Miller v. Cleckler

• Decision Date: 11 June 2010
• Docket Number: 2090195.
• Citation: 51 So.3d 379
• Parties: Elfreda MILLER v. Wesley CLECKLER.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

51 So.3d 379

Elfreda MILLER

v.Wesley CLECKLER.

2090195.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

June 11, 2010.

Rex W. Slate of Smith & Alspaugh, P.C., Birmingham, for appellant.

Laura Sidwell Maki of Wade Anderson & Associates, Birmingham, for appellee.

BRYAN, Judge.

Elfreda Miller, the plaintiff below, appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of Wesley Cleckler, one of the defendants below, in Mrs. Miller's action alleging negligence and wantonness. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

This case involves a four-automobile accident that occurred on Interstate 65 ("I-65") in Shelby County. On Friday afternoon, August 4, 2006, Mrs. Miller was driving an automobile south on I-65. Mrs. Miller was traveling in the left lane behind her husband, Richard Miller, who was driving a separate automobile. Cleckler was also traveling south on I-65, driving his pickup truck. Cleckler testified that he was driving at a speed of 60 or 65 miles per hour and that traffic was "pretty heavy" at the time. Both Cleckler and Mrs. Miller testified that the speed limit was 70 miles per hour. Mrs. Miller testified that there was a "steady flow of traffic" with vehicles "moving freely." The record on appeal contains testimony from observers that Cleckler was "darting" through traffic "at a high rate of speed" "trying to pass everyone."

At some point, Cleckler merged his pickup truck from the right lane into the left lane in front of Mr. Miller's vehicle. Cleckler testified that, when he moved into the left lane ahead of Mr. Miller, he moved into a gap of about three or four automobile lengths. Cleckler further testified that, shortly after moving into the left lane, the vehicles in front of him began to brake, causing him to apply his brakes "pretty good." Mr. Miller testified that Cleckler moved "directly in front of" his vehicle and that Cleckler "slammed on his brakes" because he was too close to the vehicle in front of him. As a result of Cleckler's braking, Mr. Miller and the otherdrivers traveling behind Cleckler began to brake as well.

At that time, Charles Williams was driving a vehicle behind Mrs. Miller, who was behind Mr. Miller. Williams testified that he was traveling at a speed of approximately 70 miles per hour approximately one automobile length behind Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller testified that, when she applied her brakes in response to Mr. Miller's braking in front of her, Williams's vehicle struck her vehicle from behind, causing her vehicle to collide with the back of Mr. Miller's vehicle. Mr. Miller's vehicle in turn collided with the back of Cleckler's pickup truck. Mrs. Miller testified that her vehicle was not in danger of colliding with Mr. Miller's vehicle before Williams struck her from behind. However, Williams testified that he thought that Mrs. Miller's vehicle had collided with Mr. Miller's vehicle before his own vehicle collided with Mrs. Miller's vehicle, but he was not completely sure about that. The accident occurred at approximately 3:15 p.m. on a sunny day.

Mrs. Miller sued Cleckler, Williams, and fictitiously named parties, alleging negligence and wantonness and seeking to recover damages for injuries allegedly sustained in the automobile accident. Cleckler answered and denied liability. Cleckler's answer asserted, among other things, that Mrs. Miller's injuries were proximately caused by the negligence or wantonness of another. Cleckler then moved for a summary judgment, asserting that his actions did not proximately cause the accident. Cleckler's summary-judgment motion also asserted that, although Alabama law prohibits a driver from following another driver too closely, Alabama law does not require a driver to look behind him before stopping for traffic. Cleckler's motion implicitly argued that Williams's conduct proximately caused the accident. The trial court entered a judgment granting Cleckler's summary-judgment motion, and the trial court certified that judgment as final, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. Mrs. Miller appealed to the supreme court, and the supreme court transferred the appeal to this court, pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala.Code 1975.

"In reviewing the disposition of a motion for summary judgment, 'we utilize the same standard as the trial court in determining whether the evidence before [it] made out a genuine issue of material fact,' Bussey v. John Deere Co., 531 So.2d 860, 862 (Ala.1988), and whether the movant was 'entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' Wright v. Wright, 654 So.2d 542 (Ala.1995); Rule 56(c), Ala. R. Civ. P. When the movant makes a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present substantial evidence creating such an issue. Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So.2d 794, 797-98 (Ala.1989). Evidence is 'substantial' if it is of 'such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.' Wright, 654 So.2d at 543 (quoting West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989)). Our review is further subject to the caveat that this Court must review the record in a light most favorable to the nonmovant and must resolve all reasonable doubts against the movant. Wilma Corp. v. Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc., 613 So.2d 359 (Ala.1993); Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So.2d 412, 413 (Ala.1990)."

