Case Name: Jasper BUFORD v. RIVERBOAT CORPORATION OF MISSISSIPPI-VICKSBURG d/b/a Isle of Capri Casino
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2000-02-24
Citations: 756 So. 2d 765
Docket Number: No. 98-CA-00763-SCT
Parties: Jasper BUFORD v. RIVERBOAT CORPORATION OF MISSISSIPPI-VICKSBURG d/b/a Isle of Capri Casino.
Judges: PRATHER, C. J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P. JJ., AND BANKS, J., CONCUR. SMITH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY MILLS AND COBB, JJ. WALLER, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 756
Pages: 765–777

Head Matter:
Jasper BUFORD v. RIVERBOAT CORPORATION OF MISSISSIPPI-VICKSBURG d/b/a Isle of Capri Casino.
No. 98-CA-00763-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Feb. 24, 2000.
Rehearing Denied May 25, 2000.
Bill Waller, Sr., Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.
Leland S. Smith, III, Christopher Hal Hughes, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellees.

Opinion:
McRAE, Justice,
for the Court:
¶ 1. This case involves a slip and fall in a casino parking lot. Finding error in the introduction of expert testimony without proper foundation, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
I.
¶ 2. Sixty-three year old Jasper Buford was on his way to partake of the $1 breakfast special at the Isle of Capri Casino in Vicksburg on August 2, 1996, when he slipped and fell in one of the casino parking lot crosswalks. It had rained that day, and Buford contended that the painted surface was slick from a buildup of oil. Buford's complaint was filed in the Warren County Circuit Court on February 9, 1997, against Riverboat Corporation of Mississippi-Vicksburg, d/b/a Isle of Capri Casino (the Casino) and alleged that the Casino "failed to construct and maintain a reasonably safe walkway for the use of invited guests".
¶ 3. As an immediate consequence of his fall, Buford suffered a mere ankle sprain. However, the subsequent immobilization of Buford's ankle resulted in a huge blood clot forming through Buford's leg and extending into his abdomen. At one point, Buford suffered a pulmonary embolism when part of the clot broke off and traveled through his lungs. Buford's sprain, in the end, became a greatly debilitating injury resulting in some $82,000 in medical bills. Nonetheless, the trial was less about whether Buford's treatment was reasonable and more about whether the Casino was negligent and, thus, liable for Buford's injuries.
¶ 4. At trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defendant, judgment was entered accordingly, and Buford appeals claiming the following: 1) that the trial court erred in allowing evidence concerning experiments made by the Casino's expert, 2) the trial court erred in allowing "no-falls" testimony and 3) that the trial court gave several allegedly erroneous instructions. We find error in the evidentiary issues raised by Buford.
II.
¶ 5. The first issue raised by Buford is that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of the Casino's, George Monroe Hammitt, II, concerning experiments he conducted some time well after Buford's fall and after the surface had been repainted. Hammitt, a professor of civil engineering at Louisiana State University, was accepted by the court as an expert in civil engineering. He inspected the crosswalk and observed that it was treated with a drag and broom finish as required by the specifications. Hammitt went back to the parking lot on another day and performed tests designed to measure the coefficient of friction. The coefficient of friction, Hammitt explained, is a term designed to describe the relationship between the vertical force and the horizontal force. It can also be described as a measurement of traction or how slippery something is. Hammitt took a shoe, placed a weight in the shoe, and then dragged the shoe across the pavement while weighing the horizontal pull with a device used to weigh fish. By dividing the vertical force into the horizontal force, he arrived at a coefficient of above .45. A measurement of 0 is slippery, and 1.0 is not slippery. The National Academy of Science requires only .37 for rubber on concrete. The fact that the surface had been painted after the fall and before Hammitt conducted his tests, Ham-mitt testified, meant that the surface was even less slippery before since paint tends to fill in the little valleys in the surface. Hammitt testified that he also tested the surface wet and even then it was above .37.
III.
