Timmerman v. Modern Industries, Inc., 91-1789
| Decision Date | 06 April 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1789,91-1789 |
| Citation | 960 F.2d 692 |
| Parties | Diann R. TIMMERMAN, Personal Representative of the Estate of Ronald D. Timmerman, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MODERN INDUSTRIES, INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Mark M. Silvermintz, Carr, Korein, Tillery, Kunin, Montroy, Glass & Bogard, East St. Louis, Ill., Karen L. Kendall, Gary M. Peplow, Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria, Ill., and David L. Buelt (argued), and Michael D. Jones, Ellick, Jones, Buelt, Blazek & Longo, Omaha, Neb., for plaintiff-appellant.
James K. Horstman (argued), C. Barry Montgomery, Michael D. Huber, and Lisa L. Lantero, Williams & Montgomery, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellee.
Before EASTERBROOK and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and ALLEN SHARP, * District Judge.
This is an appeal from a wrongful death action. The plaintiff-appellant (hereinafter appellant) is a citizen of the State of Nebraska and defendant-appellee (hereinafter appellee) is a corporation with its principal place of business in Kentucky. The case was tried to a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on the basis of diversity of citizenship 28 U.S.C. § 1332, by application of the substantive law of Illinois. On November 16, 1990, the jury returned a verdict for the appellee. Following the denial by the district court of post-trial motions, a final judgment was entered for the appellee and against the appellant. This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the decision of the district court.
The appellant raises three issues: (1) whether the district court erred in instructing the jury regarding the open compartment door; (2) whether the district court erred in denying her motion for directed verdict; and (3) whether she is entitled to a new trial because the verdict for the appellee is against the manifest weight of the evidence.
As indicated, this is a wrongful death action filed in the Southern District of Illinois by the estate of Ronald D. Timmerman against Modern Industries, Inc. The incident in question occurred near mile marker 61 on Interstate 64 in Washington County, Illinois, on December 17, 1987, when Ronald D. Timmerman and his co-driver, Kevin Phillips, were operating a truck tractor semi-trailer rig on their way to Florida from Omaha, Nebraska. While proceeding on Interstate 64 through Illinois toward Florida, their truck developed mechanical problems suspected to be a faulty fuel filter. At the time in question, Timmerman was driving the truck, and Phillips was riding in the sleeper cab.
Timmerman pulled the truck off the travelled portion of the road and onto the paved shoulder. After stopping the truck, Timmerman got out of the truck, and Phillips came up from the sleeper cab and sat in the driver's seat. Phillips noted that the truck had all of its lights on, including the emergency flashers, when Timmerman got out of the truck. Phillips observed Timmerman walk to the front of the truck and open the hood of the truck tractor. Timmerman then walked along the left side of the truck to the vicinity of a compartment behind the driver's door. Phillips heard the compartment door latch open, and almost immediately, he felt his truck rock and was aware of another tractor trailer passing to his, Phillips', left. He saw that the driver's side rearview mirror on the Timmerman truck was smashed. He observed the truck of the appellee, Modern Industries, proceeding beside and ahead of his vehicle and pulling to a stop off the shoulder of the interstate highway. Both trucks were travelling in an easterly direction. Phillips saw Timmerman's body, which had been struck by the appellee's vehicle, thrown down, and taken through the right rear dual tires of the Modern Industries' trailer. The jury saw very gruesome photographs depicting the same.
The accident was investigated by Illinois State Trooper Roger Walker, who took measurements to mark the location of the Timmerman vehicle at the time of the accident. To document the location of the Timmerman vehicle, Trooper Walker placed marks on the paved shoulder as reference points for various measurements.
The highway at the scene of the accident is an east/west interstate highway passing through rural countryside. There are two eastbound lanes and two westbound lanes divided by a grassy median. The eastbound travelled portion of the highway is 24 feet wide with a painted hash mark in the center of the pavement dividing the travelled portion into two 12-feet wide lanes. The outer edge of each eastbound lane is marked by a four inch painted fog line. The right-hand, eastbound lane has a ten-foot wide asphalt-surfaced shoulder to its right. The accident occurred on December 17, 1989, at approximately 12:15 a.m. The night was cold with no snow or ice on the road or shoulder. Visibility was clear, and there was an unobstructed view approaching the accident site. An eastbound driver approaching the accident site from the west would have a clear field of vision for at least 1,600 feet.
