Case Title: City of Tallassee v. Harris

Citation: 431 So. 2d 1177

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1983-04-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
431 So. 2d 1177 (1983)
CITY OF TALLASSEE
v.
Karen Michelle HARRIS, etc., et al.
Frank HARRIS
v.
CITY OF TALLASSEE.
81-833, 81-881.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
April 1, 1983.
Rehearing Denied May 20, 1983.
*1179 Richard A. Ball, Jr., of Ball, Ball, Duke & Matthews, Montgomery, and Willard Pienezza, Tallassee, for City of Tallassee.
Ernest C. Hornsby of Hornsby & Schmitt, Tallassee, and Mays Jemison, Montgomery, for appellant Frank Harris.
Ernest C. Hornsby of Hornsby & Schmitt, Tallassee, Mays Jemison, Montgomery, Linda Benson, East Tallassee, for appellees Karen Michelle Harris, et al.
MADDOX, Justice.
The issues in these consolidated appeals are: whether the trial court erred in refusing to give certain instructions as requested by defendant City of Tallassee concerning its liability for the condition of an alley inside its city limits where the collision occurred; whether the evidence was sufficient as a matter of law for the jury to conclude the alley was a public way and that the defendant city was negligent in not making the alley reasonably safe for public travel; whether the amount of damages awarded one of the plaintiffs was excessive; and whether a new trial should have been granted to cross-appellant because of inconsistent verdicts.
On January 10, 1981, a head-on collision occurred on Alber Alley located in the city limits of Tallassee, between a vehicle owned and operated by Hazel Hammock (plaintiff/appellee) and a vehicle operated by Karen Michelle Harris (plaintiff/appellee). The vehicle being operated by Michelle Harris was owned by her father, Frank Harris (plaintiff/cross-appellant). Both Hazel Hammock and Michelle Harris sustained injuries as a result of the accident.
Michelle Harris, as a minor, brought suit against the City of Tallassee by and through her mother, legal custodian and best friend, Joyce P. Harris. Michelle's father, Frank Harris, who was divorced from Joyce Harris, was a plaintiff also. In the complaint, Michelle Harris claimed damages for bodily injuries as well as pain and suffering proximately resulting from the city's negligence or wantonness with regard to the unsafe condition of Alber Alley for public travel. Frank Harris claimed damages for doctor, medical and drug bills incurred in the treatment of Michelle. He also claimed property damages for the automobile that he owned, which was being operated by his daughter at the time of the accident. Hazel Hammock likewise brought suit against the city on the grounds of negligence or wantonness. Both cases were later consolidated for trial on motion by the city.
At trial, Michelle Harris testified that at the time the accident occurred, she had shifted from third to second gear to pull the steep hill on Alber Alley and was travelling between ten and twenty miles per hour. She testified that she never saw the other *1180 car before colliding with it. Terri Chandler, who was a passenger in the car being driven by Michelle Harris, testified she saw the car only briefly before the collision. Hazel Hammock, who was travelling from the opposite direction on Alber Alley when the two cars struck, testified that she never saw the car Michelle Harris was driving before the two collided. She estimated she was travelling from fifteen to twenty miles per hour on the uphill climb. The accident occurred at the crest of the hill on Alber Alley.
A number of witnesses testified to the public's use of the alley and it was uncontroverted at the trial that the public used the alley for travel in both directions. Residents whose houses bordered the alley testified that prior to the accident, they had seen traffic on the alley, including school buses, police cars, trash trucks, and power company trucks, in addition to private cars.
Lamar Woodham, Jr., a registered professional engineer, appeared on behalf of the plaintiffs. Woodham inspected the accident scene and conducted measurements, studies and experiments. He testified that because the width of Alber Alley was from nine and one-half feet to eleven feet, it was totally inadequate to handle two-way vehicular traffic. He stated that the standards for minimum roadway width required for cars travelling in opposite directions in 1952,[1] as set forth by the American Association of Highway Officials, was twenty to twentytwo feet.
Woodham testified that in order to correct the problem, sound engineering practice would require either adjustment of the geometrics of the road or adequate signing to take care of the geometrics of the road.
