Hall v. Clarendon Outdoor Advertising, Inc., 1940
| Decision Date | 08 December 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 1940,1940 |
| Citation | 428 S.E.2d 1,311 S.C. 185 |
| Parties | Jack E. HALL, Respondent, v. CLARENDON OUTDOOR ADVERTISING, INC., Appellant. . Heard |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
Rebecca Laffitte and Jane Thompson Davis of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, Columbia, for appellant.
R. Wright Turbeville and Bobbie C. Reaves of Land, Turbeville & Parker, Manning, for respondent.
Respondent, Jack E. Hall, brought this action against appellant, Clarendon Outdoor Advertising, Inc., for damages to his automobile sustained from a sign being removed by appellant after Hurricane Hugo struck. Following a jury verdict for Hall, Clarendon appeals. We affirm.
The record reveals as follows. In anticipation of Hurricane Hugo, Hall and his wife left their beach front property and drove to the Comfort Inn in Manning, South Carolina to try to get away from the storm. When the hurricane hit, the Comfort Inn sign came down and was resting on top of the overhang under which the Hall's had parked their car. The Hall's testified that the wooden structure overhang had caved in but formed a supporting structure around the car and although surrounded by debris, the car was basically undamaged with the exception of some scratches. William Logan, a former employee of the Comfort Inn, testified that "the sign was ... just resting on top of the car under the debris" and that, other than a lot of scratches, there wasn't any damage to the car. Subsequently, Clarendon was hired by Comfort Inn to remove the sign. In the removal process, the sign fell and crushed the car.
A key issue during the trial was the amount of damage the car had sustained prior to the removal of the sign. One of the owners of Clarendon testified that he inspected the car prior to removal of the sign and found the back window and driver's side windows broken out and the top of the car pushed in. He stated the car was severely damaged before the sign removal and that they only caused minor damage when they cut the sign down. Clarendon further offered the testimony of Donald Walker, a licensed automobile appraiser, as an expert in the area of vehicle damage and appraisal. Walker attempted to testify as to damage to the car based on several photographs admitted into evidence. Upon Hall's objection, the trial judge ruled Walker could not testify as to the damage to the car based on the pictures. He stated as follows:
... [Y]ou're asking him to look at some pictures that the jury has already looked at and they're just as capable of looking at those pictures as Mr. Walker is.
. . . . .
No, I don't think the pictures are enough to do that. He has to look at the car.
. . . . .
Those are small pictures, it's very difficult to see what's broken and what's not broken. If he has examined the car himself then I'm going to rule that he's qualified to say what damage is done to it.
Clarendon further sought to have the expert testify as to the value of the car "based on the plaintiff's testimony" and "based on the defendant's testimony." The trial judge refused to allow this testimony stating, "That's pitting witnesses against each other." Clarendon then proffered the testimony of Walker that the...
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