 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Choctaw Maid Farms5/30/2002
inquiry into the issue of juror misconduct.
X. Whether the trial court properly permitted testimony regarding Hailey's enjoyment of life.
XI. Whether the trial court erred in submitting hedonic damages as recoverable damages.
XII. (Cross-appeal) Whether the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to permit Hailey to submit the issue of punitive damages to the jury.
DISCUSSION
I. Whether the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict against CMF and Odell Frazier based on negligence and proximate cause.
. When the trial court granted a directed verdict against CMF on the issue of liability, the court also granted CMF a comparative negligence instruction regarding any potential liability by Hailey. As a result, the judge informed the jury that CMF was not the sole proximate cause of the wreck. Jury instruction C-6 stated " he Court instructs the jury that the actions of by and through its employee, caused or contributed to the death of Thomas H. Hailey. Therefore, you shall return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff." The jury then had the right to assign a percentage of fault to both CMF and Hailey. The jury found that CMF's negligence was ninety percent (90%) and that of Hailey to be ten percent (10%).
. In a case very similar to the facts presented before us, Anderson v. Eagle Motor Lines, Inc., 423 F.2d 81 (5th Cir. 1970), an employee of Eagle Motor Lines was operating a truck and trailer rig on a public highway in fog in the early morning hours. In an attempt to change directions, the driver pulled his truck into a private driveway on the south side of the highway and was re-entering the highway and blocking both lanes when he was struck by the plaintiff's vehicle. The Fifth Circuit applying Mississippi law in affirming the trial court's finding for the plaintiff held:
The evidence was uncontradicted that Mississippi Highway 550 is a well-traveled road, that the tractor-trailer completely blocked both lanes of traffic and that this occurred prior to sunrise which was at 6:50 on the morning of the accident, and that visibility was at best limited. Prudence would have required Jones to have moved his rig on to the shoulder of the road either to await full daylight or to place the necessary flares, or to have continued in his own lane until he found an appropriate intersection for completing the maneuver. Instead, Jones risked the possibility of collision against the possibility of completing the dangerous turn within the few moments when the road appeared to be clear of traffic. He exercised bad judgment under the circumstances. Anderson, 423 F.2d at 85.
. In another similar case, U.S. Indus., Inc. v. McClure Furniture Co. of Eupora, 371 So.2d 391 (Miss. 1979), we held that when the defendant backed his truck across a much traveled highway at a time when it was dark without making any attempt to flag or warn traffic on the highway and ultimately was struck by the plaintiff's vehicle, a verdict for the defendant would have been against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. "The decision to grant a directed verdict is one of law." McKinzie v. Coon, 656 So.2d 134, 137 (Miss. 1995).
. However, CMF incorrectly looks to McKinzie for support. In McKinzie, this Court actually held that the circuit court erred in not directing a verdict against the defendant on the issue of negligence. The plaintiff was traveling west on Highway 98 and collided with a car which had pulled into the intersection when the plaintiff's vehicle was 75 feet away. Considering that the plaintiff had the right-of-way, there were no traffic signals to hinder travel in a direct course and no
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|