¶ 6. The admission of experimental evidence is within the discretion of the trial judge. Jackson v. State, 551 So.2d 132, 139 (Miss.1989); Hines v. State, 339 So.2d 56, 57 (Miss.1976). In Illinois Cent. Gulf R. Co. v. Ishee, 317 So.2d 923 (Miss.1975), the Court held that for an experiment purporting to reconstruct an event to be admissible, it is not required that all conditions be precisely reproduced but they must be so nearly the same in substantial particulars as to afford fair comparison in respect to particular issue to which test is directed. In Ishee, the plaintiff, who was lying on railroad tracks, was struck by a train. At issue was whether the conductor could have seen the plaintiff in time to stop the train. A witness for the plaintiff was permitted to testify that an experiment conducted some months after the accident revealed that a person on the track could be seen from 955 feet. This Court held that the admission of the experiment was error because testimony showed that the area where the plaintiff had been found was cleared right after the accident.
¶ 7. In Pittman v. Mississippi Power & Light Co., 368 So.2d 238 (Miss.1979), the plaintiffs husband was killed when he was struck by a utility pole which broke when the decedent's tractor came in contact with a guy wire. The utility showed the jury a film of a tractor applying force to a guy wire of a pole and breaking the pole. On appeal, we reversed because there were a number of material variations between the actual event and the reconstructed event depicted in the film. Pittman, 368 So.2d at 240.
¶ 8. We face essentially the same problem here where Hammitt's testing was done after the surface was repainted. Ameliorating the testimony is the fact that the jury was informed that the surface was repainted prior to Hammitt's testing. Hammitt even testified that the repainting would make the surface more slippery since the paint would tend to fill in "the little hills and valleys" in the concrete. Thus,' Hammitt concluded, the surface would have been less slippery prior to its being repainted. Nonetheless, Hammitt admitted that if the condition of the parking lot was significantly different when Buford fell, Hammitt's tests would not be accurate. The jury, having been informed of the repainting, could certainly take this into consideration in weighing Hammitt's testimony.
¶ 9. The usefulness of Hammitt's testimony, however, was debatable given the fact that the surface had been repainted and there was no testimony establishing that the repainting was done with the same paint as had been originally applied. The problem with Hammitt's testimony is that it appears to be premised on the belief that the stripes were repainted with the same paint, or type of paint, with which they had been painted previously. And they may well have been but the record is entirely unclear on this point. Buford's proposed witness James Wyatt might have testified that the paint was the same but no one ever called him to the stand. Because the Casino was the proponent of Hammitt's testimony, the Casino had a duty to lay the proper foundation for the tests. Had the Casino offered evidence, through Hammitt, Wyatt, or whomever, that the paint was the same as that which had been on the concrete when Buford fell and that in July of 1997, Wyatt had added one (or two or however many) coats of the same paint, Hammitt's testimony would have had some value. Without this foundation, Hammitt's testing was meaningless.
¶ 10. In Duke v. American Olean Tile Co., 155 Mich.App. 555, 400 N.W.2d 677 (1986), the plaintiff fell on tile in a fast food restaurant. Plaintiff presented evidence from an expert that the floor had a coefficient of friction of .82 when wet. The expert used a drag-type meter and the plaintiffs shoes in conducting the tests. The defense objected to the introduction of this testimony because the tests were conducted five months after the plaintiffs fall and there was no evidence that the floor was in the same condition as the day on which plaintiff fell. The trial court allowed the testimony stating "there has been no testimony that [the floor] was any different. Now if you are going to introduce some testimony that there was some change in it, I will entertain your motion, but I would like to know what that change is." Duke, 400 N.W.2d at 680. On appeal, the court reversed, and stated:
The trial court's ruling was erroneous because the issue was not whether testimony was presented tending to show that the conditions changed, but whether there was testimony tending to establish a substantial similarity of conditions. The trial court's decision effectively shifted the burden of proof on this factual issue to defendant. The burden, however, is on the party presenting the evidence to satisfy the court that the necessary similar conditions exist.
Duke, 400 N.W.2d at 680.
¶ 11. Because the Casino failed to lay a proper foundation that the conditions of the crosswalk were substantially similar to what they were on the day that Buford fell, the trial court should have sustained Buford's objection to this evidence. The failure to do so was reversible error.
