Court Opinion

ID: 9771286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:38:33.615232+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:28.085731
License: Public Domain

Tom Glaze, Justice, dissenting. Plaintiff-appellant obtained a general jury verdict in the amount of $7,500, but she moved for a new trial on grounds that (1) there was no evidence of negligence on her part and (2) the jury assessed too small a recovery. After plaintiffs motion was deemed denied, she filed this appeal where she argues the trial court erred in submitting the question of her comparative negligence to the jury. On appeal, plaintiff does not argue the motion for new trial. Instead, she argues that the defendant failed to present substantial evidence to support his defense below that plaintiff was at fault, and as a consequence, the trial court erred in overruling plaintiffs motion for directed verdict and in instructing the jury on plaintiffs comparative negligence. She suggests this error caused the jury to reduce her award to the $7,500 verdict. As the majority court points out, the defendant raised the defense that the plaintiff was negligent, and he had the burden of proof on this issue. The trial judge ruled the defendant met his burden. The following evidence was presented at trial. Both parties were driving their vehicles at night on a one-lane road, each traveling from opposite directions. The parties were negotiating a curve when the collision occurred. Plaintiff said that she had seen defendant’s headlights from a distance before entering the curve, and had slowed down. The defendant said that, because he had dropped a cigarette and had taken a “split second” to look down to pick it up, he saw plaintiffs car lights only when his U-Haul truck hit plaintiff s four-door Lincoln Town Car. Damage appeared on the left front of both vehicles. Plaintiff and her passenger testified plaintiff had pulled her car to the right into a ditch so as to avoid the defendant’s truck. The investigating officer said that the road was wide enough for both vehicles to pass each other at that point in the road. He also testified that there was no evidence the defendant had been speeding or driving “wild.” In requesting a directed verdict, plaintiff argued there was no proof that she had been negligent. Defendant countered by saying plaintiff admitted having seen defendant’s lights in the distance. Based on this fact combined with the investigating officer’s testimony, the trial judge denied plaintiff’s directed verdict motion. The trial judge ruled that the jury could find that plaintiff may not have had proper control of her car or was not abiding by the rules of the road at the time of the accident. We pointed out in Barger v. Farrell, 289 Ark. 252, 711 S.W.2d 773 (1986), how rare and difficult it is before a verdict can be directed in a plaintiff’s behalf. In fact, my research reveals no cases involving claims of negligence where a plaintiff’s request for directed verdict has been sustained. The Barger court did cite two examples where a plaintiff’s directed verdict was upheld, Plunkett v. Winchester, 98 Ark. 160, 135 S.W. 860 (1911), and Arkansas Real Estate Co., Inc. v. Fullerton, 232 Ark. 713, 339 S.W.2d 947 (1960), but in these cases, the defendants admitted facts in their pleadings and proof showing the plaintiffs to be entitled to the relief sought, and there was no question left for the jury to decide. Here, such is not the case. In fact, plaintiff’s case was fully contested and, after hearing all the evidence, the trial court concluded plaintiff’s motion for directed verdict should be denied. A recent example where this court reversed the granting of a directed verdict in the plaintiff’s behalf was in Fuller v. Johnson, 301 Ark. 14, 781 S.W.2d 463 (1989). There, the defendant died prior to trial, and no evidence was offered in his behalf. However, the defendant had filed an answer denying the plaintiff’s allegations of negligence. In reversing the trial court’s directed verdict for plaintiff, we held that, where the allegations of the [plaintiff’s] petition are denied by the answer and the plaintiff offers oral evidence tending to support those allegations, the defendant is entitled to have the jury pass upon the credibility of such evidence even though he should offer no evidence. Because plaintiff here sought a directed verdict, part of the formula for our review is the rule that, only when the proof is so clear, convincing and irrefutable that no other conclusion can be reached by reasonable men should the issue be taken from the jury and decided by the court. Spink v. Mourton, 235 Ark. 919, 362 S.W.2d 665 (1962). In Barger, this court said the following when explaining why it affirmed the trial court’s rejection of the plaintiff’s motion for directed verdict: The burden was not on the defendant, but was on the plaintiff to make out the case stated in his petition. In a case where the allegations of the petition are denied by the answer, and the plaintiff offers oral evidence tending to support the allegations of the petition, the defendant is entitled to have the jury pass upon the credibility of such evidence even though he should offer no evidence himself. The court has no right to tell the jury that it must believe the witnesses. The jury, in the first instance, is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the weight and value of their evidence, and may believe or disbelieve the testimony of any one or all of the witnesses, though such evidence be uncontradicted and unimpeached. 289 Ark. at 255-56, 711 S.W.2d at 775. Here, the jury could have believed or disbelieved all or any part of the evidence each party presented. See also Weber v. Bailey, 302 Ark. 175, 787 S.W.2d 690. In view of the above facts and law, I am of the opinion the trial court correctly denied plaintiff’s directed verdict. Hays and Corbin, JJ., join this dissent.