Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Sutton

• Decision Date: 24 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 97-CT-00634-SCT.,97-CT-00634-SCT.
• Citation: 765 So.2d 1269
• Parties: GREYHOUND LINES, INC. v. Gerald SUTTON, Administrator of the Estate of Nicholas May, Deceased; Gerald Sutton, Administrator of the Estate of Sumone May, Deceased; Donnie Caughman, Administrator of the Estate of Marcus May, Deceased; Estate of Cheryl May; Nancy Bonanno; Paul Cotter; and Robert Riley.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

765 So.2d 1269

GREYHOUND LINES, INC. v. Gerald SUTTON, Administrator of the Estate of Nicholas May, Deceased; Gerald Sutton, Administrator of the Estate of Sumone May, Deceased; Donnie Caughman, Administrator of the Estate of Marcus May, Deceased; Estate of Cheryl May; Nancy Bonanno; Paul Cotter; and Robert Riley.

No. 97-CT-00634-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 24, 2000.

Luther T. Munford, Jackson, Reginald Arthur Gray, III, Hattiesburg, Rebecca Hawkins, Christopher R. Green, Ridgeland, Attorneys for Appellant.

Keith M. Alexander, Southaven, F. Douglas Montague, III, Hattiesburg, Crymes G. Pittman, Jackson, David Shoemake, Collins, C. Victor Welsh, III, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellees.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

MILLS, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. This matter is a wrongful death action which arises out of a collision between an automobile driven by Cheryl May and a Greyhound bus. May and her three children were killed in the collision. The administrators of the respective estates of the children (the Administrators) filed suit against Greyhound Lines, Inc. and the estate of Cheryl May. Greyhound and May's estate then filed cross-claims against one another for the property damage to the bus and for the wrongful death of May, respectively. Three of the passengers in the bus eventually joined in the suit. The matter was tried in Simpson County Chancery Court, and the chancellor found May 90 percent at fault and Greyhound 10 percent at fault. A judgment was entered in the amount of $1.1 million for each of May's children. A judgment for the passengers was entered in the amount of $680,000 for Nancy Bonanno, $285,000 for Paul Cotter, and $50,000 for Robert Riley.

¶ 2. The Court of Appeals affirmed the awards of the passengers, but it reversed and remanded the damages awards of the children, finding, inter alia, that the future incomes of the deceased children should be based on "some type of average income for persons in the community...." Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Sutton, No. 97-CA-00634-COA, slip op. ¶ 33 (Miss.Ct.App. 1999). Greyhound and the Administrators filed petitions for the writs of certiorari which we granted. We affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals as to the liability of Greyhound, but we reverse its decision regarding the damage awards for the deaths of the children and reinstate the chancellor's damage awards.

FACTS

¶ 3. On the night of January 22, 1995, Cheryl May and her three children, Marcus, eight, Sumone, three, and Nicholas, one, were diving on Old Hebron Road in Jefferson Davis County. May ran a stop sign and collided with a greyhound bus traveling north on State Highway 13. May and her three children were killed instantly, and the driver of the bus, as well as some of the passengers, were injured.

¶ 4. A civil action was subsequently filed against Greyhound and May's estate by Gerald Sutton, the father and statutory beneficiary of Nicholas and Sumone, as well as the Administrator of their estates, and Donnie Caughman, Administrator of the estate of Marcus. Greyhound then filed a cross-claim against May's estate for property damage to its bus, and May's estate in turn filed a cross-claim against Greyhound for the wrongful death of May. Three of the passengers on the bus at the time of the collision, Nancy Bonanno, Paul Cotter, and Robert Riley, each intervened and filed their own suits against May's estate and Greyhound. The trial of all of the actions commenced before the Chancery Court of Simpson County on February 10, 1997, and concluded on February 14, 1997.

¶ 5. In his opinion and order entered on March 6, 1997 the chancellor found that Greyhound was 10 percent at fault for the accident and May was 90 percent at fault for the accident. The Chancellor awarded $1.1 million each for the deaths of Marcus, Nicholas, and Sumone, and further awarded $680,000 to Bonanno, $285,000 to Riley, and $50,000 to Cotter.

¶ 6. Greyhound appealed, and the Administrators cross-appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed as to the liability of Greyhound, as well as the awards to the bus passengers, but reversed and remanded the damage awards for the deaths of the children. Greyhound and the Administrators each filed petitions for writs of certiorari, both of which were granted.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7. We begin with our often cited and familiar standard of review.

