributed to or was the cause of his injury ."
In ruling on a motion for directed verdict, we apply the same standard of review as on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Holcomb v. Colonial Associates, L.L.C., ___ N.C. App. ___, ___, 570 S.E.2d 248, 250 (2002). Appellate review requires this Court to examine "`all the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party,'"
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