Ex parte FORD MOTOR COMPANY. .

• Decision Date: 02 April 2010
• Docket Number: 1080438.
• Citation: 47 So.3d 234
• Parties: Ex parte FORD MOTOR COMPANY. (In re Daniel Siniard, administrator of the estate of Deborah S. Siniard, deceased v. Ford Motor Company).
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

47 So.3d 234

Ex parte FORD MOTOR COMPANY.(In re Daniel Siniard, administrator of the estate of Deborah S. Siniard, deceased

v.Ford Motor Company).

1080438.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

April 2, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

De Martenson, Jacob W. Crawford, D. Alan Thomas, Paul F. Malek, and M. Jeremy Dotson of Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart, LLP, Birmingham, for petitioner.

Benjamin E. Baker, Jr., of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., Montgomery, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Ford Motor Company (“Ford”), the defendant in a wrongful-death action pending in the Barbour Circuit Court, petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to transfer the action to the Montgomery Circuit Court. We grant the petition and issue the writ.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

On April 5, 2006, Deborah S. Siniard was driving a 1999 Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicle north on Interstate 65 in Montgomery County when the vehicle left the road and rolled over. Siniard died in the accident. Siniard, a Tennessee resident, had purchased the vehicle in Tennessee from a Tennessee dealership, Jim Sloan Ford, Inc. Daniel Siniard, Deborah's husband and the administrator of her estate, filed an action in the Clayton division of the Barbour Circuit Court against Ford and Jim Sloan Ford, Inc. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss filed by Jim Sloan Ford, Inc., based on lack of personal jurisdiction, leaving only Ford as a defendant.

Siniard's complaint alleged that the roof, seat, and/or seat-belt system in the vehicle were defective and unreasonably dangerous in their design, manufacture, and/or marketing and that Ford was liable under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine (“the AEMLD”). Siniard also alleged negligence and wantonness. In paragraph five of the complaint, Siniard averred that “[v]enue is proper pursuant to Ala.Code (1975) § 6-3-7(a)(4).”

In its answer to the complaint, Ford denied the allegation of paragraph five and stated as its 10th defense that “[t]his Defendant hereby affirmatively pleads improper venue in this case.” ¹ On June 27, 2008, however, Ford filed a motion to transfer the case to Montgomery County based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens, codified in § 6-3-21.1, Ala.Code 1975. Ford supported its motion in part by affidavits from State Trooper Wayne Dailey, the investigating officer on the scene of the accident; State Trooper Steve Jarrett, the officer who responded to the accident and who helped with the investigation; and Jane Armstead, an eyewitness. The two troopers testified in their respective affidavits that they work and reside in Montgomery County and that it would be a hardship for them to testify in the Clayton division of Barbour County, which is located 70 miles from Montgomery. Armstead, a resident of Culleoka, Tennessee, testified in her affidavit that it would be more convenient for her to testify in Montgomery. ²

On December 10, 2008, the trial court entered an order denying Ford's motion to transfer the case. The order provided, in pertinent part:

“This matter comes before the Court upon the motion to transfer [this case] for forum non conveniens filed by the Defendant, Ford Motor Company (‘Ford’). After considering each party's brief and oral arguments, it is CONSIDERED and ORDERED that Ford's motion to transfer for forum non conveniens is DENIED. This Court finds that the Defendant has failed to meet its burden of proof under Ala.Code (1975) § 6-3-21.1. See also, Ex parte Alabama Power Co., 640 So.2d 921 (Ala.1994); Ex parte Independent Life & Accident Ins. Co., 725 So.2d 955 (Ala.1998); Ex parte Suzuki Mobile, Inc., 940 So.2d 1007 (Ala.2006); Ex parte Volvo Trucks North America, 954 So.2d 583 (Ala.2006).”

(Capitalization in original.)

Ford filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, asking this Court to order the trial court to transfer the case from the Barbour Circuit Court to the Montgomery Circuit Court.

II. Standard of Review

[1] [2] [3] “The proper method for obtaining review of a denial of a motion for a change of venue in a civil action is to petition for the writ of mandamus. Lawler Mobile Homes, Inc. v. Tarver, 492 So.2d 297, 302 (Ala.1986). ‘Mandamus is a drastic and extraordinary writ, to be issued only where there is (1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; (2) an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; (3) the lack of another adequate remedy; and (4) properly invoked jurisdiction of the court.’ Ex parte Integon Corp., 672 So.2d 497, 499 (Ala.1995). ‘When we consider a mandamus petition relating to a venue ruling, our scope of review is to determine if the trial court abused its discretion, i.e., whether it exercised its discretion in an arbitrary and capricious manner.’ Id. Our review is further limited to those facts that were before the trial court. Ex parte American Resources Ins. Co., 663 So.2d 932, 936 (Ala.1995).”