[T]his Court reviews questions of law de novo. Bank of Mississippi v. Hollingsworth, 609 So.2d 422, 424 (Miss.1992).

. . . . .

This Court will not disturb those findings [of a chancellor] unless manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or an erroneous legal standard was applied. Reversal is permitted only in those cases where the chancellor was manifestly in error in his finding of fact and manifestly abused his discretion. Where the factual findings of the chancellor are supported by substantial credible evidence, they are insulated from disturbance on appellate review.

Brooks v. Brooks, 652 So.2d 1113, 1117 (Miss.1995) (quoting Dillon v. Dillon, 498 So.2d 328, 330 (Miss.1986)).

1. Greyhound's liability

¶ 8. Greyhound argues that the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the chancellor's decision regarding liability. Specifically Greyhound argues that the Court of Appeals misconstrued Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-505 (1996) to require every driver on a through road to slow down as the driver approaches an intersection, even where the crossing road has a stop sign, because, as Greyhound asserts, the only duty of a driver on a through road is to react reasonably when the driver knows or should know that the driver on the crossing road will run the stop sign. Greyhound further argues that the opinion of the Court of Appeals is in conflict with Jobron v. Whatley, 250 Miss. 792, 168 So.2d 279, 284 (1964), and Vines v. Windham, 606 So.2d 128, 131 (Miss.1992).

¶ 9. In response, the Administrators argue that the factual findings of a chancellor are not to be reversed where they are supported by substantial credible evidence in the record, and because they were in this particular case, the Court of Appeals properly affirmed the decision of the chancellor as to liability. Specifically, they argue that the chancellor's finding that the bus driver had a warning of several seconds before the impact is supported by the testimony of Greyhound's own witnesses and passengers. The Administrators further assert that Jobron, provides the reasonable interpretation to Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-505 which Greyhound argues it should be given.¹

¶ 10. On this issue, the Court of Appeals found:

We also hold the chancellor applied the proper legal standard in regard to the duty to keep a proper lookout. In Jobron v. Whatley, 250 Miss. 792, 168 So.2d 279, 284 (1964), our supreme court delineated the proper standard:

Insofar as the appellee's having the right of way, or the right to assume that the driver of the other car would stop his car before entering the intersection, is concerned, this Court has repeatedly stated what the rule is, namely: That the motorist's right to assume that the driver of a vehicle proceeding toward an intersection will obey the law of the road, which requires him to stop before entering the intersection, exists only until he knows or in the exercise of ordinary care should know otherwise.

Jobron is very similar to the case at bar as it involved a car having the right of way which was hit by a car which ran a stop sign. Id. at 280. A passenger in the car that was hit filed suit against both the driver who ran the stop sign and the driver of the car she was in for failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to properly control the car after seeing the other car approaching. Id. The trial court in Jobron granted a peremptory instruction to the driver of the car the passenger was in because the court felt the passenger failed to make an issue of negligence for the jury. Id. Based on the evidence presented, our supreme court held "[c]ertainly it would be a question for the jury to determine, whether or not the appellee was guilty of negligence in failing to use her brakes and slow her vehicle down so that, when it appeared Dr. White was not going to obey the stop sign and bring his vehicle to a stop, she would have had her vehicle under control and would have been able to avoid the collision." Id. at 282.

Turning to the case at bar, the bus driver had both the duty to slow down as he approached the intersection and a duty to brake when and if it became evident May was not going to stop for the intersection. The chancellor applied the correct legal standards. Therefore, we cannot disturb his opinion for any deficiencies with regard to the law. However, the chancellor also made factual findings that the bus driver breached both these duties. To uphold the chancellor's opinion both of these findings of fact must be supported with substantial credible evidence.

Greyhound Lines, slip op. ¶¶ 14-16.

¶ 11. After examining the evidence found in the record, the Court of Appeals went on to hold:

Substantial credible evidence supports the chancellor's finding that the driver breached his duty to slow down. First, the driver himself testified he did not start to brake until after impact. Also as stated above, evidence supports the findings that the driver was in fact speeding at 56 mph. Although there was no sign warning the driver of the intersection, this does not relieve him of his duty to slow down at that point a reasonable person would know an intersection was approaching. [Passenger] Weaver testified that he saw the lights of May's vehicle five seconds before impact. At that moment, the driver should be in the process of slowing down and keeping a proper lookout of the approaching car.

Substantial credible evidence supports the chancellor's findings that the driver was not keeping a proper lookout. Under Jobron, a driver has no duty to take defensive action until such time as a reasonable person would know a car approaching an

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