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Reid v. Ayscue11/5/1993
OPINION BY JUSTICE ELIZABETH B. LACY
The primary issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly held that the doctrine of collateral estoppel precluded further
litigation between the parties on the issue of contributory negligence.
In 1985, Gwendolyn S. Reid was driving her car when she swerved to avoid hitting a pickup truck and collided with a barrier. Gwendolyn's mother, Gladys C. Reid, was a passenger in Gwendolyn's car and died as a result of injuries she sustained in the collision. Ronald D. Reid, Gwendolyn's brother and administrator of Gladys's estate, brought a wrongful death suit against the driver and owner of the pickup truck, Ralph Lee Ayscue and Allegheny Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company (Allegheny), respectively. Ronald alleged that Ayscue was negligent in the operation of the pickup truck and that this negligence resulted in Gladys's death. Ayscue and Allegheny filed grounds of defense alleging that the sole proximate cause of Gladys's death was Gwendolyn's negligent driving.
Ayscue and Allegheny also filed a third-party motion for judgment against Gwendolyn seeking contribution. That claim was severed from the wrongful death suit.
In the wrongful death suit, the jury found in favor of the estate and awarded damages of $76,633.29. The jury allocated the damages as follows: $26,633.29 for medical and funeral expenses; $50,000 to Ronald; and $0 to Gwendolyn. Judgment was entered on this verdict. That judgment was not appealed and is now final.
Ayscue and Allegheny paid the judgment and subsequently moved for summary judgment on their contribution claim. Ayscue and Allegheny argued that they were entitled to summary judgment because Gwendolyn was collaterally estopped from seeking to prove that she was not contributorily negligent since the jury determined this issue against her by apportioning her $0 in damages. The trial court agreed and, by order entered October 13, 1992, granted summary judgment against Gwendolyn for $38,316.65 plus interest, but denied Ayscue and Allegheny's request for prejudgment interest. We awarded Gwendolyn an appeal and also awarded Ayscue and Allegheny an appeal on their cross-error challenging the trial court's denial of prejudgment interest.
The doctrine of collateral estoppel, a species of the res judicata bar, precludes the relitigation of an issue of fact decided by a prior final judgment in a subsequent suit involving a different cause of action. Bates v. Devers, 214 Va. 667, 670-71, 202 S.E.2d 917, 920-21 (1974). To apply the doctrine, its proponent must show by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) identity of persons and parties; (2) identity of the issue; and (3) mutuality of the operation of the
estoppel. Byrum v. Ames and Webb, Inc., 196 Va. 597, 600, 85 S.E.2d 364, 365 (1955).
In this case, the trial court found that the "real plaintiffs in the Reid v. Ayscue wrongful death action were the statutory beneficiaries, Ronald and Gwendolyn Reid," and that "had there been an award in favor of Gwendolyn Reid in the wrongful death suit, she could have used that judgment in her favor against Ayscue and Allegheny . . . as a defense against the third-party claim for contribution." Gwendolyn does not challenge these Conclusions, but argues that the issue of her contributory negligence was not conclusively decided in the wrongful death case and, therefore, that collateral estoppel is not available here because there was no identi
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