Martin v. Evans

• Decision Date: 03 June 1998
• Citation: 711 A.2d 458,551 Pa. 496
• Parties: Anthony MARTIN, Appellee, v. Weldon R. EVANS, FORC Company, and Lend-Lease, Inc. and National Rental Systems, Inc., Appellants.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 458

711 A.2d 458

551 Pa. 496

Anthony MARTIN, Appellee, v. Weldon R. EVANS, FORC Company, and Lend-Lease, Inc. and National Rental Systems, Inc., Appellants.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Sept. 16, 1997.

Decided April 24, 1998.

Reargument Denied June 3, 1998.

[551 Pa. 498] Gregory L. Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh, for Weldon R. Evans, FORC Co., Lend Lease, Inc. and Nat. Rental Systems, Inc.

Frederick L. Segal, Pittsburgh, for Anthony Martin.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO and NEWMAN, JJ.

OPINION

NEWMAN, Justice.

Appellants Weldon R. Evans (Evans), FORC Company, and Lend-Lease, Inc. request this Court to examine whether the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (trial court) abused its discretion in granting a new trial based on its determination that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. This personal injury suit arose from an accident in which Evans' tractor-trailer backed into Appellee Anthony Martin (Martin). The parties presented conflicting testimony relating directly to the issue of Evans' negligence, and the jury concluded that Evans was not negligent. Because the verdict rested on a credibility determination, we hold that the trial court usurped the jury's responsibility by disregarding its finding that Evans was not negligent. Accordingly, we reverse and reinstate the jury's verdict.

FORC Company employed Evans as a truck driver. On May 24, 1989, Evans was driving a tractor-trailer that was forty-five feet long, eight feet wide and thirteen feet, six inches tall. He was proceeding southbound on Interstate 79 when he pulled into the Canonsburg rest stop. Along the left-hand side of the parking lot, there were parallel parking spots for trucks. Evans pulled his truck into what he believed to be the last parallel parking spot in that row. Notes of Testimony (N.T.), May 6, 1994, at 261. Because it was the last spot, he had to angle the cab of the truck to the trailer to maneuver the truck into the space. Id. at 262.

Evans left the truck running, and went to the restrooms. When he returned, he looked in back of the truck before he got into the cab and noticed that no one was parked behind him. N.T. at 264-65. He recorded the stop in his logbook, which took approximately two minutes, then he prepared to back up. N.T. at 265-66. Evans testified that he put the truck into reverse and released both the emergency brake for the cab and the emergency brake for the tractor. When released, the emergency brakes emit a hissing sound that lasts for about two seconds. N.T. at 270-71. He activated his four-way flashers, which are similar to an automobile's hazard lights. Then he looked through the side-view mirrors, but because of the angle of the truck and the length of the trailer, he could not see directly behind him. He reversed the truck "[s]lower than you could walk" until he felt a nudge and saw someone waving at him to stop. N.T. at 272-73. He stopped the truck and through his right-hand rear view mirror he saw someone fall just to the right, rear of his truck. When he got out of his truck to investigate, Evans saw Martin lying on the ground. Id.

Martin and Rochester Steverson (Steverson) were driving southbound on Interstate 79 on May 24, 1989, when they, too, stopped at the Canonsburg rest area. Their truck was an Isuzu box truck that was about twenty feet long and ten feet wide. N.T., May 5, 1994, at 70. The driver of the truck parked approximately seven to ten feet directly behind Evans' tractor-trailer. Martin was either walking or standing between the Isuzu truck and Evans' tractor-trailer when the tractor-trailer began to back into him. He claimed that he tried to get out of the way but was unable to do so. He became pinned between the two vehicles. Once he realized what was happening, Steverson put the Isuzu truck into reverse to free Martin, who fell to the ground. Martin suffered injuries to his right arm and back. As result, Martin brought a negligence action against Evans, his employer FORC Company, Lend-Lease, Inc., and National Rental Systems. ¹

A jury trial took place from May 5, 1994 to May 11, 1994. The parties presented conflicting testimony concerning the circumstances surrounding the accident. The trial court instructed the jury on negligence, contributory negligence, and comparative negligence. The court presented the following interrogatories to the jury for its consideration:

Question 1a

Do you find that defendant Weldon R. Evans was negligent?

Yes ____ No ____

If you answered "Yes" to Question 1a, go on to Question 1b. If you answered "No" to Question 1a, the plaintiff cannot recover and you should not answer any further questions and should return to the courtroom.

