Opinion ID: 2022254
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Underlying Case: The Automobile Accident

Text: The trial of the underlying case adduced the following pertinent facts. Galena Road has two lanes and runs generally east-west. In 1978, the County assumed authority over Galena Road, commissioned a preconstruction profile of the road, and developed an improvement plan. The County resurfaced the road and striped the center of the road with a skip-dash, or broken yellow line, indicating that passing vehicles is permissible. Expert testimony established that the 1978 placement of the broken yellow line conformed with guidelines on adequate sight distances mandated by the Illinois Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (Illinois Manual) (formerly codified at 92 Ill. Adm.Code § 546.100 et seq. (1985), now published as Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2003)). Pursuant to these guidelines, passing vehicles is permissible only where sight distances are adequate. If an engineering study concludes that sight distances are inadequate, a no-passing zone must be installed. In 1984, the Illinois Manual lowered the minimal sight distance. This reduction rendered inadequate the sight distance on that portion of Galena Road where the accident subsequently occurred. In 1993, the County resurfaced Galena Road and restriped the center of the road with the same broken yellow line that it had placed in 1978. On a November evening in 1994, Sandra Wittenmyer was driving westbound on Galena Road. Aaron Gesell was driving eastbound. As Gesell was passing another eastbound vehicle, he collided head-on with Wittenmyer in the westbound lane. Gesell's and Wittenmyer's automobiles collided at the apex of a rise in Galena Road. Gesell was traveling at a speed significantly higher than the posted 55-miles-per-hour speed limit. Gesell stated that he passed the eastbound vehicle ahead of him because he knew that a broken yellow line indicated that passing vehicles was permissible. Also, according to Gesell, he was not aware that the rise in Galena Road would have obstructed his view of oncoming traffic. As a result of the collision, Wittenmyer suffered severe and permanent injuries. In January 1995, Sandra and her husband filed a lawsuit against Gesell. In October 1995, the Wittenmyers added the County as a defendant and Gesell brought a third-party contribution action against the County. Between November 1995 and June 1997, GIE, the County's insurer, retained the Dickson defendants and the Judge defendants to represent the County. Through its attorneys, the County moved for summary judgment, contending that section 3-104 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/3-104 (West 1994)) immunized the County from liability. The trial court denied the County's motion for summary judgment, and the case proceeded to a jury trial. On October 30, 1998, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Wittenmyers. The jury awarded $4.5 million in damages to Sandra against Gesell and the County, apportioning 20% of the fault to Gesell and 80% of the fault to the County. The jury also awarded $500,000 in damages to Sandra's husband. On Gesell's counterclaim against the County, the jury found the County 50% at fault. On November 25, 1998, the County filed a posttrial motion. The County also moved to file a supplemental posttrial motion, alleging that its attorneys had only very recently received the report of proceedings. On December 3, 1998, the trial court denied both of the County's motions. On December 31, 1998, the County filed a notice of appeal from the judgment entered on the jury verdict and from the trial court's denial of its posttrial motions. On the same day, the County also presented to the trial court an emergency motion for leave to file a supplemental posttrial motion. The emergency motion was premised on the impending appeal deadline of January 4, 1999, i.e., 30 days after the trial court's December 3, 1998, denial of the County's posttrial motions. The County alleged that, based on this deadline, it was necessary for the County to seek leave to file a supplemental posttrial motion, which contained five additional grounds for reversal based upon trial errors. The trial court granted the motion in an order stating: Final orders not having been entered in this cause, the time for filing notice of appeal in this matter is hereby extended until a final order is entered. On January 12, 1999, the County filed an amended supplemental posttrial motion. On February 16, 1999, the trial court denied the motion, ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the motion and, alternatively, that the motion was denied as a matter of substance. On March 15, 1999, the County filed a motion with the appellate court, Second District, seeking leave to amend its notice of appeal to include the trial court's February 16 order denying the County's supplemental posttrial motion. The appellate court initially granted the motion, but on May 7, 1999, the appellate court vacated that order and struck the County's March 15 amended notice of appeal. The appellate court also denied Wittenmyer's and Gesell's motions to dismiss the appeal, finding that the County's December 31, 1998, notice of appeal preserved the grounds raised in the County's first posttrial motion. On July 16, 1999, Gesell filed a motion in the appellate court, contending that the County's December 31, 1998, notice of appeal was prematurely filed and the County never filed a new notice of appeal. On December 14, 1999, the appellate court, in an unpublished order, reversed its prior ruling that the December 31, 1998, notice of appeal was timely. Wittenmyer v. Gesell, No. 2-99-0041, 308 Ill.App.3d 1101, 261 Ill.Dec. 903, 764 N.E.2d 194 (December 14, 1999) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). In its order, the appellate court stated that the County was required to withdraw its December 31, 1998, notice of appeal when it simultaneously filed its supplemental posttrial motion. The appellate court observed that, after the trial court denied the County's amended supplemental posttrial motion on February 16, 1998, the County failed to file a timely notice of appeal. Therefore, the appellate court held that the County's original notice of appeal was premature and ineffectual. Consequently, according to the appellate court, the County's March 15, 1999, motion to amend its notice of appeal was also without effect. The appellate court denied the County's request for reconsideration, and this court denied the County's petition for leave to appeal. Wittenmyer v. Gesell, 189 Ill.2d 683, 246 Ill. Dec. 924, 731 N.E.2d 773 (2000) (table).