Title: Prince George's County v. Brent

State: maryland

Issuer: Maryland Supreme Court

Document:

HEADNOTE
Prince George's County, Maryland v. Brent, No. 71, September Term, 2009
Judgments – Governmental Immunity – Auto collision between plaintiff's vehicle and
County police cruiser.  Plaintiff sued County only and obtained judgment for the $200,000
limit of liability under Local Governments Tort Claims Act.  Per CJ § 5-524, County pays
$20,000, the limit under County's auto insurance.  In second suit, plaintiff sues police officer
for $180,000.  Jury finds for plaintiff.  
Judgment in second suit affirmed.  Held:
1.
Claim against servant not precluded by unsatisfied judgment against master.
2.
Evidence sufficient to support jury finding that police officer not acting in
emergency service.
3.
Driving motor vehicle not discretionary activity within common law public
official immunity.
Circuit Court for Prince George's County
Case No. CAL05-06034  
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
No. 71
September Term, 2009
_________________________________________
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, 
MARYLAND et al.
v.
CLEVELAND BRENT
_________________________________________
Bell, C.J.
Harrell
Battaglia
Murphy
Adkins
Eldridge, John C.
  (retired, specially assigned)
Rodowsky, Lawrence F.
  (retired, specially assigned), 
JJ. 
_________________________________________
Opinion by Rodowsky, J.
Murphy, J., joins in judgment only.
________________________________________
Filed:   May 17, 2010
This is an appeal from the judgment in Case No. CAL05-06034 in the Circuit Court
for Prince George's County in which the Respondent, Cleveland Brent (Brent), sued the
Petitioner, Michael W. Daily (Officer Daily).  In an earlier case in the same court, CAL03-
13492, Brent had obtained a judgment against Prince George's County, Maryland (the
County).   Both actions asserted Brent's claim for damages for personal injuries sustained
1
in one and the same automobile accident with a police cruiser operated by Officer Daily, of
the County's police force.  The principal issue before us is whether the claim asserted in No.
CAL05-06034 (Brent II) is merged in the judgment previously rendered in CAL03-13492
(Brent I).  As hereinafter explained, we shall hold that there is no claim preclusion. 
The accident occurred on December 10, 2002, at an interchange between Branch
Avenue and Allentown Road.  Officer Daily was traveling on Allentown Road.  The
accident occurred when he entered and proceeded through an intersection on a red traffic
signal.  In July 2003, Brent filed Brent I, naming only the County as a defendant.  The action
was tried for three days to a jury, and  the issues were submitted on a verdict sheet.  The jury
found that "the defendant" was negligent, that "the defendant, Prince George's County," had
not proved that Brent was contributorily negligent, and that the damages were $320,000. 
Judgment was entered against the County accordingly.  The court (Lamasney, J.) reduced
When the cover sheet for the transmittal from the circuit court to the Court of Special
1
Appeals of the record in No. CAL05-06034 was originally prepared, it was captioned, in
typewriting, as "Cleveland Brent v. Michael W. Daily."  At some point prior to transmittal
of the record on April 13, 2008, the typewriting was scratched out and, by pen, in longhand,
the caption was changed to "Prince George's County, Maryland et al. v. Cleveland Brent." 
The County was not a party to Civil CAL05-06034, but the longhand caption has been
utilized on appeal.
- 2 -
the judgment that had been entered on that verdict to $20,000, pursuant to Maryland Code
(1974, 2006 Repl. Vol.), § 5-524 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (CJ).  That
section provides:
"An owner or lessee of any motor vehicle registered under Title 13 of
the Transportation Article may not raise the defense of sovereign or
governmental immunity, to the extent of benefits provided by the security
accepted by the Motor Vehicle Administration under § 17-103 of the
Transportation Article, in any judicial proceeding in which the plaintiff claims
that personal injury, property damage, or death was caused by the negligent
use of the motor vehicle while in government service or performing a task of
benefit to the government."
The "security accepted by the Motor Vehicle Administration" is $20,000 per person per
accident.  Maryland Code (1977, 2009 Repl. Vol.), § 17-103(b)(1) of the Transportation
Article.
In an effort to avoid the effect of CJ § 5-524, Brent, in Brent I and after the verdict, 
filed a second amended complaint in which he named Officer Daily as an additional
defendant to the same claim.  The court dismissed the second amended complaint with
prejudice, at the same hearing at which it reduced the judgment against the County.  Further,
some weeks before the dismissal in Brent I of the second amended complaint, Brent had
filed Brent II in which only Officer Daily was named as a defendant.  
Brent I was appealed to the Court of Special Appeals.  That appeal challenged the
dismissal of the second amended complaint or, at least, its dismissal with prejudice.  In an
unreported opinion, that court vacated the dismissal of the second amended complaint, but
remanded with direction that that dismissal be "without prejudice to appellant's right to file
- 3 -
a separate cause of action against Officer Daily."  The court cautioned, however, that it did
"not intimate any view whatsoever of what should be the proper outcome of [Brent's] lawsuit
against Officer Daily." 
