Maglioli v. JP Noonan Transp., Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2004-136-Appeal.,2004-136-Appeal.
• Citation: 869 A.2d 71
• Parties: Morris MAGLIOLI et al. v. J.P. NOONAN TRANSPORTATION, INC., et al. Nelson Ferreira et al. v. J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc., et al.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

869 A.2d 71

Morris MAGLIOLI et al. v. J.P. NOONAN TRANSPORTATION, INC., et al.

Nelson Ferreira et al. v. J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc., et al.

No. 2004-136-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

March 16, 2005.

Michael Kiselica, Warwick, for Plaintiffs.

Brian T. Dougan, Burlington, MA, for Defendants.

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument on February 2, 2005, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. After hearing the arguments of counsel and examining the memoranda filed by the parties, we are of the opinion that cause has not been shown and proceed to decide the appeal at this time. The defendants, J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc. (J.P. Noonan) and Kenneth A. Baker (Baker, defendant-driver, or, collectively, defendants), appeal from the trial justice's grant of a new trial after a jury verdict in favor of the defendants.

Facts and Travel

The Magliolis¹ and the Ferreiras² (collectively plaintiffs) retained separate counsel and filed separate complaints seeking damages arising from an automobile collision with a tractor-trailer owned by J.P. Noonan. The plaintiffs' lawsuits were consolidated for trial in Superior Court.

At trial, Baker, a truck driver employed by J.P. Noonan, testified that, in the early morning of January 12, 1999, he was driving south on Interstate 95 (Route 95). Baker was en route to deliver a load of soda ash from Mansfield, Massachusetts, to Groton, Connecticut. Baker testified that, before the collision, a light rain began and persisted throughout the events culminating in the accident. He testified that he was driving fifty miles per hour in the left lane when he observed a pickup truck spinning out of control approximately 360 feet ahead of him. Baker believed that road conditions would prevent him from coming to a full stop, so he downshifted to reduce his speed and drove off the road onto the grassy median. The tractor-trailer slid across the grass, struck a guardrail, jackknifed,³ and slid back onto Route 95. Baker reported that, although his vehicle did not make contact with the pickup truck, the tractor-trailer blocked the entire left lane and a portion of the right lane of the highway and came to rest with its right rear wheels lifted off the ground. He estimated that he had only five to eight seconds in which to react to the spinning pickup truck.

According to Baker, he exited the cab of his vehicle to speak with the driver of the pickup truck, Agostina Almeida (Almeida), to inspect his own vehicle, and to find his reflectors.⁴ Baker recalled that he was walking alongside the tractor-trailer when Almeida alerted him to an oncoming vehicle; that vehicle then struck the tractor-trailer.

Morris Maglioli (Morris), the driver of the Maglioli automobile was traveling with two passengers, Cosimo Spaziano and Nelson Ferreira (Nelson), on the morning of the accident. According to Morris, it was raining, but he believed that the road conditions were "fine." He recalled driving in the left lane behind Baker's tractor-trailer. He saw the tractor-trailer drive off the highway and strike a guardrail, which caused the tractor-trailer to be pushed back onto the highway, resting "perpendicular" to the left lane. According to Morris, he applied his brakes but was unable to avoid striking the undercarriage of the trailer. Morris testified that traffic in the right lane prevented him from swerving to the right to avoid the collision.

In her charge to the jury, the trial justice included a rear-end collision instruction and a sudden emergency instruction and explained the law of comparative negligence. The plaintiffs objected to both the rear-end collision instruction and the sudden emergency instruction. The jury returned a verdict for defendants, and plaintiffs filed separate motions for a new trial.

The plaintiffs contended that a new trial was warranted on two grounds: the rear-end collision instruction prejudiced their case because the Maglioli vehicle struck the side of the tractor-trailer, not its rear end; and the sudden emergency instruction was improper because Baker had ample opportunity to react to the spinning pickup truck.

The trial justice agreed with plaintiffs and found that the facts did not warrant a rear-end collision instruction because the car driven by Morris struck the side of the tractor-trailer. She concluded that charging the jury with the rear-end collision instruction constituted prejudicial error because defendants were subjected to double "scrutiny" when the jury was also instructed on the law of comparative negligence. The trial justice assigned error as well to the sudden emergency instruction, concluding that road conditions did not create a sudden emergency and that Baker's reactions were not sufficiently spontaneous. The defendants timely appealed from the order of the Superior Court.