IV.
¶ 12. The second issue raised by Buford is that the trial court erred when it allowed the defense to present testimony that there had been no other falls in the parking lot. Again, we find that this testimony was erroneous given the lack of foundation.
¶ 13. Fred Nolan Brown testified that he had worked for the Isle of Capri as a bus driver. He was asked whether he had ever seen anyone fall in the parking lot. He replied that he had never seen anyone fall in the parking lot but that he had seen them fall in other places.
¶ 14. The Casino's expert, George Ham-mitt, was asked whether he had found out whether there had been any other falls on the parking lot. Despite the fact that trial court sustained Buford's objection to Ham-mitt's testifying as to what he was told, the Casino's attorney "asked" Hammitt "if I understood what you just said, you learned that there had been no other reported falls.... " Buford's objection was again sustained.
¶ 15. David Brooks, the security guard, was asked whether in his four years at the casino he was aware of any other falls in the parking lot. Over plaintiffs objection, Brooks was permitted to testify that he knew of none.
¶ 16. Rose Wilson, the risk manager for Isle of Capri, testified that several thou sand people visit the Casino daily. She received no reports of falls other than Buford's on August 2,1996.
¶ 17. Buford argues that it was error for the trial court to allow the Casino to adduce testimony that no one had ever fallen in the parking lot before. Parmes v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R.R., 440 So.2d 261, 265 (Miss.1983)(evidence of prior accidents is not admissible to show negligence per se). "In order for the 'no falls' evidence to be admissible," Buford argues, "it would have to be presented by witnesses who could testify that they crossed this crosswalk under the same circumstances as to weather, surface material, and paint and did not fall."
¶ 18. The Casino argues that the admission of this evidence was within the discretion of the trial judge. Furthermore, this Court held long ago that it was error to prohibit a defendant from offering evidence that no other accident had occurred in the place where the plaintiff was injured. Southern Ry. v. McLellan, 80 Miss. 700, 709, 32 So. 283, 284 (1902). The Casino also cites McCoemiCK on EvidenCE § 200, at 476 (2d ed.1972) for the proposition that evidence of the absence of accidents is admissible: "It would seem that if other accidents and injuries are admissible where circumstances are similar . then logically it would follow that proof of accidents during a period of similar exposure and experience would generally be receivable to show the nonexistence of these facts."
¶ 19. Ironically, prior to trial, the Casino asked the court to prohibit Buford's witnesses from testifying that they had seen people fall in the parking lot prior to Buford's fall. After hearing argument, the trial court ruled that the witnesses could testify concerning prior falls only where those falls took place under similar circumstances, i.e., rainy weather.
¶ 20. Judges asked to admit evidence of other similar accidents will scrutinize the evidence carefully "[i]n light of the prejudice that such evidence can carry with it." McCormick on Evidence, § 200, at 587 (3d ed.1984). "The purpose for the evidence is important in determining whether the proof will be admitted and how strictly the requirement of similarity of conditions will be applied." Id. (footnotes omitted).
¶21. As for evidence of a lack of accidents, despite the tendency of many courts to exclude such evidence,
[a] large number of cases recognize that lack of other accidents may be admissible to show (1) absence of the defect or condition allege, (2) the lack of a causal relationship between the injury and the defect or condition charged, (3) the nonexistence of an unduly dangerous situation, or (4) want of knowledge (or of grounds to realize) the danger.
Id. at 591-92 (footnotes omitted).
¶ 22. In Lawler v. Skelton, 241 Miss. 274, 130 So.2d 565 (1961), plaintiff sued for injuries suffered after having been sprayed with pesticides by a crop duster. The defendant introduced the testimony of a county extension agent and several farmers that they had seen people sprayed with similar pesticides and had never seen anyone injured. On appeal, the Court held that the introduction of this testimony was not error. "[Tjhere was shown a sufficient similarity of circumstances and conditions to warrant the admission of this evidence, for whatever probative value it might have on the issue of whether the spraying of plaintiff was a proximate cause of his acute illness." Lawler, 241 Miss. at 287, 130 So.2d at 569.