In Brent II, Officer Daily, by motions, raised defenses of res judicata, collateral
estoppel, and immunity.  The immunity argument was based upon CJ § 5-639(b)(1).  It
provides that
"[a]n operator of an emergency vehicle, who is authorized to operate the
emergency vehicle by its owner or lessee, is immune from suit in the
operator's individual capacity for damages resulting from a negligent act or
omission while operating the emergency vehicle in the performance of
emergency service."
Officer Daily's motions were denied at a hearing on March 30, 2007.  The court
(Krauser, J.) concluded that res judicata and collateral estoppel were not available to Officer
Daily, because he was not a party to Brent I.  Counsel for Brent represented to the court that
the verdict sheets initially prepared by counsel for Judge Lamasney had included an issue
based on the § 5-639(b)(1) defense, but that that issue had not been submitted to the jury at
the request of counsel for the County.  Based on the representations of counsel as to what
had transpired in Brent I,  the court denied summary judgment on the ground of emergency
2
If any trial transcript for Brent I was prepared, it is not in the record before us and
2
was not in the record before the court at the March 30, 2007 hearing.  
- 4 -
service immunity under § 5-639(b)(1) because it considered that there was a dispute of fact
that had not been decided in Brent I.  
3
Shortly thereafter, the County paid Brent the $20,000 judgment in Brent I, subject to
an agreement that the $20,000 would be credited against an enrolled judgment, if any,
rendered for the plaintiff in Brent II.  At a hearing in August 2007, the parties advised the
court (Krauser, J.) of their agreement that, at trial, the only issue of fact for the jury would
be whether, at the time of the accident, Officer Daily had been operating an emergency
vehicle in the performance of emergency service, i.e., the immunity defense under CJ § 5-
639(b)(1).  The parties also advised the court of their agreement that, if the jury found that
Officer Daily was not acting at the time of the accident on an emergency call, then judgment
would be entered in favor of Brent for $200,000 (against which the $20,000 paid by the
County would be credited).  
4
At that hearing, the County also raised a defense under CJ § 5-507(b)(2), discussed
3
in Part III, infra.  If applicable, that section would have limited the damages to $20,000, and
thus, would have been duplicative of the judgment in Brent I.
The parties' rationale for this agreement is CJ § 5-303(a) and (b), part of the Local
4
Government Tort Claims Act (LGTCA).  Section 5-303(b)(1) in relevant part provides that
"a local government shall be liable for any judgment against its employee for damages
resulting from tortious acts or omissions committed by the employee within the scope of
employment with the local government."  Section 5-303(b)(2) prohibits a local government
from asserting "governmental or sovereign immunity to avoid the duty to defend or
indemnify an employee established in this subsection."  Section 5-303(a)(1) provides that
"the liability of a local government may not exceed $200,000 per an individual claim ... for
damages resulting from tortious acts or omissions, or liability arising under subsection (b)
of this section[.]"  
- 5 -
At the trial of Brent II in December 2007, the court (Schiff, J.) submitted that lone
issue to the jury.  The jury answered "NO" to the question, "Do you find by a preponderance
of the evidence that Officer Michael W. Daily was in emergency service on December 10,
2002?".  After Officer Daily's post-trial motion was denied, the court entered judgment
against him in the amount of $180,000.  Appeal was timely noted to the Court of Special
Appeals.5
The Court of Special Appeals affirmed, sub nom. Prince George's County v. Brent,
185 Md. App. 42, 968 A.2d 630 (2009).  Officer Daily raised three principal contentions:
"'1.
That the second action was barred because it split a single cause of
action, or was otherwise barred by principles of res judicata and
collateral estoppel;
"'2.
That the trial judge erred at the second trial by failing to grant
appellant's Motion for Judgment because the evidence conclusively
established that Officer Daily was operating his vehicle in emergency
service; and, 
"'3.
That the trial court erred in finding that §§ 5-507(b)(2) ... did not apply
to afford Officer Daily immunity as to any amount in excess of the
County's existing motor vehicle insurance limit.'"
Id. at 48, 968 A.2d at 634.
The court held that there was no splitting of the cause of action, which continued to
be the negligence claim against Daily.  Every fact necessary to decision of that claim, that
is, negligence, contributory negligence, causation, damages and vicarious liability, were fully
The notice of appeal states that the "Defendants" note the appeal, but the notice is
5
signed by an Associate County Attorney as "Attorney for Defendant Daily."  
- 6 -
litigated in Brent I.  The only issue for trial in Brent II was an issue of defense by way of
immunity, that was not litigated in Brent I.  The court further found that there was sufficient
evidence to sustain the jury's finding and that CJ § 5-507(b)(2), hereinafter discussed, was
inapplicable as an additional basis for immunity.  
From the affirmance by the Court of Special Appeals, Officer Daily, purportedly
joined by Prince George's County, Maryland, petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari. 
That petition essentially raised three questions:
I.
Whether Brent II was barred by res judicata.6
II.
Whether the circuit court erred in denying Officer Daily's
motion for judgment and for judgment N.O.V.7
The petition presented this question in the following terms:
6
"3.
