Opinion ID: 1058203
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Plea in Bar Asserting Sovereign Immunity

Text: Guthrie argues that the circuit court erred when it refused to submit to the jury the factual question whether VanMarter was engaged in overtaking a speeding vehicle at the time of the collision. Guthrie asserts that the circuit court improperly made a factual determination when the court concluded that the proffered testimony of the two witnesses would not have changed the outcome of the circuit court's sovereign immunity holding. Guthrie argues that he had no obligation to bring the two witnesses to the circuit court's attention during the plea in bar hearing because VanMarter only asked the circuit court to determine whether an officer overtaking a speeding vehicle is entitled to sovereign immunity. Guthrie asserts that he was not required to raise the separate factual question whether the speeding vehicle in fact existed, and argues that this factual dispute should have been submitted at trial to the jury. Guthrie maintains that a jury presented with that testimony reasonably could have concluded that VanMarter was not apprehending a speeding vehicle and, thus, was liable for his acts of ordinary negligence. We disagree with Guthrie's arguments. We first observe that the circuit court's ruling declining to reopen the record and reconsider its ruling on the plea in bar was a discretionary determination. The essence of any discretionary determination is the exercise of judgment. Only when the record does not fairly support the circuit court's exercise of its judgment will we say that an abuse of discretion has occurred. See Grattan v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 602, 620, 685 S.E.2d 634, 644 (2009). Thus, we will not disturb the circuit court's judgment absent a clear abuse of that discretion. See Murphy v. Commonwealth, 246 Va. 136, 148, 431 S.E.2d 48, 55 (1993); Hechler Chevrolet, Inc. v. General Motors Corp., 230 Va. 396, 403-04, 337 S.E.2d 744, 748-49 (1985). A plea in bar asserts a single issue, which, if proved, creates a bar to a plaintiff's recovery. Schmidt v. Household Fin. Corp., II, 276 Va. 108, 116, 661 S.E.2d 834, 838 (2008); Baker v. Poolservice Co., 272 Va. 677, 688, 636 S.E.2d 360, 366 (2006); Cooper Indus., Inc. v. Melendez, 260 Va. 578, 594, 537 S.E.2d 580, 590 (2000). The party asserting a plea in bar bears the burden of proof on the issue presented. Baker, 272 Va. at 688, 636 S.E.2d at 367; Cooper Indus., 260 Va. at 594, 537 S.E.2d at 590; Tomlin v. McKenzie, 251 Va. 478, 480, 468 S.E.2d 882, 884 (1996). The issue raised by a plea in bar may be submitted to the circuit court for decision based on a discrete body of facts identified by the parties through their pleadings, or developed through the presentation of evidence supporting or opposing the plea. Kroger Co. v. Appalachian Power Co., 244 Va. 560, 562, 422 S.E.2d 757, 758 (1992); see Schmidt, 276 Va. at 112, 661 S.E.2d at 836; Niese v. City of Alexandria, 264 Va. 230, 233, 564 S.E.2d 127, 129 (2002). If the parties present evidence on the plea ore tenus, the circuit court's factual findings are accorded the weight of a jury finding and will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are plainly wrong or without evidentiary support. Jennings v. Kay Jennings Family Ltd. P'ship, 275 Va. 594, 600, 659 S.E.2d 283, 287 (2008); Cooper Indus., 260 Va. at 595, 537 S.E.2d at 590. If the facts underlying the plea in bar are contested, a party may demand that a jury decide the factual issues raised by the plea. See Code § 8.01-336(B); Bethel Inv. Co. v. City of Hampton, 272 Va. 765, 770, 636 S.E.2d 466, 470 (2006); Upper Occoquan Sewage Auth. v. Blake Constr. Co., Inc., 266 Va. 582, 585-86, 587 S.E.2d 721, 723 (2003); Kroger, 244 Va. at 562, 422 S.E.2d at 758. Conversely, if the facts are disputed and no demand for a jury is made, the whole matter of law and fact may be decided by the court. See Code § 8.01-336(B). In the present case, the parties proceeded on the plea in bar as if the facts were uncontested. Guthrie neither informed the circuit court of the potential witnesses he had identified during discovery, nor did he request additional time to depose those witnesses. Moreover, Guthrie failed to request that a jury decide the factual issues presented by the plea in bar, agreed that the circuit court should decide those issues, and did not object when the circuit court made the factual determination that VanMarter was in fact attempting to overtake a speeding vehicle. By submitting the entire decision on the plea in bar to the circuit court judge, Guthrie effectively agreed to have the judge decide all legal and factual questions underlying the single issue whether sovereign immunity shielded VanMarter from Guthrie's allegations of ordinary negligence. See Kroger, 244 Va. at 562, 422 S.E.2d at 758. Thus, we hold that Guthrie waived his right to have the jury at trial decide the factual issues pertaining to the question of sovereign immunity. Additionally, we note that the circuit court's decision declining to reopen the issues pertaining to its sovereign immunity holding fully reflected the function of the plea in bar, which is to narrow the litigation by resolving an issue that will determine whether a plaintiff may proceed to trial on a particular cause of action. See Schmidt, 276 Va. at 116, 661 S.E.2d at 838; Tomlin, 251 Va. at 480, 468 S.E.2d at 884. This function would have been undermined in the present case had the circuit court set aside its ruling and permitted Guthrie an opportunity to relitigate the issues already addressed without objection at the hearing on the plea in bar. We also hold that the circuit court did not err in concluding that the testimony of the two witnesses failed to qualify as after-discovered evidence. This testimony was not after-discovered, because Guthrie disclosed the identity of these witnesses before submitting the sovereign immunity issue to the circuit court and, therefore, could have discovered the content of their testimony by exercising reasonable diligence. See Orndorff v. Commonwealth, 271 Va. 486, 502, 628 S.E.2d 344, 353 (2006); Odum v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 123, 130-31, 301 S.E.2d 145, 149 (1983); Fulcher v. Whitlow, 208 Va. 34, 39, 155 S.E.2d 362, 366 (1967). Accordingly, we hold that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to reopen its ruling on the plea in bar and allow the testimony of the two witnesses to be presented at trial, because Guthrie could have presented that testimony at the hearing on the plea in bar or have requested additional time to develop this evidence at that hearing.