State ex rel. Pacific Intermountain Exp., Inc. v. District Court of Second Judicial Dist., Sweetwater County, s. 3232

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
• Writing for the Court: PARKER
• Citation: 387 P.2d 550
• Parties: STATE of Wyoming upon the relation of PACIFIC INTERMOUNTAIN EXPRESS, INC., a corporation, Plaintiff, v. The DISTRICT COURT OF the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyoming, and the Honorable G. G. Stanton, the Judge thereof, Defendants. STATE of Wyoming upon the relation of ZANETTI BUS LINES, INC., a corporation, Plaintiff, v. The DISTRICT COURT OF the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyoming, and the Honorable Glen G. Stanton, the Judge thereof, Defendants.
• Docket Number: Nos. 3232,3237,s. 3232
• Decision Date: 18 December 1963

Page 550

387 P.2d 550 STATE of Wyoming upon the relation of PACIFIC INTERMOUNTAIN EXPRESS, INC., a corporation, Plaintiff,
v.
The DISTRICT COURT OF the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyoming, and the Honorable G. G. Stanton, the Judge thereof, Defendants.
STATE of Wyoming upon the relation of ZANETTI BUS LINES, INC., a corporation, Plaintiff,
v.
The DISTRICT COURT OF the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyoming, and the Honorable Glen G. Stanton, the Judge thereof, Defendants. Nos. 3232, 3237. Supreme Court of Wyoming. Dec. 18, 1963.

Page 551

Murane, Bostwick, McDaniel & Scott, Casper, for plaintiff Pacific Intermountain Express, Inc.

Swainson & Swainson, Cheyenne, January, Gilchrist & Blunk, Denver, Colo., for plaintiff Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc.

Galicich & Hamm, Rock Springs, for defendants.

Before PARKER, C. J., and HARNSBERGER, GRAY and McINTYRE, JJ.

Mr. Chief Justice PARKER delivered the opinion of the court.

As a result of a collision between an automobile, driven by Joseph Weimer; a bus, owned by Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc.; and a truck, owned by Pacific Intermountain Express, Inc.; thirty-three persons alleging injuries filed separate suits in the Sweetwater County Districk Court, listing as defendants the two mentioned corporations and Nellie Horton, Administratrix of the Estate of Joseph Weimer, deceased, who was killed in the accident. The court under the provisions of Rule 42(a), W.R.C.P., on a motion of P.I.E. ordered the consolidation of the thirty-three cases as to the issue of liability, providing that the issue of damages should be heard individually in each case. At the trial, considerable difficulty was encountered in securing a jury, some 275 talesmen being examined. After several weeks of evidence on the liability issue, the jury brought in verdicts, one for P.I.E., one against Zanetti, and one against the Estate of Joseph Weimer. Thereafter, in accordance with previous agreement with counsel, the court proceeded to try successively the issue of damages in each case before the same jury which had tried liability. Some of these trials have been concluded, notably one in which Roy G. Logan was plaintiff, and others are continuing. Meanwhile, P.I.E. prepared a judgment in its favor in each of the thirty-three cases and submitted it to the trial court. Zanetti prepared and submitted a judgment in each of the cases in favor of plaintiff and against the two remaining defendants, Zanetti and Weimer, as to liability without listing damages, and later prepared a judgment in the case wherein Roy G. Logan was plaintiff in favor of plaintiff and against defendants Zanetti and Weimer in the sum of $22,875.00. When the trial court refused to sign or enter any of these judgments, P.I.E. filed a petition for writ of mandamus (Case 3232) and Zanetti a similar one (Case 3237), seeking to require the trial court to...