Laney v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 05 December 1996
• Docket Number: No. 23124,23124
• Citation: 479 S.E.2d 902,198 W.Va. 241
• Parties: Tracy L. LANEY, Administratrix of the Estate of Herbert T. Laney, Jr., Tracy L. Laney, in Her Individual Capacity, Wendy Laney, by Her Next Friend, Mother and Legal Guardian, Tracy L. Laney, and Krystal Laney, by Her Next Friend, Mother and Legal Guardian, Michelle Laney, Plaintiffs Below, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Allstate Insurance Company and Dale R. Taylor, Defendants Below, Appellees. Dale R. TAYLOR, Third-Party Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. The ALIBI BAR, Richard Gray, The Riverside Inn, Jenetari Zeitz, The Moulin Rouge Club, and Leonard Brogan, Third-Party Defendants Below, Appellees.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court

Page 902

479 S.E.2d 902

198 W.Va. 241

Tracy L. LANEY, Administratrix of the Estate of Herbert T.

Laney, Jr., Tracy L. Laney, in Her Individual Capacity,

Wendy Laney, by Her Next Friend, Mother and Legal Guardian, Tracy L. Laney, and Krystal Laney, by Her Next Friend, Mother and Legal Guardian, Michelle Laney, Plaintiffs Below, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Allstate

Insurance Company and Dale R. Taylor, Defendants

Below, Appellees.

Dale R. TAYLOR, Third-Party Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. The ALIBI BAR, Richard Gray, The Riverside Inn, Jenetari

Zeitz, The Moulin Rouge Club, and Leonard Brogan,

Third-Party Defendants Below, Appellees.

No. 23124.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted Sept. 11, 1996.

Decided Dec. 5, 1996.

[198 W.Va. 242] Syllabus by the Court

1. "Whether a stranger to the first action can assert collateral estoppel in the second action depends on several general inquiries: Whether the issues presented in the present case are the same as presented in the earlier case; whether the controlling facts or legal principles have changed substantially since the earlier case; and, whether there are special circumstances that would warrant the conclusion that enforcement of the judgment would be unfair." Syllabus Point 6, Conley v. Spillers, 171 W.Va. 584, 301 S.E.2d 216 (1983).

2. "The application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel is discretionary with the trial court and rests upon a number of factual predicates, therefore, a writ of prohibition will not issue on the basis that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to enforce

[198 W.Va. 243] collateral estopped." Syllabus Point 7, Conley v. Spillers, 171 W.Va. 584, 301 S.E.2d 216 (1983)

3. " 'On appeal of a case involving an action covered by the Rules of Civil Procedure, this Court will disregard and regard as harmless any error, defect or irregularity in the proceedings in the trial court which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties.' Syl. pt. 2, Boggs v. Settle, 150 W.Va. 330, 145 S.E.2d 446 (1965)." Syllabus Point 4, McAllister v. Weirton Hosp. Co., 173 W.Va. 75, 312 S.E.2d 738 (1983).

4. "This Court reviews the circuit court's final order and ultimate disposition under an abuse of discretion standard. We review challenges to findings of fact under a clearly erroneous standard: conclusions of law are reviewed de novo." Syllabus Point 4, Burgess v. Porterfield, 196 W.Va. 178, 469 S.E.2d 114 (1996).

5. "In determining whether the verdict of a jury is supported by the evidence, every reasonable and legitimate inference, fairly arising from the evidence in favor of the party for whom the verdict was returned, must be considered, and those facts, which the jury might properly find under the evidence, must be assumed as true." Syllabus Point 3, Walker v. Monongahela Power Co., 147 W.Va. 825, 131 S.E.2d 736 (1963).

L. David Duffield, Scott W. Andrews, Offutt, Eifert, Fisher, Duffield & Nord, Huntington, for Appellants.

James D. McQueen, Jr., Jeffery C. Dunham, McQueen, Harmon & Potter, L.C., Charleston, for Appellee Dale Taylor.

PER CURIAM: ¹

Tracy L. Laney, et al. (hereinafter Mrs. Laney), appeal the Circuit Court of Roane County's denial of their motion for a new trial after an adverse jury verdict. On appeal, Mrs. Laney is aggrieved by the circuit court's denial of her motion in limine in which she sought to preclude the defendant/appellee, Dale Taylor, from arguing that he was not the driver in the fatal accident because of a juvenile adjudication against Mr. Taylor. Mrs. Laney also maintains that the jury verdict was against the preponderance of the evidence. Because the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to estop collaterally the issue of who was driving, and because the record contains sufficient evidence to support the verdict, we find no merit in Mrs. Laney's assignments of error, and therefore, we affirm the circuit court.

I. FACTS AND BACKGROUND

On October 2, 1988, a single car accident occurred on Route 36 near Newton, West Virginia, in which the car rolled over and came to rest against a tree. As a result of the accident, Mr. Taylor, one of the car's occupants, was severely injured and Herbert T. Laney, Jr., the other occupant, was killed. The major factual question in this case is who, either Mr. Taylor or Mr. Laney, was driving the car at the time of the accident.

