Blakley v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 29 October 2010 |
| Docket Number | 2090507. |
| Citation | 80 So.3d 250 |
| Parties | Timothy Leon BLAKLEY and Angela Machelle Blakley v. Terrence Maurice JOHNSON and M & M Trucking, Inc. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
Alabama Supreme Court 1100384.
Jerry N. Quick, Pinson, for appellants.
Deborah Alley Smith, Aubrey J. Holloway, and Abbott M. Jones of Christian & Small LLP, Birmingham, for appellees.
Timothy Leon Blakley and his wife, Angela Machelle Blakley, appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of Terrence Maurice Johnson and M & M Trucking, Inc. We affirm.
On September 26, 2008, the Blakleys sued Johnson and Johnson's employer, M & M Trucking, asserting claims of negligence and wantonness.1 The Blakleys' claims were based on injuries sustained by Timothy in a May 11, 2007, motor-vehicle accident involving Timothy, who was driving a logging truck, Johnson, who was driving a tanker truck, and a "green car" that left the scene of the accident. The Blakleys sought compensatory and punitive damages; they also demanded a jury trial. Johnson and M & M Trucking answered the complaint, denying all claims for relief and asserting various affirmative defenses, including contributory negligence.
On August 26, 2009, the case was tried before a jury. At the close of the Blakleys' case-in-chief and again at the close of all the evidence, Johnson and M & M Trucking moved for a judgment as a matter of law ("JML"). The trial court denied the motion as to the negligence claim, but it subsequently indicated that it would not submit the Blakleys' wantonness claim to the jury.
At the close of all the evidence, the Blakleys moved for a JML in their favor. They relied on their previously filed written motion for a JML. The trial court denied the Blakleys' motion. At that same time, the Blakleys objected to certain of the trial court's jury instructions.
On August 27, 2009, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Johnson and M & M Trucking, and, on that same date, the trial court entered a judgment on that verdict. On September 23, 2009, the Blakleys moved for a new trial. See Rule 59, Ala. R. Civ. P. After a November 13, 2009, hearing, the trial court denied the Blakleys' postjudgment motion on that same date.
The Blakleys timely appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. That court transferred the appeal to this court, pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, § 12–2–7(6).
State Trooper Dewayne Allums was an eyewitness to the accident in question. He testified that, on May 11, 2007, he was driving south on Interstate Highway 65 ("I–65") in Chilton County when he saw a stranded vehicle on the side of the highway. Another driver had pulled over to assist the first driver. Allums turned on his blue lights and parked his patrol unit on the shoulder of the roadway approximately 70 feet behind the two vehicles; Allums testified that, based on his training as a state trooper, he had parked his vehicle behind the stranded motorist and close to the roadway to provide a buffer between the stranded motorist and oncoming traffic. Allums testified that his vehicle was parked on the shoulder of the road but was positioned so close to the road that the side-view mirror on his driver's door extended over the white line and into the roadway. Allums waited in his patrol car while the motorists attended to the disabled vehicle.
While in his patrol car, Allums observed traffic and the surrounding conditions. According to Allums, traffic was light to medium. He observed cars, pickup trucks, "SUVs," and commercial vehicles passing his patrol unit in the right lane of the highway. Allums also testified that the vision in his rear-view mirror was clear for at least one-half mile.
Allums testified that he observed a tanker truck approaching his parked patrol car in the right lane of I–65. When Allums first observed the tanker truck, it was approximately one-half mile away. Allums testified that the tanker truck slowed to 5 to 10 miles per hour and that the driver would Allums estimated that the tanker truck was approximately 20 feet behind his patrol car when the driver of the tanker truck activated the left-turn signal. Although unknown to Allums at that time, Johnson was driving the tanker truck.
Allums testified that he also saw a green car, which Allums described as an olive-green Cadillac, traveling very slowly in the left-hand lane; Allums estimated that the green car was traveling at a rate of 5 to 10 miles per hour.2 Allums also saw a logging truck, driven by Timothy, behind the green car but "further on down the road." Allums estimated that the logging truck was moving at approximately 30 to 35 miles per hour.
