Opinion ID: 1133541
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: whether leflore county is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based upon the plaintiffs' failure to offer any proof of proximate cause connection between the absence of warning signs or traffic control devices and the accident at issue.

Text: ¶ 19. The county contends that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of establishing the elements of duty, breach, proximate causation, and injury, and that the plaintiffs produced no significant or probative evidence to establish such. The county claims that it can show a complete failure of proof of proximate causation on the part of the plaintiffs which entitle it to a judgment as a matter of law. The plaintiffs argue that they provided sufficient proof of proximate cause by circumstantial evidence to make their asserted theory reasonably probable, enough to survive summary judgment and be presented to the trier of fact. ¶ 20. The county cites several Mississippi cases as well as statutory authority which state that a driver of an automobile has a duty of ordinary care, to observe the road ahead, to drive at a reasonable rate of speed, and to take extra precautions and reduce speed when entering curves. The plaintiffs do not take issue with the proposition that a driver has a duty to drive in a reasonable and prudent manner and to exercise ordinary care. However, the plaintiffs also contend that motorists are not required to anticipate hidden defects which can only be warned of by the entity controlling the road where the dangerous condition exists. ¶ 21. In order to prevail on a negligence claim the plaintiff must establish by a preponderance of the evidence each of the elements of negligence: duty, breach, proximate causation, and injury. Lovett v. Bradford, 676 So.2d 893, 896 (Miss.1996). Negligence may be proven by circumstantial evidence in the absence of testimony by eye witnesses, provided the circumstances are such so as to take the case out of the realm of conjecture and place it within the field of legitimate inference. K-Mart Corp. v. Hardy, 735 So.2d 975, 981 (Miss.1999). If proof of a causal connection is to be established by circumstantial evidence, it must be sufficient to make the plaintiff's asserted theory reasonably probable, not merely possible, and it is generally for the trier of fact to say whether circumstantial evidence meets this test. Mississippi Valley Gas Co. v. Walker, 725 So.2d 139, 145 (Miss.1998). ¶ 22. In this case the two plaintiffs maintain that the injuries sustained were such that they they could not remember the accident happening or the surrounding circumstances. Another potential witness died as a result of the accident. The fourth passenger in the vehicle, Douglas Chismond, sustained the least injuries. It appears that Chismond was asleep in the back of the car at the time of the accident and cannot remember anything. Therefore in the absence of eyewitness testimony regarding what happened, or whether the driver could have heeded a warning if one had been posted, the trier of fact will have to rely on and draw inferences from circumstantial evidence. Up until this point in the proceedings the plaintiffs have offered an affidavit from Luther Cox, an expert in accident reconstruction, that asserts that the plaintiffs were not traveling in excess of 55 mph, the posted speed limit, and were traveling at a reasonable rate of speed. The plaintiffs have submitted photographs taken by Lee Neely the day after the accident, which allegedly indicate that the car left the roadway having begun negotiating the curve at issue. The plaintiffs theory is that the driver of the vehicle would have heeded a warning of the severity of the curve and would have been able to negotiate it safely had such warning been in existence. The county asserts that the existing Curve Ahead sign is sufficient as a matter of law, citing Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-505 (1996) which requires drivers to reduce speed when approaching or going around a curve. The county argues that the plaintiffs theory which is supported solely by circumstantial evidence is not reasonably probable. The county also posits several possible alternative causes of the accident: falling asleep at the wheel, adjusting the radio, horseplay, distraction, inattention. The county contends that because the plaintiffs have not eliminated or explained away all of these other potential reasons the circumstantial evidence is inadequate. The county further contends that the plaintiffs have failed to offer proof that they exercised reasonable care and that their claim must therefore fail. To adopt such a rationale would mean that the plaintiffs could not utilize the aforementioned procedure for offering circumstantial evidence in support of their claim. The appropriate forum for the county to address these questions and to advance these theories is at a hearing before the trier of fact, with witnesses subject to cross-examination. The plaintiffs allege that the failure to warn of the dangerous curve was the proximate cause of the accident. Circumstantial evidence has been offered, thus far based on affidavits, which taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs would support a prima-facie negligence case. It is not the role of either the trial court or an appellate court to resolve genuine issues of material fact on a summary judgment motion. The circumstantial evidence offered by the plaintiffs is sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to the proximate cause of the plaintiffs' injuries, and the trial court was not in error to deny summary judgment under these circumstances.