State v. Eaton
| Decision Date | 10 December 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 15158,15158 |
| Citation | 710 P.2d 1370,101 Nev. 705 |
| Parties | STATE of Nevada, Appellant and Cross-Respondent, v. Chrystal EATON, Respondent and Cross-Appellant. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
Brian McKay, Atty. Gen., Steven F. Stucker, Deputy Atty. Gen., Carson City, for appellant and cross-respondent.
Erickson, Thorpe & Swainston, Reno, for respondent and cross-appellant.
A jury awarded respondent Chrystal Eaton $40,472.65 for personal injuries and $100,000 for the wrongful death of her infant daughter, Amber, arising out of a car accident. 1 Chrystal's husband and Amber's We reject appellant's assignments of error and affirm the judgment for Chrystal. We also affirm the calculation of damages by the district court as modified for prejudgment interest. We hold, however, that Chrystal should have been permitted to present to the jury her claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress. We reverse for a trial on this issue.
father, Byron Ronald Eaton (Ron), was driving the family car when it struck the rear of a truck. Ron was not a plaintiff in this action.
On January 11, 1980, Ron and Chrystal Eaton and their thirteen-month-old daughter, Amber, were traveling west on Interstate 80 between Battle Mountain and Winnemucca, Nevada. Their car reached Golconda Summit at about 7:00 p.m. It was dark but the weather was clear. The freeway approaching the summit from the east was dry. The freeway on the western slope was slick with black ice. Black ice is invisible and is one of the most hazardous of all road conditions.
Earlier that evening, two westbound cars slid off the freeway just past the summit due to the ice. These accidents, which did not result in injuries, were reported to the Nevada Highway Patrol at 5:59 p.m. At 6:00 p.m., Trooper Bradley reported to the highway patrol dispatcher that the freeway two to three miles west of Golconda was "solid ice." He requested that sanding trucks be sent to the summit. At 6:34 p.m., Trooper Butler asked the dispatcher whether the sanding trucks were coming out because he had received several reports from truckers of ice on Golconda.
Trooper Butler arrived at the scene of the two accidents at 6:51 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., the drivers of two westbound semi-trucks pulled over to the shoulder to put on chains. The trucks were slipping on the black ice. They parked the trucks just west of the summit. From that point, the drivers could not see the two cars off the road or the flashers of the patrol car because the freeway curved. Trooper Butler did not place cones or flares to warn oncoming motorists of the black ice.
Ron testified that he did not see a sign warning of possible icy conditions on the summit. The Eatons reached the crest of Golconda without difficulty. Ron had no way of knowing of the black ice a few yards ahead. At 7:10 p.m., the Eatons' car headed down the western slope of Golconda at about fifty miles per hour. Amber, who had been ill, had just finished nursing and was asleep in her mother's lap. Ron changed into the left lane to give the two semis on the shoulder more room. Then he saw another semi ahead in the same lane traveling at five to fifteen miles per hour. Ron tried to change lanes again and to slow down. The car slid on the black ice. The car slammed into the rear of the semi. The impact dislocated Chrystal's ankle. Amber was crushed between Chrystal and the dashboard. Amber died on impact of head injuries. Believing Amber to be asleep, Chrystal handed her through the car window to the patrolman. Ron later went to the patrol car to check on Amber. He was told she was dead. Ron began shouting to Chrystal that the baby was dead. Chrystal heard Ron screaming but could not believe that Amber was dead. When she asked the patrolman about her baby, he just shook his head.
After the Eaton accident, the patrolman ordered a trucker to prevent westbound traffic from crossing the summit. This lane was closed until the western slope of Golconda Summit was sanded.
As a result of Amber's death and her own injuries, Chrystal became depressed and lost twenty pounds. She spent several weeks while her ankle was in a cast lying in the family den with the lights off. Chrystal sued Ron Eaton, the driver of the semi the Eatons hit, his employer, and the State of Nevada, among others. Chrystal settled with all the defendants except the State and proceeded to trial against the State alone. The State appeals from the
judgment for Chrystal and from the calculation of the damages. Chrystal cross-appeals from the district court's failure to instruct the jury on her claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress and from the calculation of damages.