Issues Presented

On appeal, defendants argue that the trial court's grant of a new trial was an abuse of discretion. The defendants assert that the facts of this case warranted the rear-end collision instruction and the sudden emergency instruction. They also contend that if the instructions were erroneously given, the error was harmless.

Standard of Review

In a civil case, pursuant to Rule 59(a)(1) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, a trial justice may grant a new trial based on an erroneous jury instruction. Cruz v. Johnson, 823 A.2d 1157, 1159-61 (R.I.2003). Because the new trial ordered in this case was based on a perceived error of law, we review the trial justice's decision to grant a new trial de novo. Id. at 1159. When a trial justice grants a new trial based on a finding that the jury was charged with an erroneous instruction, "we review the record and jury instructions to determine whether the instruction was erroneous." Id. at 1160.

Pursuant to G.L.1956 § 8-2-38, a trial justice is required "to instruct the jury on the law to be applied to the issues raised by the parties."⁵ Malinowski v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 792 A.2d 50, 55 (R.I.2002) (Malinowski II) (quoting State v. Briggs, 787 A.2d 479, 486 (R.I.2001)). The trial court is obligated to instruct the jury on the law with "`precision and clarity.'" Baccari v. Donat, 741 A.2d 262, 264 (R.I.1999). "In reviewing a trial justice's charge to a jury, this Court examines the charge `as a whole in light of the meaning and interpretation that a jury composed of ordinary, intelligent lay persons would give them.'" Id. (quoting Neri v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 719 A.2d 1150, 1153 (R.I.1998)). We review the challenged jury instruction in light of the entire charge delivered by the trial court. Contois v. Town of West Warwick, 865 A.2d 1019, 1022 (R.I.2004). It is well settled that "[a]n erroneous charge warrants reversal only if it can be shown that the jury `could have been misled' to the resultant prejudice of the complaining party." Id. (quoting Montecalvo v. Mandarelli, 682 A.2d 918, 922 (R.I.1996)).

Discussion

When a case includes a claim or defense resulting from a rear-end collision between vehicles, a prima facie case of negligence against the driver of the car in the rear is established, and the duty of going forward to rebut the prima facie showing of negligence rests with that party. Nelson v. Grilli, 117 R.I. 538, 540, 368 A.2d 1234, 1235 (1977). If the driver in the rear presents evidence from which reasonable minds could draw different conclusions on the question of negligence, the determination of that issue is left to the finder of fact, and in that instance, the rear-ended driver retains the burden of proof on all issues. Id.

After charging the jury with the rear-end collision instruction,⁶ the trial justice later concluded that the accident was not a rear-end collision because "[t]he evidence presented at trial establishes that the car driven by M[orris] Maglioli struck the side of the trailer of the J.P. Noonan truck, not the rear."

We agree with the trial justice that it was error to charge the jury with a rear-end collision instruction based on the facts adduced at trial. By name and in application, a "rear-end collision" occurs when a vehicle is struck by another vehicle from behind on the lead vehicle's rear end; this generally results from a collision at a red light, a traffic stop at an intersection, or a multi-vehicle car pileup. See, e.g., DeBlois v. Ashcraft, 797 A.2d 1073, 1074 (R.I.2002) (mem.). It is undisputed that the tractor-trailer came to a stop perpendicular to the roadway, blocking the lane of travel, and was struck from the side, causing Morris's vehicle to collide with the undercarriage of the trailer.

We are satisfied that this accident was not a rear-end collision for which Morris could be found to be prima facie negligent. But we are also convinced that this error was harmless and did not warrant a new trial.⁷ A rear-end collision instruction generally is given when the driver of the vehicle rear-ended in the accident seeks damages against the driver who struck the claimant from behind. See, e.g., DeBlois, 797 A.2d at 1074; Nelson, 117 R.I. at 539-40, 368 A.2d at 1235. In this case, the rear-end collision instruction served to establish a prima facie case of Morris's negligence when damages were sought from Baker, the driver of the vehicle that was blocking the roadway. Although the instruction was erroneous, the trial justice also correctly charged that if there was "conflicting evidence[,] from which different conclusions as to [Morris's] negligence may reasonably be drawn or which establishes that [Morris] was not negligent, then the presumption that [Morris] was negligent becomes inoperable and has no further effect." Our careful review of the record discloses that plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to...