Oakes v. Wooten

• Decision Date: 04 October 2005
• Docket Number: No. COA04-1174.,COA04-1174.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Ray Allen OAKES and Wendy Ward Oakes, Plaintiffs v. Margaret Talley WOOTEN and Steven Edward Wooten, Defendants.

620 S.E.2d 39

Ray Allen OAKES and Wendy Ward Oakes, Plaintiffs v. Margaret Talley WOOTEN and Steven Edward Wooten, Defendants.

No. COA04-1174.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

October 4, 2005.

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Appeal by defendants from judgment entered 15 September 2003 and an order entered 23 January 2004 by Judge Catherine C. Eagles in Guilford County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 13 April 2005.

Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler, L.L.P., by Stanley F. Hammer, High Point, for plaintiff-appellees.

Gregory A. Wendling, Greensboro, for defendant-appellants.

HUNTER, Judge.

Margaret Talley Wooten ("Wooten") and Steven Edward Wooten ("Steven") (collectively "defendants") appeal from a judgment entered 15 September 2003 consistent with a jury verdict finding defendants negligent, and from an order entered 23 January 2004 awarding costs and attorneys' fees. For the reasons stated within, we reverse the trial court's award of attorneys' fees and costs to plaintiffs pursuant to Rule 37 and award of certain costs pursuant to N.C. Gen.Stat. § 6-20, and affirm as to all other issues.

The evidence presented tended to show that on 6 November 1999, Ray Allen Oakes ("Oakes") was descending the exit ramp from Interstate 85 ("I-85") to South Main Street in Graham, North Carolina. Oakes entered the intersection on a green light, attempting to turn north. Wooten, traveling south on South Main Street, failed to stop for the red light at the I-85/Main Street intersection and collided with Oakes's vehicle. Wooten stated that she had looked down and did not realize the light was red until shortly before she reached the intersection.

Oakes was injured in the collision and was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center for treatment. He underwent various treatments for back injuries over the next year, culminating in surgery.

Oakes brought a negligence action against Wooten and her husband, the owner of the car, in January 2002. Oakes's wife, Wendy Oakes ("Wendy") (collectively "plaintiffs"), also joined as a plaintiff in an action for loss of consortium. The jury found defendants negligent and awarded Oakes $119,000.00 in damages, but did not award consortium damages to Wendy. Defendants' motion for a new trial was denied, and plaintiffs were awarded costs and attorneys' fees pursuant to N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 7A-314, 6-20, and 1A-1, Rules 36 and 37(c). Defendants appeal.

I.

Defendants contend the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury as to Oakes's contributory negligence, and in a related assignment of error, contend the trial court erred in granting a motion for directed verdict as to Oakes's contributory negligence and denying defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the trial court's prior directed verdict. We disagree.

We first address defendants' contentions as to the trial court's failure to instruct the jury as to contributory negligence. "In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to justify the submission of an issue of contributory negligence to the jury, the court `must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant and disregard that which is favorable to the plaintiff.'" Kummer v. Lowry, 165 N.C.App. 261, 263, 598 S.E.2d 223, 225 (2004) (citation omitted). "`"If different inferences may be drawn from the evidence on the issue of contributory negligence, some favorable to the plaintiff and others to the defendant, it is a case for the jury to determine."'" Id. at 263-64, 598 S.E.2d at 225 (citations omitted).

Our Supreme Court has addressed the issue of a driver's duty when approaching a traffic signal.

"The duty of a driver at a street intersection to maintain a lookout and to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances is not relieved by the presence of electrically controlled traffic signals, which are intended to facilitate traffic and to render crossing less dangerous. He cannot go forward blindly even in reliance on traffic signals.["]

Bass v. Lee, 255 N.C. 73, 78-79, 120 S.E.2d 570, 573 (1961) (quoting Hyder v. Battery Co., Inc., 242 N.C. 553, 557, 89 S.E.2d 124, 128 (1955)). "A green or `go' signal is not a command to go, but a qualified permission to proceed lawfully and carefully in the direction indicated." Bass, 255 N.C. at 79, 120 S.E.2d at 573. In Cicogna v. Holder, 345 N.C. 488, 489, 480 S.E.2d 636, 637 (1997), the Supreme Court considered "the quantum of evidence necessary to submit contributory negligence to the jury when the plaintiff's vehicle is struck by another vehicle while the plaintiff is proceeding through an intersection pursuant to a green light." Id. Cicogna held that as no evidence was presented of anything that would have put the plaintiff on notice that the defendant would not obey the traffic light, contributory negligence should not have been submitted to the jury, as the plaintiff was not required to anticipate the defendant's negligence. Id. at 489-90, 480 S.E.2d at 637.

