McWilliams v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs of the Cnty. of Comanche, 107,932.

• Decision Date: 20 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 107,932.,107,932.
• Parties: Paul McWILLIAMS, Appellant, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the County of COMANCHE, a Political Subdivision of the State of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

2011 OK 103

268 P.3d 79

Paul McWILLIAMS, Appellant,

v.BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the County of COMANCHE, a Political Subdivision of the State of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. 107,932.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Dec. 20, 2011.

Certiorari to the Court of Civil Appeals, Division III.¶ 0 Plaintiff commenced this Governmental Tort Claims action against a political subdivision for injuries received in a motorcycle accident occasioned by a defective condition in the county-line road. The District Court of Comanche County, Honorable Allen McCall, entered judgment for the county. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed and the plaintiff timely sought certiorari review by this Court.CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED; OPINION OF COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS VACATED; TRIAL COURT REVERSED; CAUSE REMANDED FOR PROCEEDINGS CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION.

David L. Thomas, Thomas & Terrell, PLLC, Oklahoma City, and Jerry L. Breathwit, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for Appellant.

Michael R. Chaffin, Frailey, Chaffin, Cordell, Perryman, Sterkel & McCalla, LLP, Chickasha, Oklahoma for Appellee.

COLBERT, V.C.J.

¶ 1 The issue presented on certiorari review is whether a governmental subdivision is equitably estopped from denying liability where it, having previously entered into an undisclosed oral contractual agreement regarding the maintenance of the county-line road, failed to advise the plaintiff that another county, not it, bore responsibility for the road maintenance at some point prior to the expiration of the limitations period. Based on the evidence presented, this Court answers in the affirmative.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 On July 26, 2003, McWilliams was injured when his motorcycle hit an area where the road had buckled causing his motorcycle to flip. The road in question adjoins Caddo and Comanche Counties. But, the precise location of the accident is in Caddo County.

¶ 3 McWilliams timely submitted notice of his tort claim to Comanche County via e-mail on November 4, 2003. Comanche County Commissioner, Gale Turner (Commissioner Turner), responded via e-mail on November 10, 2003, and requested “a more descriptive location of the accident.” McWilliams complied.

¶ 4 Unbeknownst to McWilliams, Comanche and Caddo Counties entered into an oral contractual agreement regarding the maintenance of the county-line road more than twenty years ago. Pursuant to that agreement, Caddo County was responsible for maintaining the section of roadway where McWilliams' accident occurred.¹ However, the contractual agreement was oral, and no document is on file in the county records delineating the two counties' responsibilities.

¶ 5 Immediately after receiving notice of McWilliams' accident, Comanche County repaired the road. Later, Caddo County completely overlaid the road. No one, however, advised McWilliams that an oral roadway maintenance agreement existed between the two counties.

¶ 6 On January 19, 2004, prior to retaining counsel, McWilliams contacted Commissioner Turner again, and made an offer to settle his claim for $25,000. However, neither Commissioner Turner nor the insurance carrier responded and the tort claim was accordingly deemed denied pursuant to title 51, section 157(A) of the Oklahoma Statutes.² This action ensued.

¶ 7 McWilliams filed suit against Comanche County in August 2004 alleging negligence in failing to properly maintain the county-line road, south of Apache and east of Highway 62/281, in a safe condition. On August 18, 2004, Comanche County answered, alleging that it “has insufficient information to either admit or deny [McWilliams'] contentions and therefore denies same, both generally and specifically.”

¶ 8 On July 18, 2005, the parties were ordered to conduct mediation; but the mediation was unsuccessful.³ On November 9, 2005—over one year after the commencement of this action and two years after the accident—Comanche County filed a combined Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment. For the first time, Comanche County specifically denied liability based on the Comanche–Caddo roadway maintenance agreement. And, in support thereof, attached an affidavit from Caddo County Commissioner, Carlos Squires, which claimed responsibility for the area in question. Summary judgment was granted to Comanche County in 2006. That judgment, however, was reversed by the Court of Civil Appeals by an unpublished opinion in 2007.

¶ 9 On remand, during a one-day non-jury trial, the trial court, as fact finder, heard testimony from several witnesses. McWilliams testified that on the day of the accident, he was going to visit family members. He stated that while he was familiar with the county road and its condition, he could not determine the height of area where the road had buckled. As McWilliams approached the defective area, he noticed a dog lying on the right side of the roadway. As a precaution, McWilliams navigated his motorcycle to the road's center, and hit the defective surface which caused his motorcycle to flip end-over-end. He suffered severe personal injuries and property damage.