According to Allums, the tanker truck attempted to change from the right lane to the left lane. Allums testified that the tanker truck did not completely cross into the left lane but that it did cross the center line. Allums testified that both the tanker truck and the green car had been moving at a very slow speed, so the driver of the green car had not had to "slam on its brakes" when the tanker truck attempted to change lanes. Allums also testified that, at the time the tanker truck attempted to change lanes, the logging truck was approximately 100 to 200 feet behind the green car and was traveling less than 30 miles per hour. Allums then testified:
Allums also testified that he could tell that Timothy was reducing the speed of the logging truck, presumably referring to the point in time that the logging truck was approaching the green car or approaching Allums's parked patrol car, but that he could not tell if Timothy was braking or if he was simply no longer accelerating. Allums also testified that, in his opinion, the tanker truck could have passed his patrol car safely without changing from the right lane to the left lane of the highway.
Timothy testified that, on the day in question, he was pulling a load of logs in the right lane of I–65. A green car was traveling in front of him. Timothy heard over the "CB" radio that a state trooper and a disabled vehicle were on the side of the highway ahead of him. When the state trooper's patrol car came into view in the distance, Timothy moved his truck into the left lane. Timothy testified that, at that time, he was traveling approximately 65 miles per hour. He also recalled seeing a tanker truck ahead of him in the right lane. According to Timothy, the tanker truck was virtually sitting still.
Timothy testified that he began slowing the speed of the logging truck when the green car ahead of him merged over from the right lane into the left lane in front of him. Timothy estimated that, at that point, his logging truck was traveling "maybe fifty [miles per hour]." Timothy recalled being a few truck lengths behind the green car, but, according to Timothy's testimony on cross-examination, the green car's rate of speed was faster than that of his logging truck.3 Timothy testified that, as his logging truck and the green car came up to the tanker truck, the tanker truck "come over in front of us"; he also testified that the green car was "real close to the rear tandem of the tanker's trailer."4 According to Timothy, the tanker truck came over into the left lane and immediately went back into the right lane. He testified that Johnson never signaled before moving into the left lane. Timothy testified that he realized he was going to hit the green car so he drove the logging truck into the median, where it overturned.
Timothy walked away from the accident and initially refused to go to the emergency room. According to medical records, however, he subsequently began experiencing pain and went to the emergency room approximately seven hours after the accident. Timothy ultimately underwent surgery on his neck and his shoulder. Timothy's injuries and medical treatment were covered under the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act, Ala.Code 1975, § 25–5–1 et seq. At the trial, Timothy acknowledged that his memory had been affected as a result of the accident.
Marissa Lee, who witnessed the accident, testified that she was following the logging truck being driven by Timothy on the day of the accident. She and Timothy were in the left lane of I–65 and were approaching the state trooper's patrol car, which was parked on the right shoulder of the highway. She observed the tanker truck in the right lane. Lee testified that, as she and the logging truck approached the patrol car, she noticed that the tanker truck Lee denied noticing rates of speed, whether the tanker truck signaled before moving toward the left lane, or seeing any vehicle in front of the logging truck. In her opinion, however, the tanker truck had attempted to make a sudden movement into the left lane.
Johnson, the driver of the tanker truck, testified that he had been traveling in the right lane of traffic at the posted speed limit and that, when he saw the state trooper's patrol car, he had slowed his speed, eventually reaching approximately five miles per hour. He testified that, upon seeing the state trooper's patrol car parked on the shoulder of the highway, he activated his left-turn signal because he did not believe that he could pass the trooper's patrol car in the right lane. Johnson claimed that he checked his rearview...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Polk v. Tu Ja Bang
... ... Bang liable to Polk on the gross negligence cause of action ... See, e.g., Blakley v. Johnson , 80 So.3d 250, 256-57 ... (Ala.Civ.App. 2010) (negligence claim properly submitted to ... jury where plaintiff's evidence ... ...
-
Frederick v. Frederick
...be permitted on cross-examination.” 2 Further, “ ‘the trial court has broad discretion in evidentiary matters.’ ” Blakley v. Johnson, 80 So.3d 250, 260 (Ala.Civ.App.2010) (quoting Bush v. Alabama Farm Bureau Mut. Cas. Ins. Co., 576 So.2d 175, 177 (Ala.1991)). Our supreme court has addressed......