Opinion ID: 1841709
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the appeal as to dr. esham

Text: Dr. Esham's requested jury Charge No. 36 reads: The Court charges the jury that if you are reasonably satisfied from the evidence in this case that the injuries and damages to the plaintiffs were the proximate result of the acts or omissions of others over whom the Defendant, Dr. Esham, had no control and who were not acting for him, then you cannot return a verdict against Dr. Esham in this case. Appellants summarize their argument in opposition to this jury instruction as follows: Plaintiffs excepted to Defendant Esham's Charge No. 36, on the grounds that it was [an] incorrect statement of law in that it failed to give proper consideration to combined and concurring negligence. The Court in giving Defendant Esham's Charge No. 42 charged the jury that a non-party to the case, the radiologist for the Mobile Infirmary, was not one whose negligence was to be considered as combining and concurrent with the negligence of Defendant Esham. The Plaintiffs' Charge No. 2 charged the jury that if one or more persons were negligent, each negligent person would be liable for the resulting injury and the negligence of each would be deemed the proximate cause of the injury. In giving Defendant Esham's Requested Charge No. 36 along with Plaintiffs' Requested Charges 2 and 4, the Judge charged the jury that if another's acts or omissions caused injury to the Plaintiff and Dr. Esham had no control nor were they acting for him, then the jury could not return a verdict against Dr. Esham in the case. This is contrary to the charges on combined and concurring negligence for under that doctrine Dr. Esham would not have to have any control nor would there have to be any agency for the negligence of others to combine and concur with his. Dr. Esham, citing Wood Chevrolet Company v. Bank of the Southeast, 352 So.2d 1350 (Ala.1977), 2A C.J.S. Agency § 6 (1972), and Alabama Pattern Jury InstructionsCivil, § 3.00 (1974), summarizes his defense of Charge No. 36 as follows: Defendant's charge No. 36 did nothing to abrogate the Plaintiffs' charges on combined and concurring negligence but simply told the jury that Dr. Esham could not be held liable for the acts of others over whom he had no control and who were not acting for him .... This had nothing to do with the combined and concurring negligence charges of the Plaintiff, and when the entire charge of the Court is considered, the charge No. 36 was in no way confusing or misleading. Here, again, the parties agree on the applicable law, but disagree whether this instruction, in the context of this case, was erroneous or misleading. We have no doubt that Dr. Esham's counsel intended to have the court instruct the jury that Dr. Esham could not be held liable for the negligence of others who were not acting on his behalf; that is, it was intended simply as a charge with respect to the issue of agency. To be sure, in other contexts, it may have been susceptible to no other reasonable interpretation; but, in the instant context, it was a misstatement of the applicable law. Rather than being a simple agency charge ( i.e., that Dr. Esham could not be liable for acts of others not his agents), Charge No. 36 says in effect: If Plaintiffs' injuries were caused by others, not his agents, then Dr. Esham himself could not be liable. Under the law of combining and concurring negligence, however, Dr. Esham may be liable for his own negligence, notwithstanding the fact that others, not his agents, are also liable for their negligence. Marshall County v. Uptain, 409 So.2d 423 (Ala.1981), approved the following charge: Proximate cause is also defined as that cause, which in the natural and probable sequence of events and without the intervention of any new or independent cause, produces injury, and without which, such injury would not have occurred. If one is guilty of negligence, which concurred or combined with the negligence of another, and the two combine to produce injury, each negligent party is liable for the resulting injury, and the negligence of each will be deemed the proximate cause of the injury. If you find that the sole proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury was the negligence of Judy Kaylor Phillips, then the plaintiff cannot recover against Marshall County. If, however, you find that the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury was the combined negligence of Judy Kaylor and Marshall County, then the plaintiff could recover against Marshall County. 409 So.2d at 425. When the approved charge in Uptain is compared with the given instruction in the instant case, the deficiency in the charge under review becomes readily apparent, because of its lack of any reference to combining or concurring negligence. Cf., also, the given requested charges disapproved in Coggins v. Fuller, 284 Ala. 44, 221 So.2d 681 (1969), virtually identical to the given requested charges in this case. Charge No. 36, as given, does not take into account the well-recognized principle of tort law that where separate causes act contemporaneously to produce a given result, the causes of injury are concurrent within the rule making separate wrongdoers equally liable for the resultant injury; and this rule operates wholly independent of the law of principal and agent. Aplin v. Dean, 231 Ala. 320, 164 So. 737 (1935). See, also, A.P.J.I. Civil §§ 28.04 through .06, and § 3.00. Despite the trial court's earlier correct instructions on the law of combining and concurring negligence, the omission of this vital principle from Charge No. 36, which was specifically pointed out by the objection of Plaintiffs' counsel pursuant to A.R.Civ.P. 51, rendered the trial court's giving of this charge reversible error. Coggins, supra, citing Baggett v. Sellers, 282 Ala. 235, 210 So.2d 796 (1968). In conclusion, we concur with the trial court's order granting Dr. Esham's motion for a directed verdict on Plaintiffs' claims for wanton misconduct. We view the evidence as falling short of the requisite quantum of proof from which the jury could reasonably infer that Dr. Esham was guilty of an intentional act, or an intentional failure to act, which was likely to result in injury to another. Bradshaw v. Simpson, 442 So.2d 66 (Ala.1983). Therefore, we affirm that portion of the judgment below directing a verdict for Dr. Esham on Plaintiffs' theory of wantonness; and we reverse the judgment and remand the cause for retrial as to both Defendants on Plaintiffs' claims for negligence only. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND REMANDED. TORBERT, C.J., and ALMON, SHORES, EMBRY, BEATTY and ADAMS, JJ., concur. MADDOX and FAULKNER, JJ., concur in part and dissent in part.