Whether Respondent violated the doctrine of res judicata when after
a jury trial determined Petitioners negligence, contributory negligence,
causation, damages and vicarious liability in motor tort, the lower court
permitted Respondent to maintain a second action against Petitioner Daily for
the sole purpose of litigating a claim that he was not entitled to immunity for
responding to an emergency call in order to collect damages of $180,000
awarded in the first action to satisfy the LGTCA cap of $200,000."
The petition presented this question in the following terms:
7
"4.
Whether a police officer in a marked police cruiser responding as back-
up to an emergency call with emergency equipment activated before entering
a red light intersection but not in the intersection, is not entitled to immunity
as a matter of law pursuant to Md. Code Ann., § 5-639 of the Courts and
Judicial Proceedings Article because he was not the first dispatched officer
and his delayed response to the emergency call before it was cleared during
rush hour was a question for the jury and thus, legally sufficient evidence to
sustain the jury's finding that Petitioner briefly activated his emergency
(continued...)
- 7 -
III.
Whether Officer Daily was entitled to public official immunity
under CJ § 5-507(b)(2).8
I
Brent's claim against Officer Daily is not barred by res judicata, i.e., claim preclusion. 
In determining the dimensions of a claim for applying the principles of claim preclusion,
including the prohibition against splitting a cause of action, this Court has generally
approved of the transactional approach found in § 24 of Restatement (Second) of Judgments
(Restatement).  Kent County Board of Education v. Bilbrough, 309 Md. 487, 499, 525 A.2d
(...continued)
7
equipment simply to pass through an intersection during rush hour traffic?"
The petition presented this question in the following terms:
8
"1.
Whether public officials of local governments within the meaning of
the ... LGTCA, entitled to qualified immunity pursuant to Md. Code Ann., §
5-507(b)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article for discretionary
acts committed without malice as held in Livesay v. Baltimore County, 384
Md. 1[, 862 A.2d 33] (2004), should extend to include public officials of a
charter county, such as Prince George's County, under § 5-507(b)(2), for
purposes of defenses available under § 5-503(d) & (e) of the LGTCA?
"2.
Whether the Legislature intended for public officials of some local
governmental units within the meaning of the LGTCA to have a separate,
lower, cap for damages arising out of the negligent operation of a motor
vehicle because of insurance coverage provided by smaller governmental units
versus larger governmental units?"
- 8 -
232, 238 (1987); Shum v. Gaudreau, 317 Md. 49, 54-55, 562 A.2d 707, 710 (1989).  
9
Clearly, the claim in Brent I and II is the same claim.  It arises out of the same accident and
the same injuries to Brent.  
The oft quoted definition of res judicata by this Court is that found in MPC, Inc. v.
Kenny, 279 Md. 29, 32, 367 A.2d 486, 488-89 (1977):
"the doctrine of res judicata is that a judgment between the same parties and
their privies is a final bar to any other suit upon the same cause of action, and
is conclusive, not only as to all matters that have been decided in the original
suit, but as to all matters which with propriety could have been litigated in the
first suit[.]"
Restatement § 24 reads:
9
"'Dimensions of "Claim" for Purposes of Merger or Bar – General Rule
Concerning "Splitting"'":
"'(1)
When a valid and final judgment rendered in an action extinguishes the
plaintiff's claim pursuant to the rules of merger or bar (see §§ 18, 19), the
claim extinguished includes all rights of the plaintiff to remedies against the
defendant with respect to all or any part of the transaction, or series of
connected transactions, out of which the action arose.
"'(2)
What factual grouping constitutes a "transaction", and what groupings
constitute a "series", are to be determined pragmatically, giving weight to such
considerations as whether the facts are related in time, space, origin, or
motivation, whether they form a convenient trial unit, and whether their
treatment as a unit conforms to the parties' expectations or business
understanding or usage.'"
- 9 -
See also Restatement § 17.   The parties in Brent I and II are different so that the question
10
arises whether master and servant are "privies" for purposes of the res judicata doctrine.  
In lieu of using the term, "privies," the Restatement analyzes that subject under a
topic, "Substantive legal relationships resulting in preclusion."  Section 51 addresses
"Persons Having a Relationship in Which One Is Vicariously Responsible for the Conduct
of the Other."  In relevant part, § 51 reads:
"If two persons have a relationship such that one of them is vicariously
responsible for the conduct of the other, and an action is brought by the
injured person against one of them, the judgment in the action has the
following preclusive effects against the injured person in a subsequent action
against the other.  ... 
"(2)
A judgment in favor of the injured person is conclusive upon
him as to the amount of his damages, unless:
....
"(b)
Different rules govern the measure of damages in the two
actions."
Comment a to Section 51 points out that a plaintiff may sue in one action both the
primary obligor and the person vicariously responsible.  "However, under prevailing
procedural rules the injured person ordinarily is not required to join both and may decide
Section 17, in relevant part, reads:
10
"A valid and final personal judgment is conclusive between the parties ... to
the following extent:
"(1)
If the judgment is in favor of the plaintiff, the claim is extinguished and
merged in the judgment and a new claim may arise on the judgment[.]"
- 10 -
to bring suit in the first instance against only one of them.  If he does so, the rule of this
Section becomes applicable."  (Emphasis added).