¶ 23. In Pippin v. Ranch House S., Inc., 366 A.2d 1180 (Del.1976), the plaintiff brought suit against a restaurant after she fell on the sidewalk just outside the restaurant's front door. At the point where plaintiff fell, the sidewalk contained a single step painted yellow to make the step more conspicuous. Plaintiff contended that the restaurant should have installed a handrail. The managing owner of the restaurant was permitted to testify that, as far he knew, no one had ever fallen on the step in the fourteen months the restaurant had been open. In considering the admissibility of this evidence on appeal, the court held that, in general, this type of evidence is "probative, and therefore admissible, provided a proper foundation is laid." Pippin, 366 A.2d at 1182. However, the Pippin court reversed the case on the grounds that the defendant "failed to establish that the physical conditions, during the use to which he testified, were reasonably comparable to the circumstances when plaintiff fell."
[A] party who wishes to offer evidence as to the absence of other accidents must show that, during the period in question, the physical circumstances pri- or to the accident were reasonably comparable to those in issue. Additionally, it must be shown that the person offering the testimony is one who would, in the ordinary course of events, have personal knowledge of the condition or that he is the person to whom reports as to accidents would ordinarily be made.
Pippin, 366 A.2d at 1183. However, the court opined, "[r]arely will a defendant be able to produce evidence that the place in question was under such continuing scrutiny that personal knowledge of its condition throughout the time period can be shown." Pippin, 366 A.2d at 1183.
¶ 24. If there was any error in admitting the "no falls" evidence in the instant case, again, that error lies in the lack of an adequate foundation. Wilson's testimony that there were no other falls reported that same day would seem to withstand the test of sufficient similarity. Even then, however, if the area was cleaned up right after Buford's fall, the absence of falls the rest of the day would not be probative. The other testimony, however, was questionable. Evidence along the lines of "I worked there for four years and never saw anyone fall" without more is the sort of reckless testimony that can mislead the jury.
¶ 25. Because we reverse this case based on the lack of foundation for Hammitt's testimony, we do not have to decide whether the "no falls" evidence also mandates reversal. Nonetheless, parties who propose to introduce such evidence in future should be mindful that the proponent of the evidence has the burden of laying the proper foundation for the evidence.
V.
¶ 26. Since this case is to be remanded for trial, we stress that the use of unavoidable accident instruction should be used with caution, as in this case, the evidence presented was one of negligence and not an unavoidable accident.
Instruction D-5 is as follows:
The Court instructs the jury that in the course of human events and the progress of civilization, unavoidable accidents occur, and it is recognized by law that unavoidable accidents do indeed occur and as a result of which people are injured when there is no negligence, and in this case, if the jury believes from a preponderance of the evidence that the accident in question and the resulting injuries, if any, were the result of an unavoidable accident and not of negligence on the part of defendant, Isle of Capri, then it is your sworn duty to return a verdict for the defendant.
¶ 27. Buford argues that the instruction was error because "[tjhere is no circumstance by which this accident could be unavoidable, it was clearly caused by the negligence by either the Plaintiff or the Defendant. Furthermore, Buford argues, this Court has previously cautioned against the use of the word "accident" in negligence cases." J.M. Griffin & Sons, Inc. v. Newton Butane Gas & Oil Co., 210 Miss. 797, 809, 50 So.2d 370 (1951).
¶ 28. The Casino argues that the instruction given in this case was "the mirror image" of an instruction approved in Shields v. Easterling, 676 So.2d 293, 296 (Miss.1996).
¶ 29. Prosser has defined an unavoidable accident "as an occurrence which was not intended, and, which, under all the circumstances, could not have been foreseen or prevented by the exercise of reasonable precautions." William L. Prosser, The Law of Torts § 29 at 140 (4th Ed. 1971) (footnote omitted).
