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City of Jackson v. Estate of Stewart12/15/2005
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: MOTION FOR REHEARING STRICKEN FROM THE FILES - 12/15/2005
EN BANC.
. We are, regrettably, again confronted with disrespectful language which members of the Mississippi Bar have knowingly, consciously, and intentionally chosen to place in a motion for rehearing which was previously filed in this cause. Finding the lawyers' conduct to be unprofessional and rising to the level of incivility, we direct that the motion for rehearing be stricken from the files.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
. On August 11, 1997, Mrs. Otha Stewart fell after exiting a van operated by the City of Jackson, as she prepared to enter a day care center operated by the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Approximately one year later, suit was commenced by Mrs. Stewart against the City, the Hospital, and Doris Spiller, the individual van driver, for injuries received in the fall. A conservatorship was later established for Mrs. Stewart, whose daughter, Emma Womack, was substituted as the party plaintiff in her official capacity as conservator of Mrs. Stewart's estate. The defendants subsequently filed motions for summary judgment, and in due course, the trial court denied the Hospital's summary judgment motion, but granted summary judgment in favor of the City and Spiller. Via an interlocutory appeal, this Court reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the City and Spiller. Stewart ex. rel. Womack v. City of Jackson, 804 So.2d 1041 (Miss. 2002).
. Upon remand, the trial court conducted a bench trial pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. ยงยง 11-46-1, et seq. [commonly referred to as the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA)]. After the bench trial, the trial court found that the City and the Hospital were liable and awarded the plaintiff the total amount of $1,000,000 as damages against the City and the Hospital under tort and breach of contract theories.
. From this final judgment, both the City and the Hospital appealed to us. On May 12, 2005, we handed down our opinion which affirmed the trial court's judgment as to a finding of liability against the City, but we remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial as to damages only against the City, with instructions to limit any award against the City to an amount not to exceed $250,000, pursuant to the MTCA. As to the trial court judgment against the Hospital, we reversed and rendered. City of Jackson v. Estate of Stewart ex rel. Womack, (Miss. May 12, 2005). Thereafter, the Estate, through counsel, filed a motion for rehearing. On August 4, 2005, we denied the motion for rehearing, but modified the original opinion. City of Jackson v. Estate of Stewart ex rel. Womack, 908 So.2d 703 (Miss. 2005).
. However, the events surrounding the filing of the motion for rehearing are the focus of today's case. After our initial opinion in this case was handed down on May 12, 2005, the Estate, through attorneys James A. Bobo and Mark C. Baker, Sr., signed and caused to be filed a motion for rehearing on May 26, 2005. We recite the language used in this motion for rehearing which precipitated certain events subsequent to the filing of the motion for rehearing (M/R):
(1) On page 1 of the M/R -- "The vast majority of opinions issued by this August Body exemplify the virtues of scholarship, intellectual honesty, neutrality, balance, justice and fair play. Win or lose the facts and law of the case are fairly stated. Unlike those opinions, the opinion in this case does not meet these standards. The opinion does a disservice to the Court and the parties and almost certainly will cause confusion and uncertainty among the
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