Ex parte National Sec. Ins. Co., 727 So.2d 788, 789 (Ala.1998).

III. Analysis

[4] [5] [6] Section 6-3-21.1(a), Ala.Code 1975, provides, in pertinent part:

“With respect to civil actions filed in an appropriate venue, any court of general jurisdiction shall, for the convenience of parties and witnesses, or in the interest of justice, transfer any civil action or any claim in any civil action to any court of general jurisdiction in which the action might have been properly filed and the case shall proceed as though originally filed therein.”

(Emphasis added.) “A defendant moving for a transfer under § 6-3-21.1 has the initial burden of showing that the transfer is justified, based on the convenience of the parties and witnesses or based on the interest of justice.” Ex parte National Sec. Ins. Co., 727 So.2d at 789.

Ford contends that both the “convenience of parties and witnesses” and the “interest of justice” warrant the transfer of the action from Barbour County to Montgomery County. We agree.

As noted above, the two state troopers who responded to the accident both testified that it would be more convenient for them to testify in Montgomery County than in the Clayton division of Barbour County. Their affidavits explain that they both live and work in Montgomery County and that testifying in Barbour County would disrupt their work as public servants; Trooper Jarrett further explained that he had supervisory duties that would be disrupted if he were required to go to Barbour County to testify. Ford also notes that Haynes Ambulance of Alabama responded to the accident and that the principal office for Haynes Ambulance is located in Montgomery; Ford asserts that paramedics from Haynes Ambulance, as well as other witnesses who were present at the site of the accident soon after it occurred, will offer testimony regarding their observations as to the position of the decedent's body, whether the decedent was wearing a seat belt, and other circumstances they observed that may be probative of the manner in which the accident occurred or its cause. ³

Ford argues that the foregoing considerations are material because, it argues, the purpose of allowing a transfer of a case “for the convenience of parties or witnesses” is to “ ‘prevent the waste of time, energy, and money and also to protect witnesses, litigants, and the public against unnecessary expense and inconvenience.’ ” Ex parte Perfection Siding, Inc., 882 So.2d 307, 312 (Ala.2003) (quoting Ex parte New England Mut. Life Ins. Co., 663 So.2d 952, 956 (Ala.1995)). Ford also notes that this Court has stated that “litigation should be handled in the forum where the injury occurred.” Ex parte Fuller, 955 So.2d 414, 416 (Ala.2006).

With respect to the “interest-of-justice” provision of § 6-3-21.1(a), we have held that “the ‘interest of justice’ require[s] the transfer of the action from a county with little, if any, connection to the action, to the county with a strong connection to the action.” Ex parte National Sec. Ins. Co., 727 So.2d at 790 (emphasis added). In expounding on this standard, we have stated:

“[I]n examining whether it is in the interest of justice to transfer a case, we consider ‘the burden of piling court services and resources upon the people of a county that is not affected by the case and ... the interest of the people of a county to have a case that arises in their county tried close to public view in their county.’ ”

Ex parte Indiana Mills & Mfg., Inc., 10 So.3d 536, 540 (Ala.2008) (quoting Ex parte Smiths Water & Sewer Auth., 982 So.2d 484, 490 (Ala.2007)).

In this action, it is undisputed that the accident occurred in Montgomery County, that the authorities that responded and investigated the accident are located in Montgomery County, that relevant witnesses are located in Montgomery County, and that venue is proper in Montgomery County. It is also undisputed that Deborah S. Siniard, the decedent, resided in Tennessee, that Daniel Siniard currently resides in Tennessee, and that the vehicle that is the subject of the action was purchased in Tennessee. Although Ford apparently did business by agent in Barbour County at the time of the accident, it no longer does so. So far as this Court is aware, the only current connection between Barbour County and this action is that Siniard chose to file the action in that county.

This Court recently decided Ex parte Navistar, Inc., 17 So.3d 219 (Ala.2009), a case with similar relevant facts. Navistar concerned a single-vehicle heavy-truck rollover accident in which Edward Stewart, the driver of the truck, was killed. The accident occurred in Colbert County. Stewart's daughter and the administratrix of his estate, Brooklyn Price, filed an action in Barbour County against Navistar-the designer, engineer, and manufacturer of the truck. Price sought damages for Navistar's alleged negligence and wantonness and its alleged violation of the AEMLD, asserting that the truck was not “...