Here, Oakes's testimony showed that he had the green light when entering the intersection, that he surveyed the intersection before entering, and that he did not see defendant's car. Oakes's brother, Lynn Oakes ("Lynn"), a passenger in the vehicle, also testified that the light was green when Oakes entered the intersection. Lynn stated that he saw Wooten's vehicle on his blind side after they had entered the intersection, and began to call out a warning to "[w]atch out[,]" but was unable to complete the warning because Wooten had already struck Oakes. Wooten testified that she was driving at approximately twenty-five miles per hour, that her attention was drawn away from the road and that when she looked again at the light, it was red. Wooten further testified that prior to the collision, no part of her vehicle crossed the stop line, and that only the front end of her car crossed the stop line into the intersection when she came into contact with Oakes's vehicle.

When taken in the light most favorable to defendants, the evidence fails to show that anything would have put Oakes on notice that Wooten would not obey the traffic light in time to avoid the collision. As in Cicogna, Oakes testified that he surveyed the intersection and did not see Wooten. Wooten testified that she was not traveling at a high rate of speed and did not cross the stop line until Oakes had already turned in front of her. Lynn testified that he attempted to shout a warning but was unable to complete it before the impact. Even when viewed in the light most favorable to defendants, there is no evidence that Oakes failed to keep a proper lookout and exercise reasonable care in entering the intersection. Therefore, the trial court did not err in refusing the jury instructions.

We next address defendants' related contention that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict as to contributory negligence. "The standard of review of directed verdict is whether the evidence, taken in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, is sufficient as a matter of law to be submitted to the jury." Di Frega v. Pugliese, 164 N.C.App. 499, 505, 596 S.E.2d 456, 461 (2004). "The test for determining whether a motion for a directed verdict is supported by the evidence is the same as that for ruling on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict." Stilwell v. General Ry. Services, Inc., 167 N.C.App. 291, 294, 605 S.E.2d 500, 502 (2004). "Thus, where a defendant pleads an affirmative defense such as contributory negligence, `a motion for directed verdict is properly granted against the defendant where the defendant fails to present more than a scintilla of evidence in support of each element of his defense.'" Whisnant v. Herrera, 166 N.C.App. 719, 722, 603 S.E.2d 847, 850 (2004) (citation omitted).

"Our Supreme Court has previously stated that `two elements, at least, are necessary to constitute contributory negligence[.]'" Whisnant, 166 N.C.App. at 722, 603 S.E.2d at 850 (quoting West Construction Co. v. Atlantic Coast Line R.R., 184 N.C. 179, 180, 113 S.E. 672, 673 (1922)). "The defendant must demonstrate: (1) a want of due care on the part of the plaintiff; and (2) a proximate connection between the plaintiff's negligence and the injury." Id. at 722, 603 S.E.2d at 850.

As discussed supra, even when viewed in the light most favorable to defendant, the evidence fails to show a want of due care on the part of plaintiff. See Cicogna, 345 N.C. at 489-90, 480 S.E.2d at 637. Therefore, the trial court did not err in granting the directed verdict finding no contributory negligence, or in denying defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

II.

Defendants next contend the trial court erred in giving a peremptory instruction to the jury as to Wooten's negligence in failing to stop for the red light. We disagree.

In Williams v. Davis, 157 N.C.App. 696, 580 S.E.2d 85 (2003), the defendants contended the plaintiff had violated N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20-158(b)(1), as the statute required the plaintiff to stop and yield to oncoming traffic, and therefore, was contributorily negligent. The trial court granted defendants' motion based on contributory negligence as argued by defendants. "A violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-158(b)(1) is not negligence or contributory negligence per se; however, it `may be considered with the other facts in the case in determining whether a party was guilty of negligence or contributory negligence.'" Williams v. Davis, 157 N.C.App. at 701, 580 S.E.2d at 88-89 (quoting N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20-158(d) (2001)). "Thus, a violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-158(b)(1) is `evidence of negligence; and when the proximate cause of injury, is sufficient to support a verdict[.]'" Williams, 157 N.C.App. at 701, 580 S.E.2d at 89 (citations omitted). "When all the evidence offered suffices, if true, to establish the controverted fact, the Court may give a peremptory instruction — that is, if the jury finds the facts to be as all...