Woodham further testified that the hill on Alber Alley did not meet the minimum standard of sound and accepted traffic engineering practices regarding minimum safe-stopping sight distances at the time of the accident and that this condition had existed as far back as 1952. Woodham stated that if the city had used the Alabama Manual on Traffic Control Devices, it could have corrected the roadway's deficiencies by making the alley one way, and putting up a stop sign on the connector street. He testified that in his opinion, because of the grade of the hill, it was impossible for the driver of either car to have stopped her car without colliding head-on with the other car coming from the opposite direction.
Officer Billy Clayton, a sergeant with the Tallassee Police Department and life-long resident of the city (he was 40 years old at the time of the trial), investigated the accident. He testified that the two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions and estimated their speed on the uphill grade at twenty miles per hour. Although no signs were posted on the alley to regulate speed, the sergeant acknowledged that the general speed limit for the city was thirty miles per hour. He stated that he did not know which of the two parties had the right-of-way at the crest of the hill and testified that he did not find that either party had violated any traffic ordinances. Sergeant Clayton further testified that, in his opinion, the alley was too narrow for two-way traffic, and that the safe-stopping sight distance on the hill was inadequate; he did not recall ever seeing or hearing of a prior wreck on the alley, however.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of Hazel Hammock in the amount of $15,000. The jury also returned a verdict in favor of Michelle Harris in the amount of $40,000, but found against Frank Harris on his claim for medical expenses and property damages.
Frank Harris filed a motion for new trial, and the city filed its motion for judgment N.O.V. or in the alternative for a new trial as to the judgment entered on the jury verdicts in favor of Michelle Harris and Hazel Hammock. The trial court denied Frank Harris's motion for a new trial and the city's motion for judgment N.O.V. Frank Harris and the city appealed.
The City of Tallassee states succinctly in its brief the legal principle it contends is controlling:
This Court, however, has defined a city's responsibility with respect to the maintenance of its streets as follows:
Jacks v. City of Birmingham, 268 Ala. 138, 142-143, 105 So. 2d 121, 125-126 (1958). This "duty and obligation to exercise ordinary and reasonable care" and the corresponding liability to fulfill the duty apply to a municipality's care of its alleys. Code 1975, § 11-47-190.[2] We have held "that the duty imposed on cities to keep their public ways free of defects is but the expression of a broader responsibility to exercise ordinary and reasonable care in keeping streets in a reasonably safe condition for travel." City of Prichard v. Kelley, 386 So. 2d 403, 405 (Ala.1980). As this relates to alleys, cities have a duty to exercise reasonable care to keep alleys in a reasonably safe condition for travel, not a duty to maintain alleys in a reasonably safe condition. McQuillin, 19 Municipal Corporations § 54.40 (1967).
The city asserts that the trial court erred in not entering a directed verdict, and likewise in denying its motion for judgment N.O.V., or in the alternative for a new trial, because the evidence was insufficient to impose liability on the city. The standard of review for this Court with regard to a motion for new trial is amply set forth in Jacks v. City of Birmingham, supra:
268 Ala. at 143, 105 So. 2d  at 126 (1958). We do not find the jury's verdicts were against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence; therefore, we find the court properly overruled the city's motion for new trial.
The city further claims that Hazel Hammock and Michelle Harris were guilty of contributory negligence and it was entitled to a directed verdict on this issue. The city further contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion for judgment N.O.V. or in the alternative for a new trial on this issue. The city did not raise the issue of contributory negligence in its motion for directed verdict; therefore, it cannot be repostured in a post-trial motion for judgment N.O.V. or in the alternative a new trial. Rule 50(b), ARCP; Housing Authority v. Malloy, 341 So. 2d 708, 709-710 (Ala.1977). Consequently, the trial court cannot be placed in error for denying the city's motion for directed verdict on the basis of issues not presented in its motion. In any event, the testimony and evidence entered into the record here convinces the court that the question of contributory negligence in this case was a question properly submitted to the jury. See Elba Wood Products, Inc. v. Bracklin, 356 So. 2d 119 (Ala.1978).