Comment b to § 51 sets forth the rationale for the rule.  
"The injured person's claims against the primary obligor and the person
vicariously responsible for his conduct are in important respects separate
claims.  First, neither of the obligors is ordinarily the representative of the
other.   ...  Second, a release of one does not ordinarily release the other.  ...
Third, one of the obligors may be immune from suit while the other is not, and
different statutes of limitations may be applicable to them.  Finally, the claims
are separate in the sense that neither the rule against 'splitting' a claim nor the
usual rules of joinder of parties require that they be maintained in a single
action."
(Emphasis added).
Officer Daily argues that "[b]ecause the judgment in Brent I was ... based on the
negligence of employee Appellant Daily, judgment in Brent I is a final bar to any other suit
upon the same cause of action, and is conclusive, not only as to all matters that have been
decided in the original suit, but as to all matters or any other claim arising from the same
transactions and operative facts that could have been but was [sic] not raised in Brent I."  As
we observed above, Brent II did not involve another claim. It is the same claim as Brent I,
but asserted against another party.  Brent II involved a different defense to the same claim. 
The circuit court concluded that that separate defense was not decided in Brent I.  In a sense,
there has been a splitting of defenses, inasmuch as the County could have raised the
emergency response defense in Brent I.
Officer Daily also makes the following argument:
- 11 -
"As Appellee points out, Maryland Rule 2-211  was intended to assure
11
that Appellant Daily's rights are not adjudicated unless he had his day in court
and to prevent multiplicity of litigation by assuring determination of the entire
controversy in a single proceeding.  ... If Appellee had a claim against
Appellant Daily as to whether he was in emergency service, he was mandated
under well established caselaw to bring that claim, not because Appellants are
advancing a new mandatory joinder rule."
(Emphasis in original).  The Court of Special Appeals has held that, under Maryland law,
as in other jurisdictions, "an employee is not a necessary party to a suit against an employer
on the theory of vicarious liability."  Market Tavern v. Bowen, 92 Md. App. 622, 640-41,
610 A.2d 295, 305, cert. denied, 328 Md. 238, 614 A.2d 84 (1992).  We understand Officer
Daily's argument to be that, although Brent was not required to join him in Brent I, Brent's
decision not to do so has resulted in claim preclusion.  
Our research has disclosed a few cases, reviewed below,  in which a tort plaintiff first
sued only the master or servant, obtained judgment, and then sued the other.  So long as the
claim has not been satisfied, the tort plaintiff is permitted to do so.  Here, the claim has not
been satisfied.  The parties have agreed that, if Brent prevailed on the emergency issue in
Brent II, the damages would be $200,000, less credit for the $20,000 previously paid by the
County.
In Melikian v. Corradetti, 791 F.2d 274 (3d Cir. 1986), the plaintiffs initially sued
a corporation on a fraud claim.  Judgment was rendered for the plaintiffs, but the judgment
was not satisfied because of the corporation's insolvency.  They sought to amend the original
Maryland Rule 2-211 deals with, "Required joinder of parties."
11
- 12 -
complaint to join the principals of the corporation, but the trial court would not permit the
amendment.  Consequently, the plaintiffs sued the principals in a separate action.  That
action was dismissed by the trial court on a number of grounds, including splitting of the
cause of action.  The Third Circuit reversed.  Applying the law of New Jersey in effect when
the cause of action arose, the court held that "'a claim against a person who was not a party
to the initial litigation is ordinarily not precluded from being subsequently litigated even if
it is the same as or transactionally related to the claim which is the subject of the initial
litigation.'"  Id. at 280 (quoting Bates Marketing Assocs., Inc. v. Lloyds Electronics, Inc., 190
N.J. Super. 502, 464 A.2d 1142, 1144 (1983), appeal dismissed, 97 N.J. 703, 483 A.2d 211
(1984)).
An historical review of the issue before us is found in Sherwood v. Huber & Huber
Motor Express Co., 286 Ky. 775, 151 S.W.2d 1007 (1941).  The court began by reviewing
the common law, at which master and servant could not be joined in one action, where the
master's liability was derivative, because the cause of action against the actual tortfeasor lay
in trespass while that against the party derivatively liable lay in case.  The law evolved,
however, to consider that the liability was joint and several.  That is the rule in Maryland. 
Bernheimer-Leader Stores, Inc. v. Burlingame, 152 Md. 284, 136 A. 622 (1927).  The
Kentucky court in Sherwood  next analogized to the law relating to the effect of judgment
against less than all joint tortfeasors.  The court quoted 1 T.M. Cooley, Cooley on Torts §
82, at 259 (4th ed. 1932), where the author said:
- 13 -
"Whatever may have been the reason for proceeding at first against less
than the whole, it is conceded on all sides that a previous suit against one or
more is no bar to a new suit against the others, even though the first suit be
pending, or have proceeded to judgment when the second is brought.  
"The second, or even a subsequent suit may proceed until a stage has
been reached in some one of them at which the plaintiff is deemed in law to
have either received satisfaction, or to have elected to rely upon one
proceeding for his remedy to the abandonment of the others."
