Self v. Brunson
| Decision Date | 26 December 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 87156.,ED 87156. |
| Citation | 213 S.W.3d 149 |
| Parties | Howard J. SELF, Appellant, v. William BRUNSON, Sound & Lighting Associates, Inc., Respondents, and Production Support Services, Inc., Defendant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
John J. Mohan, Jr., St. Louis, MO, for appellant.
Terese A. Drew, St. Louis, MO, for respondent.
Howard Self appeals from a jury verdict in favor of William Brunson and Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc., in a suit for injuries Self sustained after a tractor-trailer Brunson was driving crushed Self's shoulder in a warehouse owned by Production Support Services ("PSS"). Self raises three points on appeal: (1) the trial court erred when it denied Self's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because the verdict was against the weight of the evidence; (2) the verdict was inconsistent and ambiguous because the jury assessed zero fault to both parties and created its own verdict form in the jury room; and (3) the trial court improperly excluded evidence that Brunson believed PSS was not at fault. We affirm.
Self is the owner of Logic Systems Sound and Lighting. Brunson owns Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc. The two companies provide sound, lighting and video equipment and stage special events and concerts. PSS performs a similar function and operates out of a warehouse located at 1450 South Vandeventer in the City of St. Louis. PSS contracted with Self and Sound and Lighting Associates to provide equipment and production expertise for the Gore/Lieberman presidential campaign. PSS's agreement with Brunson and Self required them to load PSS equipment into tractor-trailers that each provided. The loading was to occur at the PSS warehouse on Vandeventer.
On the morning of August 17, 2000, Self drove his tractor-trailer to the PSS warehouse. Self was not familiar with PSS's warehouse. The PSS dock area was very narrow, difficult to maneuver, and had room for only one truck at a time. To assist Self, Gary Loosen, an employee of PSS, directed traffic on Vandeventer while Self "serpentined" the tractor-trailer. Loosen then assisted Self as a spotter while Self backed the tractor-trailer into the dock. After Self successfully backed-in the tractor-trailer, Self and PSS's employees began loading the equipment into Self's tractor-trailer.
Later that afternoon, Brunson arrived in his tractor-trailer. Having used the PSS warehouse on several occasions, Brunson was familiar with the dock. Nevertheless, prior to Brunson backing-in his tractor-trailer, Self advised Brunson that the dock was challenging to maneuver. Self, noticing Brunson did not have a spotter, decided to assist Brunson while he was backing-in his tractor-trailer. To that end, Self positioned himself behind the tractor-trailer on the ground and just "slightly caddy-corner to [the] back left [-] hand side." Although Self admitted he did not advise Brunson that he planned to function as Brunson's spotter, Self testified that he observed Brunson scanning his mirrors and "believed" that Brunson was looking at him while backing in the dock. Brunson acknowledged that although he might have noticed Self, he was focused on avoiding the various obstacles in the dock bay, and did not observe Self in a dangerous position in relation to the tractor-trailer. In addition, Brunson testified that he did not see Self give him any directional signals.
As Brunson maneuvered his tractor-trailer into the dock, his speed was approximately 1-2 miles per hour. At some point, one of the doors on the tractor-trailer opened and caught Self's left arm at the shoulder crushing it between Brunson's tractor-trailer door and the warehouse building. Meanwhile, Brunson felt a "bump," stopped the tractor-trailer, exited, and began walking toward the warehouse. At that time, he was unaware that Self was pinned between the building and the truck door.
A PSS employee heard Self screaming. The employee ran toward Brunson and advised him to move his tractor-trailer forward. Brunson complied and Self testified that he fell from the dock onto the ground. Someone called an ambulance which arrived and transported Self to the hospital. Over the course of several years, Self underwent multiple surgeries on his shoulder. At the time of trial, Self was unable to work in the same capacity as he had prior to the incident.
Self sued Brunson for his personal injuries alleging Brunson was negligent in failing to keep a careful lookout. Self also sued PSS alleging that the PSS warehouse was not reasonably safe. Prior to trial, Self settled his claims against PSS and dismissed PSS from the lawsuit. Self's claims against Brunson were tried to a jury. On the day of trial, Self filed a motion in limine, which was granted by the trial court, to exclude any reference to the PSS settlement at trial.
