AAA Cooper Transportation Co. v. Parks

18 So. 3d 909, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 668, 2009 WL 3175676
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 6, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-CA-01062-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 18 So. 3d 909 (AAA Cooper Transportation Co. v. Parks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AAA Cooper Transportation Co. v. Parks, 18 So. 3d 909, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 668, 2009 WL 3175676 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

IRVING, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. AAA Cooper Transportation Company (AAA Cooper) filed suit in the Tippah County Circuit Court against Chuck Parks d/b/a Dillingham Motors (Dillingham Motors) for claims of negligent entrustment and vicarious liability. Dillingham Motors filed a motion for summary judgment, which the circuit court granted. Feeling aggrieved, AAA Cooper appeals and alleges: (1) that the circuit court abused its discretion when it denied AAA Cooper’s motion for additional time to conduct discovery before the circuit court ruled on Dillingham Motors’ motion for summary judgment, and (2) that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment because there are genuine issues of material fact.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTS

¶ 3. On December 14, 2005, T.C. Poplar purchased a Dodge Avenger from Dilling-ham Motors.1 On December 20, 2005, at approximately 3:16 a.m., a truck owned by AAA Cooper and operated by one of its employees collided with the Avenger, which was parked with no lights on in the left-hand lane of Highway 72 in Tippah County, Mississippi. At the time of the accident, Poplar was intoxicated.

¶ 4. On March 28, 2007, AAA Cooper filed a complaint against several parties, including Dillingham Motors, alleging that Dillingham Motors was liable under the [911]*911theories of negligent entrustment and vicarious liability. On September 14, 2007, Dillingham Motors filed a motion for summary judgment against AAA Cooper, asserting that “neither of [AAA Cooper’s] theories [of liability] can be supported by fact or existing Mississippi case law.”

¶ 5. On May 13, 2008, a hearing was held on the motion for summary judgment. During the hearing, AAA Cooper asked the circuit court for time to obtain discovery regarding Taucia Poplar, Poplar’s daughter, before the circuit court ruled on the motion for summary judgment. AAA Cooper claimed that they first learned during Poplar’s deposition, which was taken on January 17, 2008, that Taucia was with Poplar when he purchased the car. AAA Cooper further claimed that Taucia could have provided important information about the purchase of the vehicle as well as facts that could have been helpful in proving their negligent-entrustment claim.

¶ 6. The circuit court granted the motion for summary judgment after finding that no genuine issue of material fact existed. The circuit court also denied AAA Cooper’s request for additional time to perform discovery because “the circuit court [did] not believe there [was] anything that [Taucia] could add to [the case] that would put any liability on [Dillingham Motors] .... ”

¶ 7. Additional facts, as necessary, will be discussed in the analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Request for Additional Discovery

¶ 8. When reviewing a trial court’s ruling on discovery matters, we will not disturb the decision of the trial court “unless there has been an abuse of discretion.” Scoggins v. Baptist Mem’l Hosp.DeSoto, 967 So.2d 646, 648(¶ 8) (Miss.2007) (quoting Earwood, v. Reeves, 798 So.2d 508, 514(¶ 19) (Miss.2001)).

¶ 9. AAA Cooper asserts that the circuit court abused its discretion when it denied AAA Cooper’s request for additional time to conduct discovery. Specifically, AAA Cooper’s attorney, by affidavit, asserted that without additional discovery, he could not respond to the motion for summary judgment. AAA Cooper asserts that it had not yet received Poplar’s response to AAA Cooper’s written discovery requests by the deadline for its response to the motion for summary judgment. AAA Cooper further asserts that during Parks’s deposition, he revealed that he had documents, such as bills of sale, that were never produced for AAA Cooper. AAA Cooper argues that “the [circuit] court did not give [it] a fair opportunity to be diligent to obtain discovery from Taucia Poplar because it postponed the hearing on the motion to amend [the] complaint until after the hearing on the motion for summary judgment.”

¶ 10. AAA Cooper argues that “[generally, a trial court abuses its discretion in denying a party’s motion for additional discovery when the information sought is in the sole possession of the party moving for summary judgment[,]” and cites Prescott v. Leaf River Forest Products, Inc., 740 So.2d 301 (Miss.1999) as support for its position. In Prescott, the appellant claimed that the trial court abused its discretion in denying its motion for continuance, which was based on the assertion that the “motion for summary judgment came at a time when discovery was in the ‘embryonic stages’.... ” Id. at 307(¶ 13). In determining whether a trial court should consider a motion for summary judgment prior to the completion of discovery, the Prescott court stated:

[912]*912Rule 56(f) [of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure] provides that when a party is unable to produce affidavits to oppose a motion for summary judgment, that party may instead file a motion or affidavit with the court explaining his inability to oppose the motion for summary judgment. In such cases, the court, at its discretion, may, if it finds the reasons offered to be sufficient, postpone consideration of the motion for summary judgment and order among other things that discovery be completed. See 10A Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 2728 at 191. The rule itself contemplates that the completion of discovery is, in some instances, desirable before the court can determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact. See Smith v. H.C. Bailey Companies, 477 So.2d 224 (Miss.1985).
This is especially true where the party seeking to invoke the protections of Rule 56(f) claims the necessary information rests within the possession of the party seeking summary judgment. However, the party resisting summary judgment must present specific facts why he cannot oppose the motion and, must specifically demonstrate “how postponement of a ruling on the motion will enable him, by discovery or other means, to rebut the movant’s showing of the absence of a genuine issue of fact. ” United States v. Little Al, 712 F.2d 133, 135 (5th Cir.1983), (citing Securities & Exchange Commission v. Spence & Green Chemical Co., 612 F.2d 896, 901 (5th Cir.1980)). The party opposing the motion for sum-many judgment may not rely on vague assertions that discovery will produce needed, but unspecified, facts particularly ivhere there was ample time and, opportunity for discovery. Securities & Exchange Commission v. Spence & Green Chemical Co., 612 F.2d 896, 901 (5th Cir.1980); see also, Aviation Specialties, Inc. v. United Technologies Corp., 568 F.2d 1186, 1189 (5th Cir.1978) (failure to conduct discovery where case was on docket for six months bars application of 56(f)).

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18 So. 3d 909, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 668, 2009 WL 3175676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aaa-cooper-transportation-co-v-parks-missctapp-2009.