Berry v. Fife
| Decision Date | 15 November 1991 |
| Citation | 590 So.2d 884 |
| Parties | Angela Carr BERRY v. Tammie Sherie FIFE. 1901311. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Leon Garmon, Gadsden, for appellant.
Paul A. Miller and Rick D. Norris, Jr. of Lamar, Nelson & Miller, P.C., Birmingham, for appellee.
Angela Carr Berry appeals from a partial summary judgment entered in favor of Tammie Sherie Fife on Berry's claim of wantonness arising out of a motor vehicle accident involving Berry and Fife. We reverse and remand.
On January 30, 1990, Berry sued Fife, alleging that Fife had negligently and wantonly caused an accident at the intersection of 12th Street and Chestnut Street ("the intersection") in Gadsden, Alabama, in which Berry suffered injury and for which Berry sought monetary damages against Fife in the amount of $50,000. Berry amended her complaint, adding a claim for underinsured motorist coverage benefits against State Farm Fire and Casualty Company ("State Farm"). Thereafter, Fife filed a motion for summary judgment on Berry's wantonness claim, basing her motion on numerous depositions and on the application of the "sudden emergency" doctrine. At the hearing on the motion, Berry filed a "Memorandum In Response To [Fife's] Motion For Summary Judgment," in which she argued that the applicability of the "sudden emergency" doctrine was a question of fact for the jury and, therefore, that Fife's motion for summary judgment was due to be denied. After the hearing, Berry filed a "Response To [Fife's] Motion For Summary Judgment," based on answers to interrogatories, numerous depositions, and her attached affidavit. The trial court entered a summary judgment for Fife. Berry filed a Rule 59(e), Ala.R.Civ.P., motion to alter, amend, or vacate the partial summary judgment for Fife on the wantonness claim or, in the alternative, to certify that judgment as final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala.R.Civ.P. The trial court denied Berry's motion to alter, amend, or vacate, but granted her Rule 54(b) motion to certify the judgment as final and stayed trial pending this appeal of that judgment. 1
The accident made the basis of this case occurred on November 12, 1987; therefore, the applicable definition of "wantonness," is that found in Ala.Code 1975, § 6-11-20(b)(3): "Conduct which is carried on with a reckless or conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others." See § 6-11-30. See, also, Shoals Ford, Inc. v. Clardy, 588 So.2d 879 (Ala.1991). "Reckless" is defined as "careless, heedless, inattentive; indifferent to consequences," Black's Law Dictionary 1270 (6th ed. 1990); "marked by lack of proper caution: careless of consequence," Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 957 (1981); "having no regard for consequences; uncontrolled; wild." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 1088 (1969); see Harrison v. State, 37 Ala. 154 (1861). "Conscious" is defined as "perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation: capable of or marked by thought, will, design, or perception," Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 239 (1981); "having an awareness of one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts, and of one's environment; capable of complex response to environment; deliberate." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 283 (1969).
When a party alleges wanton conduct as a cause of action and seeks only compensatory damages, in an attempt to circumvent affirmative defenses available for a claim of negligent conduct (e.g., contributory negligence, the guest statute), the wanton conduct, in all cases filed after June 11, 1987, must be proved by "substantial evidence"--"evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989); § 12-21-12.
However, in all cases in which the right accrued on or after June 11, 1987, when a party alleges wanton conduct as a cause of action and seeks punitive damages, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant consciously or deliberately engaged in wanton conduct ("[c]onduct which is carried on with a reckless or conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others"). Alabama Code 1975, § 6-11-20(a). The word "conscious" has been defined above. The word "deliberate" is defined as "well-advised; carefully considered, not sudden or rash; circumspect; slow in determining; formed, arrived at, or determined upon as a result of careful thought and weighing of considerations; careful in considering the consequences of a step," Black's Law Dictionary 426-27 (6th ed. 1990); "characterized by or resulting from careful and thorough consideration; characterized by awareness of the consequences; slow, unhurried, and steady as though allowing time for decision on each individual action involved," Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 297 (1981); "careful and slow in deciding or determining; not rashly or hastily determined," The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 349 (1969). This must be proven by "clear and convincing evidence" (§ 6-11-20(a)), which is defined in § 6-11-20(b)(4) as follows
Fife presented the following evidence to make a prima facie showing that no genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of wantonness existed:
At approximately 6:30 P.M. on November 12, 1989, Berry was travelling east on Chestnut Street, approaching the intersection. As Berry proceeded with a green light into the intersection, she was unable to take evasive action and became involved in an accident with Fife, in which Berry suffered injury. According to Fife's deposition testimony, she was travelling south on 12th Street, approaching the intersection, when "a rock or something flew across [her] windshield, and then [she] heard a gunshot, or something hit the windshield, a bullet or something ... when [she] ducked [her head below the dash] and ran into [Berry]." Fife did not see Berry's vehicle before the collision. When questioned as to the circumstances surrounding the collision, Fife testified as follows:
According to Paula Hardwick, the passenger in Fife's vehicle at the time of the accident, Fife was slowing down and had practically stopped for the red light when they both heard a gunshot, ducked, and screamed. In answer to questions concerning the circumstances surrounding the collision, Hardwick testified as follows:
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