Charges 4, 5 and 6 that were requested by the city and refused by the trial court relate to whether the alley had been accepted, dedicated or maintained for public use by the city. The city asserts that the trial court erred by refusing these requested instructions and by instructing the jury that public use for twenty years created a reasonable presumption that the alley was a public way. We disagree that the trial court erred by refusing these instructions and by giving other instructions.
Previously, we have stated that a "public way" is established in one of three ways: (1) by a regular proceeding for that purpose, or (2) by a dedication as such by the owner of the land the way crosses, and an acceptance by the proper authorities, or (3) by general use by the public for twenty years. Sam Raine Const. Co., Inc. v. Lakeview Estates, 407 So. 2d 542, 544 (Ala.1981). See also Jones v. City of Birmingham, 284 Ala. 276, 279, 224 So. 2d 632, 634 (1969). According to the testimony given at the trial, Alber Alley was conveyed by Mt. Vernon Mills to the city on October 7, 1952, and the deed recorded on December 15, 1952. Further, a number of witnesses testified that the alley had been used by the public as a through street for twenty years or more. In objecting to the trial court's instructions, counsel for the city stated that charges 4, 5 and 6 were correct statements of what must occur before a "city becomes obliged or obligated to maintain a street as well as what was to happen before it would in fact be dedicated." Based on the facts here, the issue for the jury was not whether Alber Alley had been accepted, dedicated or maintained by the city, but rather whether Alber Alley was a "public way" at the time of the accident, thereby imposing the duty on the city to keep it in a safe condition. The trial court properly refused the requested instructions and correctly instructed the jury as to the three methods of establishing a public way.
The city also objected to the trial court's refusal to give its requested charges 8, 9, 21 and 22. Charge 8 states that a city's duty with respect to an alley is dependent on all of the circumstances, including the location and intended use of the alley, while charge 9 provides that the duty of a city to use ordinary care in and about an alley does not impose on the city the duty to make an alley perfectly safe for travel or do all things necessary to render the alley safe for travel. Charges 21 and 22 provide that the fact that a city does not comply with engineering standards is insufficient by itself to prove that a street or alley had a defect or that the city was negligent in not bringing the street or alley *1183 up to standards or that the city had a duty to do so. The instructions given by the trial court to the jury were as follows:
The above instructions by the trial court in this regard were appropriate and sufficient.
The city asserts that the trial court erred in refusing to give charge 11, that is, a statement that the city's duty to maintain an alley is not as great as its duty to maintain a street. The city cites Althey v. Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railway, 191 Ala. 646, 68 So. 154 (1915), as authority for this proposition. The Court, however, does not find Althey to be valid authority for this proposition where, as here, the facts indicate the alley was used as a public way at the time of the accident. In Althey this Court opined:
191 Ala. at 649-650, 68 So.  at 155-156. The facts of the instant case are different. Here, the jury could have found that the public, as well as city personnel, used Alber Alley at various times as a "way for travel." Consequently, since the city's duty was not a lesser duty with respect to the alley, but a duty to exercise reasonable care to keep the alley in reasonably safe condition for travel, the trial court properly refused charge 11.
Charges 12, 13 and 15 provide that the city was under no duty, prior to the accident, to erect any sign on the alley, to make the alley one-way, or to remedy any slope on the alley. It is the Court's view that the facts and circumstances in this case presented a question for the jury's determination: whether the city had fulfilled its obligation of exercising ordinary and reasonable care in keeping the alley which was used regularly by the public in a reasonably safe condition for travel. See City of Florence v. Stack, 275 Ala. 367, 370, 155 So. 2d 324, 327 (1963). Consequently, charges 12, 13 and 15 were properly refused.
As to charge 14 refused by the trial court, counsel for the city failed to make an objection as required under Rule 51 ARCP, to preserve review by this Court on appeal.
The trial court refused to grant the city's motion for remittitur or order a new trial of the jury's award of $15,000 to Hazel Hammock. Included in the amount awarded by the jury was compensation for her medical expenses, pain, suffering, permanent disability, loss of wages and property damages.