Mr. Taylor and the decedent, who were then sixteen (16) and twenty-eight (28) years old, respectively, met at a concert in Roane County on October 1, 1988. Mr. Taylor left the concert to go with the decedent in his car for some cigarettes. According to Mr. Taylor, after drinking at two local bars, Mr. Laney drove to a third bar in the Charleston area where they drank for several hours. The two parted for about a half hour, and after picking up Mr. Taylor, Mr. Laney drove to the interstate. According to Mr. Taylor Most of the evidence about who was driving the car came from medical and rescue workers who were called to the accident scene. Carrie Smith, who was the first person to arrive at the accident, testified that the driver was the person who survived the crash. However, Mr. Smith acknowledged that before the car, which had rolled over, was righted, both bodies were stacked on the driver's side and were indistinguishable. Mr. Smith also said that he was not close to the car until after it was righted. Mr. Smith's father, Steve Smith, testified that before the car was returned to an upright position, it was difficult to distinguish between the two occupants.

[198 W.Va. 244] who testified that he was light headed and ready to pass out when Mr. Laney picked him up, Mr. Laney drove about three or four miles on the interstate when he stopped and Mr. Taylor began driving. Except for moving his mother's car in the driveway, this was Mr. Taylor's first experience driving a car. Mr. Taylor did not know how far he drove on the interstate and did not recall either the accident or driving on any road other than the interstate. Mr. Taylor said that when he awoke in the hospital after the accident he thought he wrecked his bike.

Several members of the Newton Volunteer Fire Department responded to the accident. Doyle Tawney, a volunteer fireman, testified that the driver was the living boy; however, he said he could not see much inside the car until it was rolled over and the top pulled back. Russell Goodwin, a deputy sheriff at the time of the accident, testified that at the time of the accident, Mr. Tawney and Dwayne Collins, another volunteer fireman, told him that both bodies were on the same side and "there was no way they could tell who the driver was." Officer Goodwin concluded in his report that he was unable to determine who the driver was. Sometime thereafter, Officer Goodwin was contacted by Mr. Tawney, who said that Mr. Collins and Delbert McKenzie, another volunteer fireman, said the injured boy was the driver because he was against the door and taken out first. Several weeks thereafter, Officer Goodwin met with the three volunteer firemen who informed him that the injured boy was the driver because they had cut the driver's seat belt off him. Based on this evidence, Officer Goodwin changed his accident report to list Mr. Taylor as the driver.

Two other volunteer firemen also testified that Mr. Taylor was the driver; however, their testimony was challenged with prior inconsistent statements and their friendship with Joe Truman, who was the brother-in-law of the decedent and the owner of the car involved in the accident. Mrs. Laney maintains that there was no confusion about who was driving; rather, the rescue workers were uncertain about the names of the victims. Mrs. Laney argues that the focus of the rescue workers was on saving lives and not learning the victims' names. She also notes that Mr. Taylor's emphasis on relationships to the decedent shows a lack of understanding about small towns, such as Newton, where everyone knows everyone and most are to some degree related.

Additional testimony was offered by Susan Moore Morton, the paramedic with the Clay County Ambulance Service and David Rogers, the Flight Paramedic for the Health Net Aeromedical Services. Ms. Morton, who had been in charge of extricating the occupants from the car, testified that her report listed Mr. Taylor as the passenger and she had no reason to believe she made a mistake in completing her report. Ms. Morton recalled that decedent was behind the steering wheel. Mr. Rogers testified that the dispatch records listed Mr. Taylor as the passenger. However, Margie Hensley, an EMT at the accident scene who climbed into the inverted car to check on the occupants, said that although both occupants were on the driver's side, Mr. Taylor was the driver. Ms. Hensley said that she did not see a seat belt on either occupant. Ms. Hensley, whose husband is a volunteer fireman, acknowledged her friendship with the volunteer firemen and that she had discussed the accident with them before talking to Mrs. Laney's lawyer in October 1994.

Before trial, Mrs. Laney made a motion in limine whereby she sought to preclude Mr Judge Gutsky [sic], Is [sic] the Statue [sic] of Limitations over for criminal action against Dale Taylor on this particular case? Can you answer this?

[198 W.Va. 245] Taylor from arguing that he was not driving at the time of the accident. Mrs. Laney's argument was based on a prior juvenile proceeding in which allegedly Mr. Taylor by plea agreement acknowledged that he was driving at the time of the accident. After the trial court refused to unseal Mr. Taylor's juvenile record and refused to grant Mrs. Laney's motion to preclude such argument, the evidence on the issue was presented at trial. Eventually the matter was submitted to the jury, which in a written note made the following inquiry:

The trial judge advised the jury that they were not to consider that issue because it was...