Key v. Hamilton

• Citation: 963 N.E.2d 573
• Decision Date: 28 February 2012
• Docket Number: No. 48A02–1007–CT–812.,48A02–1007–CT–812.
• Parties: Jacob KEY, Ted J. Brown and Sally A. Brown, Appellants, v. Dewayne HAMILTON, Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Indiana

963 N.E.2d 573

Jacob KEY, Ted J. Brown and Sally A. Brown, Appellants,

v.Dewayne HAMILTON, Appellee.

No. 48A02–1007–CT–812.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

Feb. 28, 2012.

W. Brent Threlkeld, Benjamin G. Stevenson, Threlkeld & Associates, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellants.

Mark K. Dudley, Lisa Deley, Howard DeLey & Dudley, LLP, Anderson, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

VAIDIK, Judge.

Case Summary

Jacob Key, Ted J. Brown, and Sally A. Brown (collectively “the Defendants”) appeal the jury's verdict and trial court's judgment of $990,000 against them. They argue that the trial court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment, motion for judgment on the evidence, and motion for a directed verdict. They also argue that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on assumption of duty using the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Finding that a signaling driver may owe a duty of care to a third party motorist as a matter of law when his actions result in the reasonable reliance by the signaled driver that traffic is clear, we hold that the trial court did not err in denying the motions. We also hold that although the jury instruction for assumption of duty was given in error, it was harmless because it properly encapsulates Indiana's negligence law. We therefore affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

On August 11, 2008, Key, the Browns' employee, was driving a work truck for “Ted's Plumbing.” Key was driving southbound on State Road 9 ¹ when he approached the intersection of State Road 9 and Huntsville Road, just northeast of Pendleton, Indiana. State Road 9 is a four-lane road with two lanes for northbound traffic and two lanes for southbound traffic, but the road narrows to one southbound lane a few hundred feet south of its intersection with Huntsville Road. Immediately north of this intersection, State Road 9 intersects with Market Street, which runs east-west, parallel to Huntsville Road.

Before Key could reach the intersection of State Road 9 and Huntsville Road (“the SR 9/Huntsville Rd intersection”), he was stopped in the outermost southbound lane in a line of traffic north of the intersection of State Road 9 and Market Street (“the SR 9/Market St intersection”). At the same time, John Owens was in his truck heading east on Market Street and was stopped at a stop sign at the SR 9/Market St intersection, waiting to make a left-hand turn onto northbound State Road 9. Because his lane of traffic was stopped by the stoplight at the SR 9/Huntsville Rd intersection, Key left an opening in the traffic when he stopped at the SR 9/Market St intersection so that the truck driven by Owens could enter the intersection. Key looked in his rear-view mirrors and did not observe any traffic approaching in the innermost southbound lane to his left. Key even got out of his truck, stood on the doorsill, looked north, and did not see any oncoming traffic. He then gave a “waving” hand signal to Owens indicating that “it was clear.” Tr. p. 226.

Owens's view of the oncoming southbound traffic in the lane to Key's left was obstructed by Key's truck and the accumulated traffic in the lane behind Key. Owens therefore pulled out from Market Street, looked north, and crept out slowly trying to look for any traffic. Owens stated that he did not pull his truck out any differently than he would have had Key not waved to him, but he also stated that he would not have pulled out had Key not waved to him. As Owens moved his car into the northbound lane of State Road 9, his car was struck by a motorcycle being driving by Hamilton, who had been traveling on State Road 9 in the innermost southbound lane. The accident propelled Hamilton over Owens's truck and onto the highway. It appears to be undisputed that Hamilton was traveling in excess of the posted speed limit.

A basic diagram demonstrating the location of the various parties and their vehicles immediately before the accident's impact is set forth below: ²

Image 1 (6.94" X 6.19") Available for Offline Print Hamilton was seriously injured as a result of the accident, and on May 14, 2009, he filed a complaint against Key, Ted's Plumbing, Inc., and Ted's Excavation, Inc. Hamilton amended his complaint to remove Ted's Plumbing and Ted's Excavation as defendants and to add Ted and Sally Brown as defendants based on their status as Key's employers. The Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Key owed no duty to Hamilton. The trial court denied this motion.³