Dr. Hodge Eagleson testified that Hazel Hammock was suffering chronic residual effects from the accident at the time of the trial. He stated that his opinion was that the condition involving her neck, shoulder, wrist, left lower back and left hip would be permanent. He also testified that because of Hazel Hammock's age (she was 68 years old at the time of the trial), injuries of this sort become chronic and long lasting. The evidence indicated medical expenses for treatment of her injuries sustained in the accident amounted to more than $1,800 and that property damage to her car amounted to $1,400. The evidence further showed her lost wages totaled $130.
Rosen v. Lawson, 281 Ala. 351, 356, 202 So. 2d 716, 720 (1967). Furthermore, "[w]here the trial court refuses a new trial because of alleged excessive damages, the favorable presumption attending the verdict is thereby strengthened." Trahan v. Cook, 288 Ala. 704, 710, 265 So. 2d 125, 130 (1972). Based on Dr. Eagleson's testimony concerning the chronic and long lasting nature of the injuries suffered by Hazel Hammock, we do not find these damages excessive to the extent that they indicate passion, prejudice, corruption or mistake, and thus we affirm the trial court's decision not to disturb the jury's verdict. See Winn-Dixie v. Godwin, 349 So. 2d 37 (Ala.1977).
Both the city and the cross-appellant, Frank Harris, maintain that the individual verdicts rendered by the jury are inconsistent. As pointed out earlier, the jury found in favor of the individual plaintiffs but found for the city on Frank Harris's claims for property damages and damages for doctor bills, etc. for Michelle. The city asserts that because of these inconsistent verdicts, the case should be remanded for retrial as to all issues; Frank Harris contends that the verdicts favoring Hazel Hammock and Michelle Harris should stand and only the issues relating to his claims should be retried. Frank Harris labels his claims as "derivative." He states that he "suffered property damages to his vehicle which were not claimed by his daughter" and that "he suffered special damages of hospital bills and doctor bills which he was under an obligation to pay for the treatment of his minor daughter's injuries."
In the instant case, however, the mother made no claim for Michelle's medical expenses; only Frank Harris made that claim, and Frank Harris was the party who presented evidence on that issue. He presented evidence of medical bills on which his name was typed as obligor. He presented evidence that the medical expenses were reasonable and necessary. Likewise, he presented evidence of the damage to his automobile.
We have reviewed the evidence, the instructions of the trial court to the jury, and we are of the opinion that the jury, having found liability on the part of the city, should have awarded Frank Harris some damages on his claims. A verdict contrary to the uncontradicted evidence should be set aside on a motion for a new trial. Matthews & Morrow v. Batson, 218 Ala. 378, 118 So. 749 (1928).
The trial court instructed the jury as to the damages claimed by Frank Harris as follows:
The jury was, therefore, instructed specifically regarding Frank Harris's claim.
347 So. 2d  at 94.
After carefully reviewing the evidence, the instructions of the trial court to the jury, and the applicable principles regarding inconsistent verdicts, we are of the opinion that Frank Harris is entitled to a new trial on his claims for medical expenses and damages to his automobile, but that the city is not entitled to a new trial on Michelle's claim of liability for her personal injuries.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND REMANDED FOR NEW TRIAL.
TORBERT, C.J., and JONES, SHORES and BEATTY, JJ., concur.
[1]  Testimony indicates this was the year Alber Alley was conveyed to the City of Tallassee by Mt. Vernon Mills.
[2]  "No city or town shall be liable for damages for injury done to or wrong suffered by any person or corporation, unless said injury or wrong was done or suffered through the neglect, carelessness or unskillfulness of some agent, officer or employee of the municipality engaged in work therefor and while acting in the line of his duty, or unless the said injury or wrong was done or suffered through the neglect, carelessness or failure to remedy some defect in the streets, alleys, public ways or buildings after the same had been called to the attention of the council or other governing body or after the same had existed for such unreasonable length of time as to raise a presumption of knowledge of such defect on the part of the council or other governing body and whenever the city or town shall be made liable to an action for damages by reason of the unauthorized or wrongful acts or the negligence, carelessness or unskillfulness of any person or corporation, then such person or corporation shall be liable to an action on the same account by the party so injured."