"On November 30, 1993, ... Davis ..., a long-time resident of Columbiana, Alabama, was employed as a cashier at the BP [gasoline] station in Columbiana, Alabama. Davis's job duties included posting all charges and supervising all the other employees. On November 30, 1993, the other employees that worked at the BP station with Davis were Eric Cohill (hereinafter 'Eric') and Kevin Cohill (hereinafter 'Kevin'). Davis, a trusted employee, had a set of keys to the BP station and was the first one to arrive [at] work every day at approximately 4:30--4:45 a.m. Eric and Kevin would generally arrive at work just prior to 5:00 a.m. when the BP station was to open for business.
"It was customary [for] one of the BP employees [to] go and get breakfast for everyone when there was a slowdown in customers. Davis was in charge of the counter and that meant either Eric or Kevin would leave the BP station to get breakfast. The Hardee's Restaurant ... was across the street less than a half a block away from the BP station. Davis, Eric and Kevin would order breakfast approximately three days a week from Hardee's.
"On the morning of November 30, 1993, at approximately 6:00 a.m., Davis suggested that they get something to eat before it got real busy again, and Eric was elected to go. Eric collected money from Davis and from Kevin and went to Hardee's to get the orders. Davis told Eric that she wanted a biscuit and sausage gravy and handed him the money.
"At approximately 6:05 a.m. ... Eric left the BP station and went to the Hardee's. Eric left the BP station in his car, drove to Hardee's and went inside. Eric placed the order and after waiting only a minute or two, received from the Hardee's employee all of the food placed in one sack [that was] folded over the top. Eric Cohill never opened the sack between the time he was handed the sack by the clerk and when he arrived back at the BP station. Eric was gone a total of approximately five to six minutes. When Eric returned to the BP station he set the sack containing all three meals on the counter to go out and attend to a customer who was driving up to the gas pump. After handling that customer, Eric came back inside and remembers Davis handing out the food to everybody. Davis testified that her meal was contained in a separate sack that was inside the large sack that also had Eric and Kevin's meals. Davis did not open her sack at that time.
"While Eric and Kevin were tending to customers over the next few minutes, Davis took her food out of the sack, opened the styrofoam container that held the meal, [and] poured the gravy on top of the biscuit in the styrofoam container. Davis described this process as follows:
" 'Q. You actually took your food out and started eating before they came in?
" 'A. Yes, sir.
" 'Q. Let's talk about that for a second. You took your food out of the bag, the large bag. And tell us what you did.
" 'A. I pulled mine out and throwed my sack away and opened the container up. I had customers coming in back and forth. Some customers paid for their own gas. Instead of giving it to the boys out there, they came on in because some people charge and they made their personal charges. And I opened the container up. I opened--there was a
small container on the right-hand side, a big styrofoam--not a big but a fairly medium-size styrofoam plate. I opened it up, poured the gravy on the biscuit. I throwed the other container away.'
"Davis began to eat her gravy and biscuit while attending to the four or five customers who came into the store during this time period. Davis described this period as a time which she was 'sneaking bites' out of respect for the customers who were in the store. Davis testified as follows:
" 'Q. Let me ask you this before we go too much further from this point. When you were making the biscuit, you know, you said you poured the gravy on there and snuck some bites. How come it was that you couldn't see that blood at that point?
" 'A. I've asked myself that a thousand times, sir. I was not ever opening the tray up and just really paying attention. I was just opening it up a little and the hinge lid--it had a hinge lid where it was made together would lay on the top of your hand like and I would just cut me a little bite and slip it. So at no time had I ever really opened it up and just really looked because I'm trying to steal or slip little bites discreetly as the customers were coming back and forth. And I guess I was taller and the tray was down here and so--'
"During the entire time from when Davis took the small sack out of the large sack, she had the small sack and the styrofoam container in her view and control. Davis testified as follows:
" 'Q. I have a couple of questions. Maureen, when Eric came in and he put the bags on the counter and then you took yours out of the bag like you have shown us here this morning and you laid it--I think you said on the credit card machine?
" 'A. Yes, sir. It was still in the bag when [I laid it] up there.
" 'Q. In the bag on the credit card machine?
" 'A. Yes, sir. It was in its own individual bag. I don't think anybody understands that yet.
" 'Q. At some point, you took it out of that bag and put it in front of you?
" 'A. Yes, sir.
" 'Q. Was it in front of you like you have shown us here this morning when you stood up here in front of our table?
" 'A. Yes, sir, on the counter--that counter was not a regular 30-inch counter. It came up a little higher.
" 'Q. And so it would have been there the entire time until you actually saw what was in there?
" 'A. Yes, sir.
" 'Q. Would there have been any opportunity in between the time you took it out of its bag and put it in front of you and began to eat that a customer could have bled inside this thing?
" 'A. No, sir, because I didn't ever even open it up not even a full halfway to even throw this biscuit over and throw that gravy in there. I mean I say throw. That's poor use of my vocabulary, but put it together. Because as far as I could tell the blood was all on the inside and it must have been on the top of the lid and come down after a period of time after me eating it, shutting that lid back and forth is the only way it could have got down. It was on the inside of the lip and then it finally got on the bottom lip by closing it back and forth, sticking it together and [then] eventually went down in my biscuit.
" 'Q. To the best of your knowledge, no opportunity for someone to have--
" 'A. No, sir.
" 'Q. --spilled blood in it as they handed you money; is that right?
" 'A. No, sir. I would be over a hundred percent sure. That's how sure I am.'
"At approximately 6:30 a.m., there was a lull in the customers and all three of the BP employees sat down to finish their meals. This was when Davis, for the first time, completely opened her styrofoam container to finish her meal. At this time
Davis discovered the blood. Davis became hysterical, and got sick. Immediately, Eric and Kevin checked each other and Davis to see if anyone had any cuts and none were found. At about the same time, Ann Sartain, a customer, entered the store. Ms. Sartain saw the blood which was completely on the inside of the carton. Neither Eric, Kevin or Davis observed any blood on any other part of the Hardee's bags or other food except the styrofoam container containing Davis's food. Once the blood was discovered in Davis's food, Eric and Kevin threw their food away.
"During the confusion over the next few minutes, Davis, while still very upset, called Hardee's and conveyed her fears of just having ingested human blood and that she might have contracted [the AIDS disease]. Davis was told by the Hardee's employee that, 'she would relay the message,' and then the Hardee's employee hung up. Davis then called the Shelby County Health Department, but it was too early and the office was not open.
"Davis continued to try to phone the Shelby County Health Department and finally was able to talk to [a representative of] the Health Department. At approximately 10:00 a.m., Larry Rush of the Health Department came to the BP station. Ann Sartain was in and out of the store that morning assisting Davis because she knew how upset she was. Larry Rush suggested that Davis get an AIDS and hepatitis test at the Health Department, and also wanted to inspect the bloody food.
"Later that day, Davis placed the food container in an ice cooler to preserve it and ..., at approximately noon, Michael Anderson, an investigator for the law firm of Emond & Vines, picked up the ice chest with the container. Between the time of the discovery of the blood and when it was picked up by Michael Anderson, Davis carefully...
