Opinion ID: 456339
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Evidence and the Directed Verdict

Text: 4 Viola Collas testified that she was a passenger in an automobile operated by her husband, Raymond, which was traveling northbound on Interstate 95 in front of the Sokolowskis' vehicle. She observed the car driven by Josephine Gagnon from about one-half mile away approaching at a high rate of speed and weaving in and out of traffic. She then saw the Gagnon car veer to the right side of a tractor trailer where she lost sight of it momentarily. Immediately afterwards, she saw the car reappear in front of the tractor trailer, cross the median and strike the Sokolowskis' vehicle. Mrs. Collas said that she did not see the tractor trailer change lanes. 5 Taliaferro testified that he was driving southbound in a tractor trailer owned by Smithfield Packing Company and was in the far right hand lane. Approximately one half mile north of the accident scene, an entrance ramp merged into the main highway from the right--in effect creating another lane--and Taliaferro was thus traveling in the center lane. Taliaferro checked his right side mirror and saw a flat bed truck about to pass him on the right. Soon after the flatbed truck passed his tractor trailer, Taliaferro felt a bump on the right front portion of his tractor. He looked down from his cab and observed the top of Gagnon's car in front of his tractor with the front portion of the car facing to his left. Taliaferro braked but pushed the Gagnon car a short distance before the car veered off to his left and crossed the median strip. He said he never saw the Gagnon vehicle prior to the collision. Raymond Collas testified that he stopped after the accident and that Taliaferro told him that the Gagnon car had struck his tractor trailer. 6 The Sokolowskis contend that the trial judge erred in directing a verdict for Taliaferro and Smithfield because there existed evidence from which the jury could have inferred that Taliaferro caused the collision with Gagnon's vehicle by attempting to steer his truck into the far right lane. The Sokolowskis argue first that Taliaferro testified that he normally drove in the right lane, and this coupled with the presence of paint from Gagnon's car on the tractor's right front hub, is sufficient to support an inference that Taliaferro's tractor trailer struck the Gagnon automobile. Second, they maintain that the evidence of paint on the right side of the tractor trailer and damage to the left side of the tractor is inconsistent with Taliaferro's testimony that he felt only one impact and that this contradiction is sufficient to raise a jury question. Third, they urge that it is inappropriate to direct a verdict on the basis of testimony offered by an interested witness. 7 Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Sokolowskis, Tights, Inc. v. Acme McCrary Corp., 541 F.2d 1047, 1055-56 (4th Cir.1976); Shelton v. Jones, 356 F.2d 426, 428 (4th Cir.1966), we conclude that the district court was amply justified in directing the verdict. The unrefuted testimony of Mrs. Collas establishes that Taliaferro did not change lanes and that Gagnon was driving erratically. The asserted contradictions in Taliaferro's testimony are in fact consistent. While the initial impact involved the right side of his tractor trailer, the damage to the left side apparently occurred as a result of the Gagnon vehicle coming into contact with the tractor as it veered across the southbound lane onto the median. A jury question cannot be constructed solely from inferences built on speculation and conjecture. See Lovelace v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 681 F.2d 230, 241 (4th Cir.1982); Ford Motor Co. v. McDavid, 259 F.2d 261, 266 (4th Cir.1958).