Appellant contends that the district court erred by admitting evidence on the failure of State employees, the highway patrol troopers, to place flares or otherwise warn motorists of the black ice. The State's pretrial motion in limine to exclude such evidence was denied. The State argues that the placement of warning flares is a discretionary act. Therefore, the State suggests, it is immune from liability for the failure of its employees to place warning flares. NRS 41.032(2). 2 We disagree. This court has held:
[T]he State has a duty to exercise due care to keep its highways reasonably safe for the traveling public. Inherent in this duty of care is the alternative duty to either remedy a known hazardous condition on its highways or give appropriate warning of its presence. [Citations omitted.]
State v. Kallio, 92 Nev. 665, 667, 557 P.2d 705, 706 (1976). In the case at bar, the State through its highway patrol knew of the black ice on the western slope of Golconda Summit one hour before the Eaton accident occurred. Furthermore, a highway patrol trooper was on the scene twenty minutes prior to the accident but did nothing to warn oncoming motorists of the hazard. The icy road was not sanded until after the fatal crash. Under these facts, the State could be held liable for failure to warn motorists of the known hazard. Id. The district court did not err by admitting evidence on the use or absence of flares.
Both parties challenge the district court's calculation of damages. The jury awarded Chrystal $40,472.65 for her personal injuries and $100,000 for the wrongful death of Amber. Chrystal settled with all defendants except the State for $29,000. Pursuant to NRS 17.245, 3 the district court reduced the jury award by $29,000. The court subtracted $8,120 of the $29,000 from the personal injury award. The court subtracted the remainder of the $29,000 ($20,880) from the wrongful death award. See generally NRS 17.245. The court then reduced the wrongful death award to $50,000, the statutory maximum for claims against the State. NRS 41.035(1). 4 (The personal injury award of $32,352.65 was already below the maximum.) Thus, Chrystal's total award was $82,352.65.
The State argues that the court should have reduced the award on each claim to the maximum under NRS 41.035(1) before subtracting the amount Chrystal received for releasing the other codefendants. We disagree. In a hypothetical case, a plaintiff may settle with all defendants except the State for $75,000. After proceeding to trial against the State, the plaintiff may obtain a $1 million judgment. Under the State's proposal, this judgment would be reduced to $50,000 before the $75,000 received for the release was subtracted. Thus, the State would sustain no liability despite a $1 million judgment against it. This result contravenes the legislative purpose of the statutory waiver of immunity for actions against the State. NRS 41.031 et seq. The purpose of these statutes was "to waive immunity and, correlatively, to strictly construe limitations upon that waiver." State v. Silva, 86 Nev. 911, 914, 478 P.2d 591, 593 (1970). We hold that the district court's method of calculating the damages was consistent with this purpose. The district court properly subtracted the $29,000 Chrystal received for releasing the State's codefendants under NRS 17.245 before it reduced the jury award for the wrongful death claim to $50,000 under NRS 41.035.
On her cross-appeal, Chrystal contends the district court erred by allocating the $29,000 Chrystal received in exchange for the release between her two claims. We perceive no error. The district court calculated the percentage of the total jury award that was represented by the personal injury award (28%) and the percentage that was represented by the wrongful death award (72%). The court then applied 28% of the $29,000 to reduce the personal injury award and applied 72% of the $29,000 to reduce the wrongful death award. Chrystal does not dispute that the $29,000 was in exchange for a release of all claims, including both her personal injury and her wrongful death claims, against the settling defendants. Therefore, we hold that the lower court did not err by allocating the $29,000 between the personal injury and the wrongful death awards. See NRS 17.245.
Chrystal also argues that the district court erred by awarding her prejudgment interest on the amount of her past medical bills alone rather than on the entire amount of her personal injury award. See NRS 17.130(2). 5 We agree. The personal injury award was based on jury instructions compensating Chrystal for her medical expenses, pain and suffering incurred to the date of the jury verdict. These constitute past damages. Therefore, the entire amount is subject to prejudgment interest. Id.
Chrystal's complaint alleged damages for emotional distress caused by witnessing the death of Amber. The district court refused to instruct the jury on this claim. The issue presented by this appeal although of first impression in this jurisdiction has been the subject of much commentary and many cases in other jurisdictions. 6
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