Thus, in Sherwood, a passenger in a taxicab, that had collided with a truck, was not
precluded from bringing a second action against the owners of the truck when, although the
plaintiff had obtained judgment against the taxicab company and the driver of the truck, that
judgment was not satisfied.  
Similar reasoning was applied by the court in McFadden v. Turner, 159 N.J. Super.
360, 388 A.2d 244 (1978).  That was a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff
initially sued a hospital.  At a bifurcated trial, the hospital's liability was established.  Those
parties then reached a settlement for $9,500, expressly predicated on the $10,000 limit of
liability that the hospital enjoyed under a New Jersey statute.  That limitation did not extend
to hospital employees, whom the plaintiff next sued.  The defendants moved for summary
judgment "[b]ecause of the identity of this cause of action and that prosecuted in the prior 
suit against the hospital" and because of "the so-called entire controversy doctrine."  Id. at
364, 388 A.2d at 245.  With leave, the defendants appealed from the denial of that motion. 
After pointing out that the release of one joint tortfeasor no longer released all, the court
stated:
- 14 -
"While that departure from the common law was formulated in the context of
multiple acts of negligence committed by concurrent tortfeasors, each of
whom was himself actually rather than merely vicariously liable, we see no
reason why the rule should not apply as well to the single act of negligence for
which both the actual wrongdoer and his master or principal are each
independently liable.  The rationale of the rule is equally apposite whether the
liability is actual or vicarious – namely, that plaintiff is entitled to pursue all
those who are independently liable to him for his harm until one full
satisfaction is obtained."
Id. at 366-67, 388 A.2d at 246-47.  
See also Day v. Davidson, 951 P.2d 378 (Wyo. 1997) (holding that master and
servant are not in privity, but that servant entitled to credit for damages obtained by plaintiffs
on consent judgment against master in earlier suit on same negligence claim); compare New
Crawford Valley Ltd. v. Benedict, 877 P.2d 1363 (Colo. App. 1993) (holding fraud
judgment against corporation no bar to later suit against corporation's directors on same
claim).
New Jersey's experience with the "entire controversy doctrine" furnishes a particularly
compelling reason for rejecting Officer Daily's contention that, because he could have been
sued in Brent I, the claim against him is precluded.  The history of that doctrine is reviewed
in H.M. Erichson, "PAPER SYMPOSIUM: THE DEMISE OF THE ENTIRE
CONTROVERSY DOCTRINE:  Of Horror Stories and Happy Endings:  The Rise and Fall
of Preclusion-Based Compulsory Party Joinder Under the New Jersey Entire Controversy
Doctrine."  9 Seton Hall Const. L.J. 755 (1999).
- 15 -
Professor Erichson states that New Jersey attempted what no other jurisdiction had
tried.  "The experiment was this:  the merger of claim preclusion and compulsory party
joinder."  Id. at 758.  He explained:
"Outside of New Jersey, claim preclusion applies to claims that could have
been brought, but does not extend to additional parties who could have been
joined.  Outside of New Jersey, compulsory party joinder is enforced by
ordering joinder or by dismissing if joinder is impossible, not by precluding
later claims against the unjoined party.  Within New Jersey, while the
experiment was underway, mandatory party joinder was enforced by imposing
claim preclusion on litigants who failed to join a party in an earlier
proceeding."
Id. at 759 (footnotes omitted).
The problems with the doctrine were:  "First, it forces litigants to assert claims that
otherwise would not have been asserted.  Second, it creates excessive ancillary litigation
concerning application of the doctrine."  Id. at 769-70.  
Professor Erichson considered that the New Jersey Supreme Court "plunged into its
party joinder experiment in 1989" in Cogdell v. Hospital Center at Orange, 116 N.J. 7, 560
A.2d 1169 (1989).  He described the result: 
"As the New Jersey courts enforced the new party joinder mandate, the
rule drew an unenthusiastic response.  Judges and rulemakers, concerned
about the implications of the rule on various types of cases, began to carve out
exceptions to the doctrine.  In 1994, the gripes of bench and bar coalesced in
a recommendation by the New Jersey Supreme Court's Civil Practice
Committee that the Supreme Court overrule Cogdell and abandon the entire
controversy doctrine mandatory party joinder rule.  The Committee's
recommendation went unheeded."
9 Seton Hall Const. L.J. at 762 (footnotes omitted).
- 16 -
The turning point, the author tells us, arrived in 1997 in Olds v. Donnelly, 150 N.J.
424, 696 A.2d 633 (1997), where the New Jersey Supreme Court acknowledged that the
doctrine "had not worked out as the court had expected," and it requested its Civil Practice
Committee to reexamine the entire controversy.   9 Seton Hall Const. L.J. at 768.
