Layne v. United States
| Decision Date | 11 May 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 71-1958,71-2627.,71-1958 |
| Citation | 460 F.2d 409 |
| Parties | Shields A. LAYNE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellant. Shields A. LAYNE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Greer S. Goldman, Arlington, Va. (argued), Anthony J. Steinmeyer, Alan S. Rosenthal, L. Patrick Gray, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Washington, D. C., G. Kent Edwards, U. S. Atty., Anchorage, Alaska, for appellant/cross appellee.
Stephen N. Lipton (argued), Henry H. Wallace, of Wallace & Lipton, Pittsburgh, Pa., James R. Blair, of Rice, Hoppner & Blair, Fairbanks, Alaska, for appellee/cross appellant.
Before HAMLIN, DUNIWAY and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges.
The United States, defendant in this Federal Tort Claims Act action, appeals from the district court's judgment of liability and award of damages in favor of the plaintiff Layne, challenging the finding of liability on the ground that Layne was contributorily negligent as a matter of law and alternatively requesting correction of the allegedly erroneous computation of the damages granted. Layne cross-appeals, claiming that the amount awarded by the district court was insufficient.
The trial court found the facts substantially as follows:
At 5:00 p. m. on May 26, 1966, tracked military vehicles belonging to the United States were being operated by its agents in a southerly direction on the unpaved Army tank trail which runs directly adjacent to a two-lane paved public highway, the Richardson Highway, at approximately Mile Twenty-one from Fairbanks, Alaska. The military vehicles caused a large, dense cloud of dust and debris to form and spread across the entire width of the highway, thereby obstructing the visibility of motorists operating their vehicles on the highway. The United States was negligent in maintaining the unpaved tank trail directly adjacent to the highway and in operating its tracked vehicles in the manner described.
As the direct and proximate result of the negligence of the United States the plaintiff Layne, upon being confronted by the large, dense cloud of dust and debris while lawfully operating his vehicle in a northerly direction on the Richardson Highway, was forced to slow his vehicle on the highway, whereupon his vehicle was struck from behind by another vehicle operated by one Kirk Wickersham, who because of the dust and debris obstructing the highway was unable to see plaintiff's vehicle on the highway ahead. Layne operated his vehicle as a reasonably prudent person would have done under similar circumstances, and was not contributorily negligent.
Layne suffered a blow to the back of his head as the sole, direct, and proximate result of which he has been caused to be permanently disabled by brain damage, which damage to the extent found, is permanent.
The following damages were awarded with interest at 6% per annum on the entire award, except pain and suffering, from the date of the judgment (November 30, 1970) until paid:
A. Past medical expenses $ 1,475.00
B. Future medical expenses 10,000.00
C. Past loss of wages 40,428.50
D. Future loss of wages 97,200.00
E. Pain and suffering 25,000.00
___________
Total $174,103.50
I. The appeal of the United States.
The United States argues that the court erred in concluding that Layne did not negligently contribute to the accident. We do not agree. The trial court rejected the alternative courses of action that the United States suggested for Layne as no more reasonable than the course he actually pursued. Turning off the highway to the right would have subjected Layne to considerable risk by placing him directly in the path of the oncoming military vehicle. Turning off the highway to the left would have required crossing over the lane of on-coming traffic, with visibility ahead very poor because of the cloud of dust created by defendant. The trial court held that Layne, by reducing his speed and continuing to drive forward in the proper lane, was operating his vehicle "as a reasonably prudent person would have done under like or similar circumstances. . . ." We cannot say that the trial court erred as a matter of law.
The Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act, which became effective in Alaska on April 22, 1970 (Alas.Stats., Title 9, ch. 16, 1971 Cum.Supp.) provides: "When a release . . . is given in good faith to one of two or more persons liable in tort for the same injury . . ., . . . it reduces the claim against the other tortfeasors . . . in the amount of the consideration paid for it." Alaska Code of Civil Procedure § 09.16.040, § 4 of the Uniform Act. Layne settled his claim against Kirk Wickersham on September 30, 1970, for $50,000, and the trial court dismissed Wickersham as a defendant in this action. The United States, as the remaining defendant against whom the court granted judgment, now seeks reduction by $50,000 of the damages awarded Layne by the court, claiming that Section 09.16.040 of the Alaska Code of Civil Procedure requires it.
Although the causes of action against Wickersham and the United States arose at the time of the accident in 1966, before the effective date of the Alaska Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act, Section 09.16.040 is applicable here because the settlement was made after the statute became effective. See Smith v. Fenner, 1960, 399 Pa. 633, 161 A.2d 150, 154-155.
Layne admits the applicability of the Act, but claims that the United States cannot rely on Section 09.16.040 because it failed to raise the issue during the trial by placing the settlement in evidence and showing that the released defendant Wickersham, was in fact a joint tortfeasor. That Wickersham was not "one of two or more persons liable in tort for the same injury," Layne contends, is demonstrated by the court's specific finding that the accident and Layne's resulting injuries "were caused solely by, and were the direct and proximate result of, the negligence of the . . . United States of America."
Layne misapprehends the purpose and effect of § 4 of the Uniform Act. While § 4 changed the common law in one respect (i. e., by providing that release of one joint tortfeasor does not automatically release the other joint tortfeasors), it retained that part of the common law rule embodying the sound public policy of permitting a plaintiff to receive only the amount of his adjudged damages and no more, regardless of the source of the recovery. Since the principle is that there can be but one satisfaction for the same injury, whether or not the released party is in fact jointly liable with ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Felder v. U.S.
...Mills v. Tucker, 499 F.2d 866, 868 (9th Cir. 1974); McCauley v. United States, 470 F.2d 137, 139 (9th Cir. 1972); Layne v. United States, 460 F.2d 409, 412 (9th Cir. 1972). See United States v. Furumizo, 381 F.2d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 1967). In two other cases we applied the state standard of ......
-
Griffin v. U.S.
...v. Miller, 385 Pa. 348, 123 A.2d 422 (1956).32 Cf. Swigert v. Welk, 213 Md. 613, 133 A.2d 428 (Md.1957). But cf. Layne v. United States, 460 F.2d 409, 411 (9th Cir. 1972).33 The provision states: 'in any action in which the said Pfizer Inc. is or may be a defendant . . ..'34 Moreover, the t......
-
Llc v. Dentsply Int'l Inc. a Del. Bus. Corp.
...( "[T]he principle is that there can be but one satisfaction for the same injury[.]")(quoting approvingly Layne v. United States, 460 F.2d 409, 411 (9th Cir.1972)). Moreover, to hold that the plaintiff must prove actual damages to be permitted to apply New Mexico law to his or her claim, an......
-
S.E.C. v. Capital Consultants, LLC
...from another party or in another proceeding. See, e.g., Vesey v. United States, 626 F.2d 627, 633 (9th Cir.1980); Layne v. United States, 460 F.2d 409, 411 (9th Cir.1972). The court in the pending case was simply fashioning relief in its own case to allow for a more equal distribution of li......