Kent County, State of Md. v. Shepherd
| Decision Date | 16 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | 1996,210,Nos. 187,s. 187 |
| Citation | 713 A.2d 290 |
| Parties | KENT COUNTY, STATE OF MARYLAND, Defendant Below, Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. Steven A. SHEPHERD and Mary G. Cline, Plaintiffs Below, Appellees, Cross-Appellants. Steven A. SHEPHERD and Mary G. Cline, Plaintiffs Below, Appellants, Cross-Appellees, v. Timothy S. KNAPP and the State of Maryland, Defendants Below, Appellees, Cross-Appellants. . Submitted: |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Delaware |
Court Below--Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for New Castle County, C.A. No. 93C-10-017.
Upon appeal from the Superior Court. Reversed.
Gerald I.H. Street, and William C. Wagner, II, of Twilley & Street, P.A., Dover; David M. Funk (argued) and Steven J. Troy, of Funk & Bolton, P.A., Baltimore, MD, for Kent County, State of Maryland.
Victor F. Battaglia (argued), of Biggs & Battaglia, Wilmington; Steven G. Hildenbrand, Kimberly Smith Ward, and Regina Hollins Lewis, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, for Timothy S. Knapp and State of Maryland.
Charles P. Brandt (argued) and Bartholomew J. Dalton, of Brandt & Dalton, P.A., Wilmington, for Steven A. Shepherd and Mary G. Cline.
Before VEASEY, C.J., WALSH, HOLLAND, HARTNETT, and BERGER, JJ. (constituting the Court en Banc)
This action arose from an automobile accident in New Castle County, Delaware. Steven A. Shepherd ("Shepherd") and Mary G. Cline ("Cline") filed a complaint in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware against Timothy S. Knapp ("Knapp"), a Kent County, Maryland Deputy Sheriff; Kent County, Maryland ("Kent County"); and the State of Maryland. Shepherd and Cline were subsequently married. They are referred to collectively in this opinion as "the Shepherds." The complaint alleged that: Knapp was negligent in the operation of a motor vehicle; Knapp's negligence caused a motor vehicle accident which resulted in personal injury to the plaintiffs; and, Knapp's negligence is imputed to Kent County and the State of Maryland on the ground that Knapp was an agent, servant, and employee of both because he was operating within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident.
An arbitrator awarded Shepherd and Cline damages of $425,000 and $185,000 respectively. The Superior Court entered a final judgment in favor of Shepherd in the amount of $250,000: $200,000 against Kent County and $50,000 against the State of Maryland. The Superior Court entered a final judgment for Cline in the amount of $185,000: $135,000 against Kent County and $50,000 against the State of Maryland.
Kent County filed a direct appeal against the Shepherds. The Shepherds filed a cross-appeal against Kent County and their own direct appeal against the State of Maryland and Knapp. The State of Maryland and Knapp filed a joint cross-appeal against the Shepherds.
This Court now has before it those consolidated appeals and cross-appeals. The Shepherds contend that all of the original defendants are jointly and severally liable for the full amount awarded to each of them by the arbitrator. The State of Maryland admits that it is vicariously liable for Knapp's negligence. The State of Maryland and Knapp both contend, however, that they are each absolutely immune from liability to the Shepherds under the Maryland Tort Claims Act, because that Act waives sovereign immunity only for lawsuits brought in a judicial forum within the State of Maryland. Kent County contends that, as a matter of law, only the State of Maryland is vicariously liable for the negligent conduct by Knapp that was the proximate cause of the Shepherds' injuries.
The issues presented in this case can be resolved only by reexamining and applying some of the most fundamental principles of interstate and intrastate sovereignty which comprise the federal structure of the United States Constitution. In doing so, this Court has been guided by two opinions from the United States Supreme Court that were issued during the pendency of this appeal. 1 We also gratefully acknowledge the series of oral arguments and written submissions that have been presented by the attorneys for all of the parties.
This Court has concluded that Knapp and the State of Maryland are jointly and severally liable for the full amount of damages awarded to Shepherd and Cline by the arbitrator. We have also determined that Kent County is not vicariously liable to the Shepherds for Knapp's negligent conduct. Accordingly, the judgments of the Superior Court are reversed.