For these reasons, we decline to hold that Brent's unsatisfied claim from Brent I
precluded its assertion in Brent II simply because Officer Daily had not been joined in Brent
I.12
II
Officer Daily contends that his motion for judgment at the close of the plaintiff's case,
that was renewed in his motion for judgment n.o.v., was erroneously denied.   In reviewing
13
the denial of a motion for judgment n.o.v., we assume the truth of all credible evidence and
inferences therefrom, which we consider in the light most favorable to the party against
whom the motion was made.  Impala Platinum v. Impala Sales, 283 Md. 296, 389 A.2d 887
(1978).  The Court of Special Appeals in Brent II fully reviewed the evidence and found that
Officer Daily also argues issue preclusion in his brief, apparently contending that
12
the emergency response issue was implicitly adjudicated in Brent I.  Issue preclusion is not
before us because it was not raised in the certiorari petition.  See n.6.  Even if the issue were
implicitly raised by the question presenting res judicata, the verdict sheet from Brent I
contradicts the assertion. 
Officer Daily also alleges error in the denial of his pretrial motion for summary
13
judgment.  That issue is not before us because it was not included in the certiorari petition.
See n.7.  In any event, if reviewable, we would find no abuse of discretion in the denial.  See
Metropolitan Mtg. Fund v. Basiliko, 288 Md. 25, 415 A.2d 582 (1980); Johns Hopkins
University v. Ritter, 114 Md. App. 77, 689 A.2d 91 (1996), cert. denied, 346 Md. 28, 694
A.2d 950 (1997).
- 17 -
it was legally sufficient.  Prince George's County v. Brent, 185 Md. App. at 49-52,  968
A.2d at 635-36.  We agree with that analysis, which we shall briefly review.
The accident occurred at 4:48 p.m. on December 10, 2002, in the area where Branch
Avenue (Md. Route 5) and Allentown Road (Md. Route 337) interchange.  Branch Avenue,
which we shall consider runs north and south, overpasses Allentown Road, which we shall
consider runs east and west.  The interface is a "diamond" interchange, and not a cloverleaf. 
We are concerned with two traffic signals, one of which controlled eastbound traffic on
Allentown Road and was located west of the west parapet of Branch Avenue (intersection
one).  The other signal controlled traffic from the ramp for traffic that had been northbound
on Branch Avenue and that intended to proceed westbound on Allentown Road (intersection
two).  The collision occurred as Brent, on a green light, was making a lefthand turn from the
ramp at intersection two and was proceeding across the eastbound lanes of Allentown Road
to the westbound lanes.  Officer Daily, proceeding eastbound on Allentown Road, after
having had gone through a red traffic signal at intersection one, struck Brent's vehicle while
both were under the overpass.  
From the testimony of a driver and passenger in a vehicle stopped for the red light at
intersection one, in the middle lane for eastbound traffic on Allentown Road, the jury could
find that Officer Daily approached those witnesses from the rear without siren or flashing
lights activated.  He activated those signals because standing cars in three lanes of traffic
blocked his progress.  By sounding his cruiser's air horn, he caused the car to the right of the
- 18 -
witnesses to move to the side, and he then turned off the various signals after he proceeded
through the red light at intersection one to the collision with Brent at intersection two.
In this Court, Officer Daily argues that "[t]he lower court's decision to permit the jury
to consider evidence of Appellant Daily's failure to display lights or audible sounds was
legally flawed because the law does not require it nor is it dispositive of immunity."  He cites
Taylor v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 314 Md. 125, 549 A.2d 749 (1998), and
Sullivan v. Costanza, 258 Md. 672, 267 A.2d 87 (1970).  These cases hold that the failure
to use signals merely strips an authorized vehicle of its privilege to proceed without regard
to speed regulations, traffic devices, and other rules of the road, but that, despite such
failure, the vehicle remains an emergency vehicle "during an emergency."  Taylor, 314 Md.
at 129, 549 A.2d at 751.
Officer Daily's argument fails to recognize that "a driver's immunity is predicated on
1) the performance of 'emergency service' and 2) the use of an 'emergency vehicle.'"  Id. at
127, 549 A.2d at 750.  The argument further fails to recognize that, in this case, there was
a disputed issue whether Officer Daily was, in fact, in emergency service.  The relevance of
Officer Daily's having approached intersection one without signaling devices activated, and
his having deactivated the signaling devices, once he had cleared the obstructing vehicles
at the red light at intersection one, tended to prove that he was not, in fact, in emergency
service.
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Officer Daily testified that he was responding to a priority call that he had received
when he was in the area of Allentown Road and Temple Hills Road, about two miles from
the scene of the accident with Brent. Officer Daily said that, if he were operating with
flashing lights and sirens, that trip would take approximately ten to fifteen minutes in rush
hour traffic at that time of day.  The priority call to which he was responding, he said, was
to check a report of a person with a weapon.  
On the other hand, Brent introduced the County Police Department's CAD record
(computer aid dispatch report) for that dispatch.  It reflected that the responding officer was
not Officer Daily.  The responding officer  had been dispatched at 4:00 p.m., and he was on
the scene of the possible gun wielder by 4:20 p.m.  The report reflected that there had not
been any assisting units.  Thus, under Officer Daily's evidence, it took him forty-eight
minutes after the time of the dispatch to travel to the point of the collision, although that trip,
with emergency signals activated, ordinarily would take as little as ten minutes.  Further, the
County's CAD record reflected that there were no units assisting the responding officer on
the call.
