Opinion ID: 2211581
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: second trial: factual and procedural background

Text: Nickell had filed a petition sounding in negligence against Russell in his individual capacity and against Russell and Dennis Pestal as a partnership. There is no issue on appeal as to the matter of the partnership liability. Nickell's petition alleged that on June 28, 1986, Russell failed to maintain a proper lookout and failed to keep his pickup truck under reasonable control when he struck Nickell with his pickup truck on West Princeton Road, a rural county road in Lancaster County which runs east and west. Nickell further alleged that as a result of Russell's negligence, Nickell suffered an amputation of his right arm, a fractured right leg, a fractured pelvis, a closed head injury, and psychological damage. Nickell sought medical expenses, as well as general damages for pain and suffering, disability, and disfigurement. Russell asserted in his answer that Nickell's own negligent acts and omissions proximately caused and contributed to Nickell's injuries. Specifically, Russell alleged that Nickell lay down in the road after dark when he knew or should have known that motor vehicles might be using the roadway and that Nickell failed to maintain a proper lookout. Russell also alleged that Nickell knew or should have known that Nickell would be difficult to see in his reclining position. Further, Russell alleged that Nickell assumed the risk of being struck by a vehicle because Nickell knew and appreciated the danger of reclining on the road while tired, that Nickell voluntarily and deliberately exposed himself to the danger, and that Nickell's own actions proximately caused his injuries. The following evidence was adduced at the second trial: On June 28, 1986, at some time after 10 p.m., Nickell sneaked out of his parents' farmhouse and headed south across a field to West Princeton Road. Nickell went to the south side of the road and stood in the ditch, awaiting the arrival of two friends. Nickell became tired of standing and decided to sit down; eventually, he grew tired of sitting and decided to lie down on the gravel pile along the road. Nickell lay down with his legs along the south side of the road, a position from which he could see approximately a quarter of a mile to the east. The next thing Nickell recalled was waking up in the hospital. As it extends past the Nickells' property, West Princeton Road contains a rather large hill to the east of the Nickells' property, in addition to a long, gradual hill which crests to the west of the property. Nickell lay down between the crests of the two hills, at a place subsequently determined to be on the gradual incline toward the crest of the hill to the west of the Nickells' property. At trial, Nickell acknowledged the danger of his decision to lie down on the side of the road. Immediately prior to the accident, Russell was driving westbound on West Princeton Road at approximately 35 to 40 miles per hour. Russell testified that he first became aware of something in the roadway as he felt [himself] going up a hill. Russell indicated where he first noticed the object in the roadway and marked that location on a photograph introduced at trial. The evidence reveals that the incline actually started to the east of the point marked by Russell on the photograph, but that the road in the area was relatively flat. Russell testified that his initial observations of the object in the roadway led him to believe that it was either trash, a board, a pile of rags, or something of a similar nature. Russell estimated that approximately 3 to 4 seconds elapsed between the time he first saw the object until it disappeared under the hood of his vehicle. As he neared the object, Russell applied his brakes and swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the object with his wheels, but elected not to abruptly apply his brakes or to turn sharply because he did not want to roll his vehicle or to grind the object beneath it. Just before the object disappeared under the hood of his vehicle, Russell realized it was a human form. The record shows that Russell at no time consumed alcohol on the day of the accident. After running over Nickell, Russell turned around and went to see what had happened; he saw Nickell lying on the road with his right arm completely severed from his body. Russell put Nickell and his severed arm in the bed of Russell's pickup truck and began driving eastbound on West Princeton Road, when he encountered two teenagers in a car backing out of the Nickells' driveway. Russell requested the assistance of the two teenagers and was advised that the nearest medical facility was the Crete hospital, to which Russell proceeded with Nickell. While at the Crete hospital, Russell spoke to Paul Jacobsen, a sergeant with the Lancaster County sheriff's office, who was investigating the accident. Jacobsen memorialized his investigation and some conclusions reached therefrom in an accident report, which report assisted him in his testimony at the first trial in this matter. Portions of Jacobsen's testimony from the first trial were read into evidence in the instant case, as Jacobsen died prior to the second trial. Those portions of Jacobsen's testimony pertinent to the resolution of this appeal are more fully developed in our analysis. Expert witness James Summers, a consulting engineer, prepared an accident reconstruction study for Nickell. In that role, Summers conducted a land survey in which he located various points, including the point 400 feet east of the point of impact at which West Princeton Road begins to incline. With reference to the crucial issue of perception, Summers testified about tests he had conducted on West Princeton Road in June 1990, during which he used Russell's pickup truck to see if its headlights were such that Russell could not have detected an object lying in the roadway at night. Summers placed upon the roadway a mannequin dressed in clothing similar to that worn by Nickell on the night of the accident and determined that the object began to be illuminated from 400 feet away. During cross-examination, Summers conceded that misidentification and perception affect how a driver reacts to an object in the roadway and that people generally react quicker to expected objects in the roadway. Dr. John Flowers, a professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, testified on behalf of Russell regarding the perception issue. Flowers' specialty areas include human information processing, cognitive processes, and human performance. Flowers testified that a lack of expectancy is a key part of human perception and that unexpected objects may take up to twice as long to identify as expected objects. Flowers also asserted that perception is affected if a person observes objects while moving and that such perceptions generally are not as accurate as if that same person observed the same objects while stationary. According to Flowers, the dark blue shirt and denim jeans worn by Nickell on the night of the accident would not have created a high degree of contrast with the surface of West Princeton Road. After the defense rested, Nickell made a motion to strike Russell's testimony based on the ground that the previous testimony Russell had given in depositions and at the first trial revealed that his testimony at this second trial was altered to meet the exigencies of the case. Shortly after Nickell's motion, Russell made a motion for a directed verdict on the issue of Nickell's contributory negligence. Nickell contended that the issue of contributory negligence should not be submitted to the jury, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to do so. Both motions were overruled by the district court, and the issue of Nickell's contributory negligence was submitted to the jury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Russell, from which Nickell timely appealed. We moved the case to our docket pursuant to our authority to regulate the dockets of the appellate courts. Neb. Rev.Stat. § 24-1106(3) (Reissue 1995).