The facts surrounding the automobile accident are not in dispute. At approximately 8 p.m. on October 24, 1992, Knapp was driving a 1990 Ford Mustang on Route 13 near the intersection of Boulden Boulevard, in New Castle County, Delaware. As Knapp was approaching a red light, his automobile struck the rear end of another motor vehicle. The force of the impact propelled that other vehicle into the rear of the Shepherds' automobile, which was stopped at the red light. Shepherd and Cline each suffered serious back injuries as a result of the accident.
Knapp was employed by the Kent County Sheriff's Office as a deputy sheriff. As an employee of the Kent County Sheriff's Office, Knapp was assigned to the Kent County Narcotics Task Force ("the Task Force"). At the time of the accident, Knapp was on-duty as a member of the Task Force, conducting an investigation. He was driving within the State of Delaware to obtain a description of a house in Wilmington, so that the Task Force could later obtain a search warrant.
The Task Force was a joint effort of several agencies within the State of Maryland, created by contract, for the purpose of coordinating "a multi-agency law enforcement unit, the manpower and resources of which shall be directed at violations of the Maryland Controlled Dangerous Substances Act." The signatories to the Task Force Agreement (the "Agreement") intended to "implement a joint and common utilization of training and support functions as well as the pooling of investigative resources." The parties to the Agreement were the Maryland State Police, the Kent County Sheriff's Office, the Kent County Commissioners, the Chestertown Police Department, the Rock Hall Police Department, the Mayor and Council of Chestertown, the Mayor and Council of Rock Hall, and the Kent County State's Attorney.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the Task Force is staffed by officers from the various parties' agencies. The Agreement provides that the Task Force shall be supervised by a member of the Maryland State Police, and that the State Police shall assign at least one additional full-time officer. The Kent County Sheriff's Office is required to supply two full-time officers. 2 Members of the Task Force continued to be paid by their respective agencies. Their respective agencies also had to supply equipment, e.g., firearms, ammunition, and automobiles. Any necessary narcotics training was to be administered by the Maryland State Police.
The Shepherds are residents of Delaware. The Shepherds brought suit in the Superior Court against Knapp, the State of Maryland, and Kent County. After discovery was completed, the parties agreed by stipulation that factual issues of liability and damages would be submitted to binding arbitration. Any issues of law would be decided by the assigned judge of the Superior Court.
Motions in limine were filed by Kent County, the State of Maryland, and Knapp. The Superior Court rejected Maryland's contention that it had absolute sovereign immunity, pursuant to the Maryland Tort Claims Act, because the Shepherds' litigation had not been filed in a Maryland judicial forum. Nevertheless, the Superior Court did rule that it would apply the doctrine of comity, by limiting the liability of Maryland and Knapp to $50,000, as set forth in the Maryland Tort Claims Act. The Superior Court declined, however, to determine whether Knapp was acting as an agent of the State of Maryland or Kent County or both because, in the Superior Court's view, the record created issues of fact as to the right of each or both to control Knapp's actions at the time the accident occurred.
Following a hearing, the arbitrator found that Knapp was negligent in the operation of his motor vehicle at the time of the accident. The arbitrator also found that Knapp's negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries sustained by Shepherd and Cline. The arbitrator made a factual determination that Knapp was acting as an agent and employee of Kent County, and, by admission of the State of Maryland, that Knapp was also acting as an agent of the State of Maryland. The arbitrator also determined that the permanent injuries sustained by Shepherd had a catastrophic impact on his life and he had no realistic hope of returning to his employment with General Motors. The arbitrator awarded Shepherd $425,000 in damages. The arbitrator found that Cline's injuries had also resulted in significant permanent limitations and awarded her $185,000.
Following the arbitration hearing, the Superior Court restated its prior legal rulings and applied them as follows:
1. None of the three defendants, Knapp, Kent County Maryland, or State of Maryland, has absolute immunity from liability for damages in this case.
2. Under principles of comity, the State of Maryland Immunity Statutes do not offend the public policy of Delaware, and should, therefore, be applied in this case, thereby limiting damages payable to Plaintiffs by the State of Maryland and Timothy S. Knapp to $50,000, and damages payable by Kent County, Maryland and Timothy S. Knapp to $200,000.
Final judgments were entered against Knapp, Kent County, and the State of Maryland for those reduced amounts in favor of Shepherd and Cline. Those judgments are being challenged in this Court by all of the parties, for the reasons stated earlier, in their respective appeals and cross-appeals.
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