Brent argued to the jury that Officer Daily's justification for emergency service was
a post-collision afterthought.  The circuit court did not err in allowing the jury to resolve this
factual conflict.
- 20 -
III
Officer Daily's remaining contention is that he was entitled, as a matter of law, to the
immunity provided by CJ § 5-507(b)(2).  The relevant portions of § 5-507 read:
"(b)
Nonliability of officials generally; torts involving motor
vehicles. – (1) An official of a municipal corporation, while acting in a
discretionary capacity, without malice, and within the scope of the official's
employment or authority shall be immune as an official or individual from any
civil liability for the performance of the action.
"(2)
An official of a municipal corporation is not immune
from liability for negligence or any other tort arising from the operation of a
motor vehicle except as to any claim of damages in excess of the limits of any
applicable policy of motor vehicle liability insurance."
Officer Daily's submission is that he is a public official and that the County is a
"municipal corporation" within the intendment of § 5-507(b)(2).  Thus, the damages against
him are limited to $20,000, the undisputed limit under the certificate of self-insurance
carried by the County.  
This submission rests on Livesay v. Baltimore County, 384 Md. 1, 862 A.2d 33
(2004).  Livesay was confined in the Baltimore County jail where he attempted suicide.  He
sued Baltimore County and a number of individuals, claiming negligence in their response
to his attempt.  For our purposes, the relevant individual defendant was the Corrections
Officer who was the first responder to the occurrence.  That defendant asserted public
official immunity under § 5-507(b)(1).  In that connection, this Court said:
"We have held that the purpose of § 5-507(b)(1) 'was to codify existing
public official immunity, and not to extend the scope of qualified immunity
beyond its Maryland common law boundaries.'  Lovelace v. Anderson, 366
- 21 -
Md. 690, 704, 785 A.2d 726, 734 (2001) (quoting Ashton v. Brown, 339 Md.
70, 116 n.23, 660 A.2d 447, 470 n.23 (1995)).  As discussed infra, officials
of Maryland counties enjoy common law public official immunity.  Section 
5-507(b)(1) codified the common law, and while it did not extend the scope
of the common law, it did not limit it either.  Under the common law, county
public officials enjoy immunity; accordingly, despite the seemingly narrower
drafting, § 5-507(b)(1) applies to county as well as municipal officials.  As
appellees point out, a contrary holding would produce the absurd result that
when city and county police respond to the same emergency, the former enjoy
immunity but the latter do not.  We do not believe the Legislature intended
this result.
"Because we hold that § 5-507(b)(1) merely codified Maryland
common law public official immunity, and because the case law on common
law public official immunity is more developed, we shall analyze Fore's
situation in that context."
Id. at 12, 862 A.2d at 39.  Applying common law public official immunity principles, this
Court held that the Corrections Officer was a public official who, during the occurrence, was
exercising public official discretion.  This Court did not, in the opinion, review the
legislative history of § 5-507.  
Officer Daily points to the use of the term, "municipal corporation," in sub-
subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2).  Under ordinary rules of statutory construction, the same
meaning should be applied to the common term in the two sections.  Consequently, just as
Baltimore County was a "municipal corporation" under (b)(1), so Prince George's County
should be a municipal corporation under (b)(2).
The Court of Special Appeals in Brent II did not accept the above analysis.  It said
that this Court did not "decide that § 5-507(b)(1) applied directly to [Livesay], but instead
- 22 -
analyzed the case under principles of common law public immunity."  Brent II, 185 Md.
App. at 54, 968 A.2d at 638.  Nor did this Court's Livesay deal with § 5-507(b)(2). 
The Court of Special Appeals in Brent II relied upon its opinion in Houghton v.
Forrest, 183 Md. App. 15, 959 A.2d 816 (2008), aff'd in part and vacated in part, 412 Md.
578, 989 A.2d 223 (2010).  Forrest had been arrested by Houghton, a Baltimore City police
officer.  Forrest sued, claiming intentional and constitutional torts.  Officer Houghton did
not prevail in the circuit court on immunity grounds, but the basis of the trial court's ruling
was not clear.  Thus, the Court of Special Appeals undertook an analysis of the possible
bases for immunity.  It quickly concluded that common law public official immunity was not
available, because the plaintiff claimed intentional and constitutional torts.  Id. at 33-34, 959
A.2d at 827.  Nor was CJ § 5-507 applicable, because "[m]unicipal corporations are cities,
towns, and villages created under any general or special State law and are subject to Article
XI-E of the Maryland Constitution."  Id. at 34, 959 A.2d at 827. Further, because the
Baltimore City police department is a State agency, Officer Houghton was not a municipal
official.  Id.
Turning to CJ § 5-511, an immunity statute employing the term, "governmental
entity," the Court of Special Appeals reviewed in depth the legislative history of that
- 23 -
section.   As part of that legislative history review, the court reviewed, in depth for
14
comparison purposes, the legislative history of § 5-507.  The court, in Houghton, concluded:
"Lastly, all of the documents in § 5-507's bill file mention the concept
of immunity in connection with municipal corporation officials only.  The
above information suggests that § 5-507 did not codify common law public
official immunity as a whole.  Rather, § 5-507 extended immunity to
municipal corporation officials.  Therefore, § 5-511's use of § 5-507's
language does not indicate that the General Assembly intended to extend
public official immunity to all governmental public officials when enacting
§ 5-511."
