Opinion ID: 1841473
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Intoxication As A Jury Question

Text: At the trial of this case the parties stipulated that Kirk Harrison Stong had been drinking in the twenty-four hours prior to the accident. The evidence established that Stong had been to a pre-Fourth of July fish fry where beer had been served. On appeal, Administratrix contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the granting of several instructions relating to Stong's possible intoxication. These instructions provided, in effect, that if the jury believed that Stong operated his motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor or that he did not maintain his automobile under reasonable control or at a reasonable rate of speed, the jury could consider this fact against Plaintiff's case to the extent that it influenced causation. Freeman/Long argue convincingly that there is a further evidentiary base for the intoxication instructions. The evidence reflects that during the time the Freeman truck was parked on the highway some 50 to 100 motor vehicles passed the scene using the left-hand southbound lane of travel without incident. The only other vehicle which encountered the scene and had trouble was also operated by one who had been drinking. The uncontradicted evidence is that Stong never applied his brakes but merely drove at full speed head-on into the rear of the Freeman truck. No skid marks were found. No witness saw Stong's brake lights come on. This evidence, coupled with the stipulation regarding Stong's drinking, was surely sufficient to support the intoxication instruction. Shaw v. Phillips, 193 So.2d 717, 718-19 (Miss. 1967) and Allen v. Blanks, 384 So.2d 63, 67-68 (Miss. 1980) undergird the proposition that, where there is evidence sufficient to support a jury finding of intoxication (employing the familiar standard of Paymaster Oil ), the question should be presented to the jury on proper instructions. The evidence presented at trial below was more than sufficient, as a result of which this assignment of error must be rejected.