Trooper Walker placed the location of the Timmerman truck two feet off the travelled portion of the highway and marked the location of that truck's left-side tires with marks on the shoulder. Walker testified that, after making the marks and taking measurements, it was his custom to round the measurements to the nearest foot.
Other measurements were made by Arnold Pavlovic, an accident reconstruction expert, who inspected the scene at the request of the Timmerman estate. Using the marks made by Trooper Walker, Pavlovic measured the rear trailer tire position to be 20 inches south, or to the right of the middle of the four-inch painted fog line. The front of the cab of the tractor trailer measured 23 inches south of the middle of the fog line.
The only other estimate of the Timmerman vehicle was made by Sylvanus Walker, an accident reconstruction expert retained by the appellee. By the time this accident reconstruction expert got to the scene, the marks made by Trooper Walker were no longer visible. Therefore, Sylvanus Walker made estimates of the distance between the fog line on the travelled portion of the highway and the location of the Timmerman vehicle by examining photographs taken at the scene of the accident. Sylvanus Walker concluded that the rear of the Timmerman vehicle was 14 inches to the right of the edge of the fog line, and the front of the Timmerman vehicle was 16 inches to the right of the edge of the fog line.
Damage to both the Timmerman vehicle and the appellee's vehicle was examined at the scene of the accident. There was conflicting evidence as to damage caused by the accident to the left rear of the Timmerman trailer. There were scuff marks on the left rear tires of the Timmerman trailer at equal heights and parallel to the ground. According to the testimony of Kevin Phillips, these marks did not exist before the accident. Trooper Walker considered the scuff marks to be a result of contact between the vehicles involved in the accident. This conclusion was disputed by Sylvanus Walker.
There was a compartment door on the left side of the Timmerman vehicle, and it was damaged. This door was located behind the driver's side door. There was damage to the exhaust pipe guard and vertical grab handle on the left side of the Timmerman cab. The left-side rearview mirror on the Timmerman vehicle was damaged.
The damage to Modern Industries' vehicle consisted of a vertical crease on the front portion of the rounded right-hand corner of the cab. There was also damage to the grab handles of the ladder on the right-side of Modern Industries' cab. Also, the right-side mirror and right-side turn signal on Modern Industries' cab were knocked off. There were also scrubbing or rub marks both by the rail ladder on the right side of Modern Industries' cab. The grab bar located above the door on the right side of the cab was knocked off.
Debris was found consisting of Modern Industries' rear-view mirror located some distance in front of the Timmerman cab. Tire tracks from the rear dual tires of Modern Industries' trailer were imprinted on the pavement surface by blood and body fluids from Timmerman's body.
The Modern Industries' truck was driven by James T. Scott, who was travelling eastbound on Interstate 64 at approximately 55 miles per hour at the time of the accident. Scott stated that he did not see the Timmerman vehicle until he was only 250 feet away, although there was a clear line of sight of more than 1,600 feet. Scott testified that his headlights were on and in good working order, that he never saw Timmerman, but that he heard a thump as he passed the Timmerman vehicle. Scott stated that before noticing the Timmerman vehicle 250 feet away, he first noticed a third vehicle in the left lane which was passing him. Modern Industries' vehicle was eight feet wide, and Scott described no impediment to his vehicle in proceeding along the 12-feet wide eastbound travelled portion of the interstate highway. After hearing the sound as he passed the Timmerman vehicle, Scott stopped his vehicle and backed off the highway. He acknowledged that the Timmerman vehicle had its emergency flashers on.
Ronald Timmerman was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident as a result of injuries sustained by the collision here described. His wife, Diann Timmerman, the duly appointed personal representative of his estate, filed the complaint for this wrongful death action. It should be mentioned here that the complaint also asserted a claim for property damage to the door on the Timmerman truck. As indicated, a jury after hearing the evidence in this case, hearing arguments, and being instructed, determined that Timmerman was more than 50% negligent, precluding any recovery under the Illinois...
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