Court Opinion

ID: 9754728
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:11:19.175668+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:56.950729
License: Public Domain

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice, dissenting in part. I join the majority opinion in all respects, except that I do not believe the Phillips County Circuit Court abused its discretion in giving Gammon’s requested AMI Civ. 4th 903 instmction to the jury, and, thus, dissent from that portion of the opinion. In addition, I write to note that Rule 52(a) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure does not require a circuit court to make findings of fact and conclusions of law in cases decided by summary judgment. It is undisputed that the Pulaski County Circuit Court disposed of this case by granting summary judgment pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 56 (2003). Rule 52(a) plainly states that “[fjindings of fact and conclusions of law are unnecessary on decisions of motions under these rules.” Ark. R. Civ. P. 52(a) (2003). Therefore, because the Pulaski County court’s decision arose out of a motion under the rules, findings of fact and conclusions of law were unnecessary. The majority concludes that “[i]n this case, there was no evidence whatsoever that the truck was not properly equipped with the brakes required by § 27-37-501,” and, therefore, the Phillips County Circuit Court erred in giving AMI 903 to the jury. Indeed, the jury instruction given incorporates parts of Ark. Code Ann. § 27-37-501 (Repl. 1994). The instruction essentially informs the jury that a violation of the statute is evidence of negligence. The jury was instructed with respect to the statute as follows: There was in force in the State of Arkansas at the time of the occurrence statutes which provided Arkansas Code Annotated 27-37-501. “Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle or motor driven cycle which operated upon a highway, shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of, and to stop and hold, the vehicle, including two separate means of applying the brakes. Each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two of the wheels. If these two separate means of applying the brakes are connected in any way it shall be so constructed so that the failure of any one part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the motor vehicle without brakes on at least two wheels. Every motorcycle and every motor driven cycle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with at least one brake which may be operated by hand or foot. If a trailer or semi-trailer of a gross weight of3,000 pounds or more when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and to hold said vehicle and so designed to be applied by the driver of the motor vehicle from its cab, and every vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer sold in the States and operated upon the highways shall be equipped with service brakes upon all wheels of every said vehicle and trucks and truck tractors having three or more axles need not have brakes on the front wheels except that when the brakes are equipped with at least two steerable axles, the wheels of one axle need not be equipped with brakes.” Section (2) (A), “The parking brake or brakes shall at all times be capable of being applied in conformance with the requirements of subdivision one by either the driver’s muscular efforts or by spring actions or by other energy. The parking brakes shall be so designed, constructed and maintained that when once applied, they shall remain in the applied position with the required effectiveness despite exhausting any other source of energy or leakage of any kind so that they cannot be released unless adequate energy is available upon release of such brake or brakes to make immediate application with the required effectiveness.” “All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate [as] equally [as practicable] with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle.” “A violation of one or more of these statutes, although not necessarily negligence is evidence of negligence to be considered by you along with all of the other facts and circumstances of the case.” (Emphasis added.) The plaintiffin the Phillips County case, Gammon, specifically testified that he tried to apply the brakes on the truck and they did not work. Moreover, there was evidence in the case that raised a question concerning whether the brakes were “maintained in good working order.” A recent decision by the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Vann v. Cook, 70 Ark. App. 299, 17 S.W.3d 103 (2000), is particularly instructive. In that case, the court of appeals concluded that the trial court erred when it refused to instruct the jury with an AMI 903 instruction incorporating Ark. Code Ann. § 27-37-501. There, the defendant testified that he went through a stop sign, but that he had no alternative because .his brakes did not work. See Vann v. Cook, supra. Similarly, in the Phillips County case at issue here, the plaintiff testified that the truck rolled over because the brakes did not work, and the AMI 903 instruction given to the jury incorporated section 27-37-501, stating in part that a truck “shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of, and to stop and hold, the vehicle,” and that “[a]ll brakes shall be maintained in good working order.” Furthermore, there was evidence to support a conclusion that the brakes were not adequate to control the movement of the truck, and that the brakes were not maintained in good working order. This court has consistently held that a party is entitled to a jury instruction when it is a correct statement of the law, and there is some basis in the evidence to support giving the instruction. Barnes v. Everett, 351 Ark. 479, 95 S.W.3d 740 (2003); Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Priddy, 328 Ark. 666, 945 S.W.2d 355 (1997). Moreover, this court does not reverse a trial court’s ruling on whether to submit a jury instruction absent an abuse of discretion. Barnes v. Everett, supra; see also Grillot v. State, 353 Ark. 294, 107 S.W.3d 136 (2003). There is no dispute as to the rectitude of the instruction’s statement of the law. Additionally, there is some basis in the evidence to support giving the instruction. I cannot therefore conclude that the Phillips County Circuit Court abused its discretion in giving the AMI 903 instruction. While I must dissent from the majority’s holding that the Phillips County Circuit Court erred in giving the AMI 903 instruction to the jury, I join the majority opinion in all other respects. The Pulaski County Circuit Court’s summary judgment decision should be reversed and remanded “for a determination of what damages, if any, Farm Bureau incurred as a result of Daggett’s failure to timely docket the appeal in the Phillips County case.”