Board of County Com'rs of Campbell County v. Ridenour
| Decision Date | 03 February 1981 |
| Docket Number | 5334,Nos. 5333,s. 5333 |
| Citation | 623 P.2d 1174 |
| Parties | The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the COUNTY OF CAMPBELL and the County of Campbell, State of Wyoming, Appellants (Defendants), v. Allen RIDENOUR, William Schaffner, James Lea and Ron Bourquin, Appellees (Plaintiffs). Allen RIDENOUR, William Schaffner, James Lea and Ron Bourquin, Appellants (Plaintiffs), v. The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the COUNTY OF CAMPBELL and the County of Campbell, State of Wyoming, Appellees (Defendants). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Jeffrey J. Gonda, Sheridan, argued for appellants in No. 5333 and appellees in No. 5334.
Terrence L. O'Brien (argued), and Jeffrey M. Kohlhas, legal intern, Omohundro & O'Brien, Buffalo and Lucas & Monaghan, Miles City, Mont., on briefs, for appellees in No. 5333 and appellants in No. 5334.
The Defense Lawyers Association of Wyoming, Inc. filed an amicus curiae brief for appellants in No. 5333 and appellees in No. 5334.
The Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association filed an amicus curiae brief for appellees in No. 5333, and appellants in No. 5334.
Before ROSE, C. J., * and McCLINTOCK, RAPER, ** THOMAS and ROONEY, JJ.
This appeal is a comparative negligence case arising from a judgment holding the defendants liable despite a jury's finding that they were less negligent than each of the plaintiffs. The main focus of the appeal is upon the construction to be given § 1-1-109, W.S.1977, commonly referred to as the Wyoming Comparative Negligence Statute, where there are multiple plaintiffs and multiple tortfeasors.
We will reverse and remand for a new trial.
On October 21, 1975, a Jeep Cherokee owned and operated by James Hance was traveling in a westerly direction on Small Road, also known as Little Thunder Road, in southern Campbell County. At approximately 6:27 p.m., the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve and rolled over several times injuring the occupants: Allen Ridenour, William Schaffner, James Lea, and Ron Bourquin (plaintiffs).
On October 18, 1979, after a settlement had been reached with the driver, this action was commenced against the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Campbell, and the County of Campbell, State of Wyoming (Board). The complaint alleged that Little Thunder Road, a county highway, had been negligently built and maintained by the Board and that the negligence was a proximate cause of the October 21, 1975 accident in which plaintiffs were injured. The Board's answer denied any negligence on its part and further claimed that plaintiffs' injuries resulted solely from the driver's negligence and the plaintiffs' own contributory negligence. Trial was set for January 22, 1980.
In a pretrial memorandum, plaintiffs moved for a continuance of the case for the reason that James Lea, one of the plaintiffs, was incarcerated in the federal penitentiary in Safford, Arizona, and would not be released until sometime in June 1980. Continuance was denied. Thereafter, plaintiffs again moved for a continuance citing that Mr. Lea's incarceration would end on May 27, 1980, and that he would not be eligible for a furlough to attend the trial until sometime after February 8, 1980. That motion was also denied. Plaintiffs then filed a motion in limine to restrict the use of a deposition given by Lea in a prior action against James Hance, the driver of the automobile. That motion was also denied, but the trial judge agreed to reserve the question of Lea's damages until a later time.
The case was tried as scheduled and submitted to the jury on January 24, 1980. The judge instructed the jury:
The jury was further instructed:
In the early morning hours of January 25, 1980, the jury returned its special verdict:
Following the trial, the district court held a hearing in order to determine how to mold a judgment based upon the jury's special verdict. After the hearing, the district court ruled that under § 1-1-109, W.S.1977, i. e. the Wyoming Comparative Negligence Statute, a plaintiff can recover from any negligent defendant, if the negligence of a plaintiff is found to be less than the aggregate negligence of all parties from whom recovery was or is sought. Further, joint tortfeasors are jointly and severally liable; however, the right of contribution under § 1-1-113, W.S.1977, 1 operates to allow a defendant to offset his liability to the plaintiff where the plaintiff has previously settled with the other tortfeasor and the percent of the damages allowed to be offset will be equal to the percent of negligence attributed by the jury to the joint tortfeasor not named as a party defendant.
Applying these conclusions of law to the facts before it, the court first found that the aggregate negligence (82%) of the parties from whom the plaintiffs sought recovery was greater than the aggregate negligence of the plaintiffs (18%); thus, the Board was liable. Next, it concluded that, since a settlement had been made by the plaintiffs with Hance, whose negligence the jury found to be 77% of all the negligence contributing to the accident, any claim against the Board had to be reduced by 77%, i. e. the percent of negligence assigned to Hance. Finally the court even further reduced the claim by the percent of negligence assigned to the plaintiffs in the aggregate. This left the Board liable for 5% of each of the plaintiffs' damages.
On February 29, 1980, plaintiffs filed a motion for a new trial on the grounds that the court had abused its discretion denying plaintiffs' request for continuance in requiring the case to go to trial without the plaintiff, James Lea. After a hearing, the plaintiffs' motion for new trial was denied by order dated April 29, 1980.
On May 6, 1980, the Board appealed from the judgment of the court dated February 22, 1980. On May 7, 1980, plaintiffs appealed from the judgment dated February 22, 1980, and the order denying plaintiffs' motion for a new trial dated April 29, 1980. The appeals were docketed, but by its order dated June 20, 1980, this court dismissed both for lack of finality in that the damages of James Lea had not been determined by the district court.
On July 2, 1980, the district court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff James Lea and against the defendant in the amount of $500.00. On July 2, 1980, the Board and the plaintiffs filed their second notices of appeal. The cases were redocketed in this court and assigned Nos. 5333 and 5334, respectively, and then...
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