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Jordan v. Sava5/19/2005
Appellant, Maethenia Jordan, appeals a take-nothing judgment rendered in her personal injury suit against appellees, Sava, Inc. and John D. Moore. In seven issues, Jordan contends (1) the trial court erred in denying her challenges for cause of two jurors who admitted bias; (2) everyday rush-hour traffic in Houston does not constitute a "sudden emergency" justifying a jury instruction; (3) Moore's and Sava, Inc.'s counsel improperly embellished and mischaracterized the court's charge; (4) an "eggshell skull" instruction should have been given to the jury; (5) the trial court should not have rendered a directed verdict for Sava, Inc.; (6) the jury's answer to question one, regarding Moore's liability, was wrong as a matter of law and was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence; and (7) the jury's answer to question two, regarding damages, was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. We affirm.
Facts
On September 20, 1999, Moore was driving a tractor-trailer rig, minus the trailer, on Loop 610 North in Houston. The speed limits were a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 55 miles per hour; Moore's speed was approximately 45 mph. As Moore crested a hill just before the Wayside exit, he came upon a motionless line of cars in the same lane waiting to exit. The car directly in front of Moore swerved into the left lane; Moore swerved into the emergency lane to the right of the exit lane. Moore shifted down and intentionally "rode the guardrail" as he proceeded, to augment his attempt to bring the rig to a stop, but drove over some grass on the side of the road that caused the rig to skid slightly. Moore passed as many as eight to fifteen cars before the emergency lane merged into the exit lane and ended. To the right of the emergency lane was a drop-off over an embankment. When he realized he was running out of room as the emergency lane merged with Jordan's lane, Moore thought he could steer through an opening of ten to twelve feet between Jordan's Ford Expedition and the car behind her. Instead, his tractor-trailer cab collided with the rear end of Jordan's Expedition, spinning the Expedition 180 degrees before traveling across the freeway and coming to rest against the divider between the oncoming lanes of traffic.
Moore and his front-seat passenger, Jesse McGraw, an EMT, checked on Jordan and her passenger and called EMS. Jordan was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. She had injured her back, resulting in a number of physical and practical impairments to her life. A police officer who happened to be traveling along this route stopped to investigate the accident. He issued Moore a citation for "failure to control speed," but did not cite him for speeding.
Jordan sued Moore for negligence and sued the company that owned the tractor-trailer, Sava, Inc., for, among other causes of action, negligent entrustment under the doctrine of respondeat superior. After a jury trial in which the jury determined that Moore was not liable, the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment for Jordan with prejudice.
Challenges to Venire Members
In her first issue, Jordan contends the trial court erred by denying her challenges for cause to two jurors who she contends were biased in favor of Moore, thereby forcing her to use peremptory strikes on these jurors instead of on two other jurors whom she found objectionable.
Standard of Review
A person is disqualified to serve as a petit juror if he has a prejudice for or against a party in the case. Tex. Gov't Code Ann. ยง 62.105(4) (Vernon 1986). A person my be disqualified if the prejudice extends to the subject matter of the litigation, incl
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