Id. at 39, 959 A.2d at 830.  The court did not refer to the above-quoted portion of this
Court's Livesay.
CJ § 5-511 reads:
14
"(a)
Definitions. – (1) In this section the following words have the
meanings indicated.
"(2)
'Governmental entity' has the meaning stated in Article
26, § 1 of the Code.
"(3)
'Official of a governmental entity' has the meaning stated
in Article 26, § 1 of the Code.
"(b)
Immunity generally. – Subject to subsection (c) of this section,
an official of a governmental entity, while acting in a discretionary capacity,
without malice, and within the scope of the official's authority is immune as
an official or individual from civil liability for any act or omission.
"(c)
Torts arising from operation of motor vehicles. – An official of
a governmental entity is not immune from liability for negligence or any other
tort arising from the operation of a motor vehicle except as to any claim for
damages in excess of the limits of any applicable policy of motor vehicle
liability insurance."
- 24 -
The Court of Special Appeals in Brent II was persuaded by the legislative history of
§ 5-507, as  reviewed in Houghton.  It held that the "governmental entity" intended in § 5-
511 did not include Prince George's County.
Thus, there is a difference of opinion, perhaps in dicta, and perhaps not, between this
Court's approach to the meaning of "municipal corporation," in § 5-507(b)(1) and that of the
Court of Special Appeals in its Houghton and in its Brent II.  Certiorari was granted in
Houghton, and it was decided February 19, 2010.  Houghton v. Forrest, 412 Md. 578, 989
A.2d 223.  The opinion does not resolve or address the conflict.15
Nor need we, in this case, decide whether Livesay should be reconsidered or the
Court of Special Appeals' language in Houghton should be disapproved.  This is because the
facts of the matter before us do not require that we determine the scope of the term
"municipal corporation" in § 5-507(b)(1) or (2).  
Sub-subsection (b)(1) confers immunity, and sub-subsection (b)(2) withdraws that
same immunity, but only to the extent of automobile insurance coverage.  The immunity
contemplated in both subsections is common law public official immunity.  See Livesay, 384
Md. at 12, 862 A.2d at 39 (stating that the purpose of § 5-507(b)(1) "'was to codify existing
public official immunity,'" not to extend its scope); Houghton, 183 Md. App. at 38, 959
A.2d at 830 (stating that § 5-507, without distinguishing between subsections, "did not
This Court's Houghton affirmed the Court of Special Appeals' holding that common
15
law public official immunity does not apply to intentional torts.  
- 25 -
codify common law public official immunity as a whole," but extended it to municipal
corporation officials).  To the extent that immunity operates above the limits of automobile
insurance under § 5-507(b)(2), it is common law public official immunity in statutory form. 
"Common law public official immunity is reserved for public officials (as opposed
to mere employees) who perform negligent acts during the course of their discretionary (as
opposed to ministerial) duties."  Houghton, 412 Md. at 585, 989 A.2d at 227; Livesay, 384
Md. at 12, 862 A.2d at 39; Lovelace v. Anderson, 366 Md. 690, 714, 785 A.2d 726, 739
(2001); Williams v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 359 Md. 101, 137, 753 A.2d 41,
61 (2000); James v. Prince George's County, 288 Md. 315, 323, 418 A.2d 1173, 1178
(1980).
James v. Prince George's County, supra, addressed whether the driving of a County 
ambulance "in response to a call for assistance," 288 Md. at 318, 418 A.2d at 1175,
constituted discretionary activity so as to satisfy one of the elements required for common
law public official immunity.  This Court said:
"The driving of an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or fire truck
requires, as does the driving of any automobile, that a number of decisions be
made with regard to the manner of operation.  Such decisions, however,
involve to minimal degree, if at all, the exercise of discretion with regard to
the State's sovereignty.  While State law grants certain privileges to the
operators of these vehicles when using audible and visual signals, it 'does not
relieve the driver of an emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due
regard for the safety of all persons.'  In light of this section, there is minimal
discretion on the part of a fire truck driver as to how he drives; but even if this
statute did not exist, we would nevertheless hold that ordinarily the operation
of a vehicle by any one, including a 'public official,' is a mere ministerial act."
- 26 -
Id. at 327-28, 418 A.2d at 1180 (citations and footnote omitted).  See also Boyer v. State,
323 Md. 558, 577, 594 A.2d 121, 130  (1991); Ashburn v. Anne Arundel County, 306 Md.
617, 623-24, 510 A.2d 1078, 1081 (1986); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 895D, cmt. (h) 
(1979) (driving vehicles by public officials is ordinarily ministerial).
In the instant matter, where the jury found that Officer Daily was not acting in
emergency service when the collision with Brent occurred, his argument for common law
public official immunity, via CJ § 5-507(b)(2), loses all force.  
For the foregoing reasons, we shall affirm.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF
SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED.  
COSTS TO BE PAID BY THE
PETITIONER.
Judge Murphy joins in the judgment only.