¶ 30. According to Prosser,
No accident, of course, is entirely inevitable, so long as its results from any involuntary act. If the defendant rides a horse, which runs away with him and injures the plaintiff, the accident is not strictly inevitable, since the defendant intentionally rode the horse, and might have prevented all harm by keeping him in the barn. But the runaway is called 'unavoidable' if it did not result from any lack of proper care in the management of the horse, because both wrongful intent and negligence are lacking. There is no liability in such a case . (Such a rule is) adopted because the line must be drawn somewhere, and if the defendant is to be held liable merely because he has ridden the horse . it would be quite as logical, at least in the eyes of the law, to hold him liable for owning it, or even for drawing his breath, or being born. To hold that he does every voluntary act at his peril, and must insure others against all of the consequences that may occur, would be entirely unreasonable and quite intolerable burden upon all human activity.
Id. at 140 41 (footnotes omitted).
¶ 31. The Casino is correct in that this Court only recently held that an unavoidable accident instruction was not erroneous in a case concerning a one-vehicle accident. Shields v. Easterling, 676 So.2d 293, 298 (Miss.1996). However, we note the growing criticism of the unavoidable accident instruction in negligence cases.
¶ 32. The courts which still allow the instruction confine its use to situations where the accident may truly be said to be unavoidable as in Hollingsworth v. Thomas, 148 Ga.App. 38, 250 S.E.2d 791 (1978), in which a milk maid lost the vision in one eye after being struck by the tail of the cow she was milking.
¶ 33. As can be seen from this example, the case where the unavoidable accident instruction has any utility is a rare one. Trial courts employ this instruction with caution. In this case there was no evidence to support this instruction.
VI.
¶ 34. Because the evidence concerning Hammitt's experiments lacked a proper foundation, we reverse the judgment of the Warren County Circuit Court and remand this case for a new trial consistent with this opinion.
¶ 35. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PRATHER, C. J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P. JJ., AND BANKS, J., CONCUR. SMITH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY MILLS AND COBB, JJ. WALLER, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
. At one point, plaintiff's counsel told the judge, "they went out and put more paint on the crosswalks...."
. Ironically, it was Buford who indicated that he might wish to call (as a rebuttal witness) the man who actually repainted the parking lot, James Wyatt. The Casino objected to the testimony on the basis that Wyatt's name had been disclosed to them only a week prior to trial. The trial court postponed ruling on the witness until such time as Buford made a decision on whether to call him. Buford never did call Wyatt as a witness.
. Alaska Brick Co. v. McCoy, 400 P.2d 454 (Alaska 1965); City of Phoenix v. Camfield, 97 Ariz. 316, 400 P.2d 115 (1965); Butigan v. Yellow Cab Co., 49 Cal.2d 652, 320 P.2d 500 (1958); Schoen v. Boulder Stage Lines, Inc., 159 Colo. 531, 412 P.2d 905 (1966); Sadorus v. Wood, 230 A.2d 478 (D.C.1967); Smith v. Canevary, 553 So.2d 1312 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1989); Tolbert v. Duckworth, 262 Ga. 622, 423 S.E.2d 229 (1992); Schaub v. Linchan, 92 Idaho 332, 442 P.2d 742 (1968); Miller v. Alvey, 246 Ind. 560, 207 N.E.2d 633 (1965); Weinand v. Johnson, 622 N.E.2d 1321 (Ind.Ct. App.1993); Koll v. Manatt's Transp. Co., 253 N.W.2d 265 (Iowa 1977); Wooten v. Legate, 519 S.W.2d 385 (Ky.1974); George v. Guerette, 306 A.2d 138 (Me.1973); Graham v. Rolandson, 150 Mont. 270, 435 P.2d 263 (1967); Dyer v. Herb Prout & Co., 126 N.H. 763, 498 A.2d 715 (1985); Vespe v. DiMarco, 43 N.J. 430, 204 A.2d 874 (1964); Fenton v. Aleshire, 238 Or. 24, 393 P.2d 217 (1964); Hukill v. H.E.B. Food Stores Inc., 756 S.W.2d 840 843-44 (Tex.App.1988); Randle v. Allen, 862 P.2d 1329 (Utah 1993); Hunter v. Johnson, 178 W.Va. 383, 359 S.E.2d 611 (1987).