Hobson v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 690 So.2d 341, 344 (Ala.1997).

On appeal, Mrs. Miller first argues that the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment in Cleckler's favor on the negligence claim because, she says, the record contains substantial evidence indicating that Cleckler's conduct proximately caused the accident. Conversely, Cleckler argues that the evidence establishes that Williams's conduct was the sole proximate cause of the accident. That is, Cleckler maintains that Williams's conduct served as an intervening cause between Cleckler's alleged negligence and the accident.

"In order to establish a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove: '(1) a duty to a foreseeable plaintiff; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) proximate causation; and (4) damage or injury.' " S.B. v. Saint James Sch., 959 So.2d 72, 97 (Ala.2006) (quoting Martin v. Arnold, 643 So.2d 564, 567 (Ala.1994)). "A summary judgment is rarely appropriate in a negligence action." Nelson v. Meadows, 684 So.2d 145, 148 (Ala.Civ.App.1996). Typically, the question of proximate causation is a question of fact to be resolved by the jury; that question must be decided by the jury if reasonable inferences from the evidence support the plaintiff's claim. Dixon v. Board of Water & Sewer Comm'rs of Mobile, 865 So.2d 1161, 1166 (Ala.2003); City of Mobile v. Largay, 346 So.2d 393, 395 (Ala.1977). See also Tuscaloosa County v. Barnett, 562 So.2d 166, 169 (Ala.1990) (stating that questions of proximate causation and intervening cause are questions for the jury).

"Loosely defined, an 'intervening cause' is one which occurs after an act committed by a tortfeasor and which relieves him of his liability by breaking the chain of causation between his act and the resulting injury. Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge, 336 So.2d 1338 (Ala.1976). This Court has stated:

" 'However negligent a person may have been in some particular, he is liable only to those who may have been injured by reason of such negligence, as the proximate cause. Where some independent agency has intervened and been the immediate cause of the injury, the party guilty of negligence in the first instance is not responsible.' Mobile City Lines, Inc. v. Proctor, 272 Ala. 217, 130 So.2d 388 (1961).

"An intervening cause may be an 'act of God,' such as an extraordinary event of nature, Bradford v. Stanley, 355 So.2d 328 (Ala.1978), or the actions of another, usually, though not necessarily, another tortfeasor; however, a cause is not an intervening cause, so as to relieve a tortfeasor of his liability, unless it comes into active operation after the tortfeasor has acted. [W. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton, D. Owen,] Prosser & Keeton on Torts, [§ 44, p.] 301 [ (5th ed. 1984) ]. In other words, it must occur between the act of the tortfeasor and the injury sustained for the chain of causation between the act and the injury to be broken. Vines, supra; Aplin v. Dean, 231 Ala. 320, 164 So. 737 (1935).

"Not every cause which comes into operation after a tortfeasor has acted will relieve him of liability for his wrongful act. More than the proper temporal relationship between the tortfeasor's act and the subsequent cause is required. In order to be an intervening cause, a subsequent cause also must have been unforeseeable and must have been sufficient in and of itself to have been the sole 'cause in fact' of the injury. Vines, supra, at 1339. If an intervening cause could have reasonably been foreseen at the time the tortfeasor acted, it does not break the chain of causation between his act and the injury. Vines, supra; Morgan [ v. City of Tuscaloosa, 268 Ala. 493, 108 So.2d 342 (1959) ];Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Courson, 234 Ala. 273, 174 So. 474 (1937). Conversely, if the intervening cause was unforeseeable, the causal chain is broken. Vines, supra. In the same respect, if the intervening cause is not sufficient to be considered the sole 'cause in fact' of the injury, if it is not in and of itself sufficient to stand as the 'efficient cause' of the injury, the causal chain is not broken; but, if the intervening cause was alone sufficient to produce the injury complained of, it is deemed the proximate cause of the injury and the tortfeasor or tortfeasors between whose acts and the injury the cause intervened are relieved of liability. Watt v. Combs, 244 Ala. 31, 12 So.2d 189 (1943); Goodwyn v. Gibson, 235 Ala. 19, 177 So. 140 (1937)."

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