Question 1b

Was the defendant's negligence a substantial factor in bringing about the plaintiff's harm?

Yes ____ No ____

If you answered "Yes" to Question 1b, go on to Question 2a. If you answered "No" to Question 1b, the plaintiff cannot recover and you should not answer any further questions and should return to the courtroom.

Question 2a

Do you find that plaintiff Anthony Martin was contributorily negligent?

Yes ____ No ____ If you answered "Yes" to Question 2a, go on to Question 2b. If you answered "No" to Question 2a, go on to Question 4.

Question 2b

Was plaintiff's contributory negligence a substantial factor in bringing about his harm?

Yes ____ No ____

If you answered "Yes" to Question 2b, go on to Question 3. If you answered "No" to Question 2b, go on to Question 4.

* * *

Reproduced Record at 5 (Questions 3 and 4 addressed damages). The jury answered "No" to Question 1a, therefore, did not answer the remaining questions. The trial court molded the jury's answer into a verdict in favor of Appellants.

Martin moved for a new trial. ² The trial court granted the motion on the grounds that the jury's verdict "shocked the Court's sense of justice." Slip Op. at 8. The court reasoned that because Evans sat in his truck for "a couple [of] minutes" before backing up, he was aware that there were blind spots in his mirrors such that he was unable to see directly behind his vehicle, and it was a busy rest area and likely that a pedestrian or vehicle could stand or park directly behind him, the jury's verdict that Evans was not negligent was unacceptable. Slip Op. at 7-8.

Evans appealed to the Superior Court, which concluded in a Memorandum Opinion that the trial court properly granted a new trial, and thus affirmed. This Court granted Evans' Petition for Allowance of Appeal to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in granting a new trial where the parties presented conflicting testimony that required a credibility determination. We now reverse.

A new trial is warranted when the jury's verdict is so contrary to the evidence that it shocks one's sense of justice. Randt v. Abex Corp., 448 Pa.Super. 224, 231, 671 A.2d 228, 232 (1996). The decision to grant a new trial lies within the discretion of the trial court. Coker v. S.M. Flickinger Company, Inc., 533 Pa. 441, 625 A.2d 1181 (1993). However, "a new trial should not be granted because of a mere conflict in testimony or because the trial judge on the same facts would have arrived at a different conclusion...." Thompson v. City of Philadelphia, 507 Pa. 592, 598, 493 A.2d 669, 672 (1985). Where a trial court orders a new trial because it determines that the weight of the evidence does not support the jury's finding, our scope of review encompasses the entire record to decide whether the trial court has clearly and palpably abused its discretion. Morrison v. Dept. of Public Welfare (Woodville State Hospital), 538 Pa. 122, 646 A.2d 565 (1994).

To establish a cause of action in negligence, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, the defendant breached that duty, the breach resulted in injury to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff suffered an actual loss or damage. Reilly v. Tiergarten Inc., 430 Pa.Super. 10, 14, 633 A.2d 208, 210 (1993), alloc. denied, 538 Pa. 673, 649 A.2d 675 (1994). Negligence is the absence of ordinary care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in the same or similar circumstances. Lanni v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 371 Pa. 106, 88 A.2d 887 (1952). See also Pa. SSJI (Civ) 3.01. The mere occurrence of an accident does not establish negligent conduct. Butler v. City of Pittsburgh, 113 Pa.Cmwlth. 406, 410, 537 A.2d 112, 114, alloc. denied, 519 Pa. 655, 546 A.2d 60 (1988). Rather, the plaintiff has the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant engaged in conduct that deviated from the general standard of care expected under the circumstances, and that this deviation proximately caused actual harm. Hamil v. Bashline, 481 Pa. 256, 392 A.2d 1280 (1978).

The trial court instructed the jury with regard to the definition of negligence as follows:

The legal term, negligence, otherwise known as carelessness, is the absence of ordinary care which a reasonably prudent person would exercise in the circumstances here presented.

Negligent conduct may consist either of an act or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. In other words, negligence is the failure to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the doing of something which a reasonably careful person would not do in light of all the surrounding circumstances established by the evidence in this case. It is for you to determine how a reasonably careful person would act in those circumstances.

Now, I told you in defining negligence that part of that definition was absence of ordinary care.

I want to define ordinary care for you. Ordinary care is the care a reasonably careful person would use under the circumstances presented in this case. It is the duty of every person to use ordinary care not only for his own safety and the protection of his property, but also to avoid injury to others. What constitutes...