The case then proceeded to trial. At the end of Hamilton's case-in-chief, the Defendants moved for judgment on the evidence, arguing again that Key owed no duty to Hamilton. The trial court denied this motion. The Defendants then renewed their motion for judgment on the evidence at the end of their case-in-chief, but the trial court denied the motion yet again. Before deliberation, the Defendants also challenged the jury instruction on assumption of duty that mirrored Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A, arguing that the instruction did not correctly state the law and was not supported by the evidence in the record. The trial court gave the instruction over this objection.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Hamilton. The jury allocated fault for the accident as follows: 5% to Hamilton, 45% to Key, and 50% to non-party Owens. The jury also determined that Hamilton's damages were $2.2 million. The trial court therefore entered judgment against the Defendants in the amount of $990,000. The Defendants now appeal.⁴

Discussion and Decision

The Defendants raise four issues on appeal, which we consolidate and restate as: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying the Defendants' motions—motion for summary judgment, motion for judgment on the evidence, and motion for directed verdict, (2) whether Hamilton showed that Key's conduct was the proximate cause of his injuries, and (3) whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A.

I. Defendants' Motions

When reviewing the entry or denial of summary judgment, our standard of review is the same as that of the trial court: summary judgment is appropriate only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Ind. Trial Rule 56(C); Dreaded, Inc. v. St. Paul Guardian Ins. Co., 904 N.E.2d 1267, 1269 (Ind.2009). All facts established by the designated evidence, and all reasonable inferences from them, are to be construed in favor of the nonmoving party. Naugle v. Beech Grove City Sch., 864 N.E.2d 1058, 1062 (Ind.2007).

The standard of review on a challenge to a directed verdict, also known as judgment on the evidence, is the same as the standard governing the trial court in making its decision. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Noble, 854 N.E.2d 925, 931 (Ind.Ct.App.2006), trans denied. Judgment on the evidence is proper where all or some of the issues are not supported by sufficient evidence. Id. We will examine only the evidence and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom that are most favorable to the non-movant, and the motion should be granted only where there is no substantial evidence to support an essential issue in the case. Id. If there is evidence that would allow reasonable people to differ as to the result, judgment on the evidence is improper. Id.; see also Ind. Trial Rule 50(A).

Hamilton's complaint alleged negligence on the part of the Defendants, which is comprised of three elements: “(1) a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, (2) a breach of that duty by the defendant, and (3) an injury to the plaintiff as a proximate result of the breach.” Ford Motor Co. v. Rushford, 868 N.E.2d 806, 810 (Ind.2007). But consideration of duty and breach of duty always begins with consideration of the venerable legal concept of the “reasonable person.” As stated in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 283 (1965), “[u]nless the actor is a child, the standard of conduct to which he must conform to avoid being negligent is that of a reasonable [person] under like circumstances.” Negligence occurs when conduct falls below this standard. “Lack of reasonable care that an ordinary person would exercise in like or similar circumstances is the factor upon which the presence or absence of negligence depends.” Jones v. Gleim, 468 N.E.2d 205, 207 (Ind.1984).

The negligence issue in this case therefore turns generally on what ordinary persons in the positions of Hamilton, Owen, and Key would have expected and how such ordinary persons would have conducted themselves under circumstances like or similar to those before us. More specifically, the question of negligence is whether Key's conduct in signaling Owens breached a duty to Hamilton that reasonable persons in Key's, Owen's, and Hamilton's respective positions would have recognized and expected to exist.

Duty is usually created by the normal expectations of our civil society. “Those [risks] against which [an] actor is required to take precautions are those which society, in general, considers sufficiently great to demand preventive measures.” W. Prosser & W. Keeton, Prosser & Keeton on Torts § 31 p. 170. (5th ed. 1984). “A duty, in negligence cases, may be defined as an obligation, to which the law will give recognition and effect, to conform to a particular standard of conduct toward another.” Id. at § 53 p. 356. “The duty of reasonable care is not, of course, owed to the world at large, but rather to those who might reasonably be foreseen as being subject to injury by the breach of the duty.” Webb v. Jarvis, 575 N.E.2d 992, 997 (Ind.1991) (citing Thiele v. Faygo Beverage, Inc., 489 N.E.2d 562, 574 (Ind.Ct.App.1986), reh'g denied, trans. denied ). Many motor vehicle statutes create duties.⁵

Hamilton has directed our attention to the single Indiana case with similar facts to those before us. In Claxton v. Hutton, 615 N.E.2d 471 (Ind.Ct.App.1993), Wagner was traveling south when sh...