The trial court submitted the following verdict director, in relevant part:
In your verdict you must assess a percentage of fault to Defendants William Brunson and Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc. whether or not Plaintiff partly was at fault, if you believe:
First, Defendants William Brunson failed to keep a careful lookout while operating his tractor-trailer, and
Second, Defendant William Brunson was thereby negligent ...
. . .
The trial court used the following verdict form:
Note: Complete the following paragraph by filling in the blanks as required by your verdict. If you assess a percentage of fault to any of those listed below, write in a percentage not greater than 100%, otherwise write "zero" next to that name. If you assess a percentage of fault to any of those listed below, the total of such percentages must be 100%.
On the claim of Plaintiff Howard "Chip" Self for personal injury, we the undersigned jurors, assess percentages of fault as follows:
Defendant William Brunson
and Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc. ____ % (zero to 100%)
Plaintiff Howard "Chip" Self ____ % (zero to 100%)
TOTAL ____ % (zero OR 100%)
Note: Complete the following paragraph if you assessed a percentage of fault to Defendants:
We, the undersigned jurors, find the total amount of Plaintiff's damages, disregarding any fault on the part of the Plaintiff, to be $ _______ ( the amount).
Note: The judge will reduce the total amount of Plaintiff's damages by any percentage of fault you assess to Plaintiff.
. . .
The jury returned a verdict which assessed zero percentage of fault to Brunson and Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc., zero percentage of fault to Self and awarded zero damages to Self. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Brunson and Sound and Lighting Associates, Inc.
Following trial, Self filed a Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV) or in the alternative, Motion for a New Trial. The trial court denied both motions. This appeal followed.
The standard of review for the denial of a motion for JNOV is "essentially the same as for review of denial of a motion for directed verdict." Boyer v. Sinclair & Rush Inc., 67 S.W.3d 627, 632 (Mo.App. E.D.2002). To determine whether the evidence was sufficient to support a jury's verdict, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the result reached by the jury, disregarding evidence and inferences which conflict with the verdict. Id. This court is not permitted to weigh the evidence. Lee v. Hartwig, 848 S.W.2d 496, 502 (Mo.App. W.D.1992).
The standard of review for the denial of a motion for new trial is abuse of discretion. M.E.S. v. Daughters of Charity Services of St. Louis, 975 S.W.2d 477, 482 (Mo.App. E.D.1998). Grant or denial of "a motion for new trial based on a juror's acquisition of extraneous evidence, is left to the sound discretion of the trial court." Travis v. Stone, 66 S.W.3d 1, 3 (Mo. banc 2002). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and do not consider matters such as the weight of the evidence, the credibility of the witnesses, or the resolution of conflicting testimony. Id.
In Self's first point, he argues that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence because, in light of Brunson's admissions, no reasonable jury could find that Brunson "bore no fault" for the incident. More specifically, Self contends that Brunson "made admissions by which he essentially admitted fault to the accident on August 17, 2000 and Mr. Self's subsequent injuries."
In support of his point, Self claims that several statements Brunson made at trial are "critical admissions." Among these statements are the following: Brunson previously backed tractor-trailers into the PSS warehouse; Brunson believed he did not need a spotter when using the PSS dock; PSS commonly provided spotters; Brunson did not pay attention to the spotters when backing into the PSS dock; if the spotter can see the driver's face in one of the driver's side-view mirrors, a driver who is paying attention can see the spotter; and as Brunson backed-up, there were no blind spots except at the tractor wheels. Self argues that these "admissions" prove the following: if Brunson was operating his tractor-trailer safely, he would have seen Self; because he did not see Self, Brunson "must not have been operating his tractor-trailer safely;" accordingly, Brunson admitted negligence.
Self's argument belies a misunderstanding of the meaning and function of the term "admission." It is well-established that "[a] true judicial admission is one made in court or prepatory to trial by a party or his attorney that concedes, for the purposes of that particular trial, the truth of some alleged fact so that one party need offer no evidence to prove it, and the other party ordinarily is not allowed to disprove it." Meekins v. St. John's...
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