¶ 10 McWilliams' father, Paul McWilliams, Jr. (Paul) testified that following the accident, he notified Commissioner Turner of the incident and the dangerous condition of the road. Paul testified the road was repaired the following day, but he was unsure who repaired the road. He further stated the road remained in good repair following his son's accident.

¶ 11 Commissioner Turner testified that Comanche County had never maintained or made any repairs to the road in question prior to McWilliams' accident. And, he confirmed that Comanche County's maintenance supervisor, Brian Bridges (Bridges), repaired the road after receiving notice of McWilliams' accident. Commissioner Turner further indicated Comanche County made the repairs as a courtesy to Caddo County, because the Counties traditionally made courtesy repairs for other counties if the repairs are necessary for the safety of the public.

¶ 12 Bridges testified he received a call from Comanche County's secretary about McWilliams' accident and inspected the area the following day. Bridges confirmed Caddo County was responsible for maintaining the road.

¶ 13 Caddo County Commissioner Carlos Squires verified that Caddo County was familiar with and responsible for maintaining the road where McWilliams' accident occurred. Commissioner Squires testified that sometime after McWilliams' accident, Caddo County completely overlaid the road. Commissioner Squires confirmed that the agreement with Comanche County was verbal.

¶ 14 After considering the evidence presented, the trial court held that, although the accident was caused by the road's condition, no evidence was presented to support McWilliams' contention that Comanche County was responsible. In so ruling, the trial court determined that the facts presented were insufficient to support estoppel, and specifically stated:

I don't think the facts of this case support estoppel. I don't—I don't approve of how this all occurred with Mr. McWilliams. I think he probably should have been given some more information, but, you know, the other side of that is that the commissioner or some employees of his, is it their duty to advise somebody about the proper place for a lawsuit; probably not.

¶ 15 The trial court concluded McWilliams filed his lawsuit against the wrong county and refused to hold Comanche County liable for McWilliams' injuries based upon the repairs it made to the road after the accident. The court determined the evidence was insufficient to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Comanche County owed a duty to McWilliams, nor was any duty breached by it. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 16 When a trial court's judgment from a bench trial depends on equitable principles, this Court may reexamine the record and weigh the evidence. K & H Well Serv. v. Tcina, Inc., 2002 OK 62, ¶ 9, 51 P.3d 1219, 1223. This Court will disturb the trial court's judgment when its ruling is clearly against the weight of the evidence or contrary to established principles of equity. Wetsel v. Johnson, 1970 OK 69, ¶ 7, 468 P.2d 479; Merritt v. Merritt, 2003 OK 68, ¶ 7, 73 P.3d 878, 882.

ANALYSIS

¶ 17 As a preliminary matter, the trial court erred in binding McWilliams to the Comanche–Caddo County roadway oral maintenance agreement. The Legislature placed the onus of maintaining and constructing “[a]ll county highways on county lines in this state ...” on the adjoining counties. Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 621 (2001). Section 622 permits the counties, by agreement, to predetermine which sections of the county-line road they will maintain and sets forth the manner of enforcement. Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 622 (2001).

¶ 18 Comanche and Caddo Counties entered into an oral agreement more than twenty years ago. The parties concede that no written instrument is on file either memorializing their agreement or making the terms of that agreement readily ascertainable to the public. There is nothing in sections 621 and 622 that prohibits an oral contractual agreement between the contracting counties. Equally, no basis exists to bind unsuspecting non-contracting parties to the counties' undiscoverable agreement. See Okla. Stat. tit. 69, §§ 621–622 (2001); See generally, Morgan v. Galilean Health Enter., Inc., 1998 OK 130, ¶ 13 & n. 26, 977 P.2d 357, 364, (citing Green Bay Packaging v. Preferred Packaging, 1996 OK 121, ¶ 48, 932 P.2d 1091, 1099 (where the court stated that “[a] contingent-fee arrangement is a matter between the client and the client's attorney. It is not binding on the court”)); Burke v. Bennett Drilling Co., 1962 OK 102, 371 P.2d 477.

¶ 19 Based on the facts presented, Comanche County is estopped to deny liability to McWilliams. “Equitable estoppel is generally understood to prevent one party from taking a position which is inconsistent with an earlier action that places the other party at a...