Beddingfield v. Linam

127 So. 3d 1178, 2013 WL 857288, 2013 Ala. LEXIS 17
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 8, 2013
Docket1101163
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 127 So. 3d 1178 (Beddingfield v. Linam) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beddingfield v. Linam, 127 So. 3d 1178, 2013 WL 857288, 2013 Ala. LEXIS 17 (Ala. 2013).

Opinions

MAIN, Justice.

Jim Cody Beddingfield and his parents, Jimmy Larry Beddingfield and Rebecca M. Beddingfield, the defendants in this action, appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of Trace Rex Li-nam, the plaintiff in this action, and from the trial court’s order denying their post-judgment motion for a judgment as a matter of law (“JML”) or for a new trial. We reverse, render a judgment in part, and remand.

[1180]*1180I. Factual Background and Procedural History

On July 2, 2004, Jimmy Larry Bedding-field (“Larry”) and his wife Rebecca M. Beddingfield (“Becky”) were preparing for a family reunion and Fourth of July celebration to be held at their house on Lake Guntersville on the following day.1 Larry and Becky’s son, Jim Cody Beddingfield (“Cody”), who was then 14 years old, had come to the lake house that day with his parents. Larry’s nephew, Jeff Bedding-field (“Jeff’), also had come to the lake house on July 2 to handle the task of cooking the barbecue to be served at the party. Jeffs wife, Lisa Beddingfield (“Lisa”), was to arrive the following day with their children. However, because Cody was at the lake house on July 2, Lisa drove there on July 2 from Huntsville to drop off her son, Jay Malone (“Jay”), who was then 14, and his friend, Trace Rex Linam (“Trace”), who was then 15. Jay and Trace were best friends and had known each other since the first grade. Jay had known Cody since Jeff and Lisa had married several years before. The three boys, who had spent time together on two previous occasions, planned to “hang out” at the lake while Larry, Becky, and Jeff prepared for the approximately 75-100 people who were expected at the lake house the following day.

Jay and Trace testified that they saw Becky, Larry, and Jeff when they arrived or shortly thereafter. Lisa and Jeff testified that Becky took Lisa on a tour of the house that lasted approximately 15 minutes, after which Lisa left. Jay and Trace testified that they had lunch with Cody and then the three boys went fishing for awhile. All three boys testified that they then came back to the house and found a large pile of fireworks on a porch at the back of the house. The boys said that there were M-80s, artillery shells, a big cannon, and approximately 500 bottle rockets in the pile. None of the adults who testified at trial or the boys testified that he or she had bought the fireworks, knew that the fireworks were on the back porch, or knew how the fireworks had come to be on the back porch.2 The boys took bottle rockets and M-80s to the dock on the lake, where they began lighting the fireworks and throwing them toward the lake.3 Trace and Jay testified that they had shot fireworks before, including bottle rockets, but Trace said that he had never shot them without adult supervision. Cody testified that he had never shot bottle rockets [1181]*1181before shooting them with Trace and Jay on July 2. It is undisputed that there was no adult supervision on this occasion.

After the three boys shot bottle rockets for about an hour, Trace and Jay testified, Trace went back to the house to use the restroom or to get a drink of water. As Trace came back outside and walked down a hill toward the dock, he stopped on the grass on the shore to tie his shoe. As he was bent over, he said, he heard a whistling noise and, immediately thereafter, something hit his left eye so hard that he was knocked down. Trace said his eye was burning and began bleeding and that he began screaming. He said he immediately lost vision in his left eye. Trace stated that “the last thing I saw with my two eyes was Cody and Jay standing there, and Cody had his arm out.” Jay and Cody said that after the bottle rocket hit Trace, they ran to him and took him inside the house. Trace stated that once they were in the house, “Cody said he didn’t want to get in trouble and just to say it was just an accident.” Jay ran to get his stepfather Jeff, who looked at Trace’s eye and had him put ice on it. Jeff recognized that Trace’s eye injury was serious, so he telephoned Trace’s parents, Charles Gary Linam (“Gary”) and Beverly Linam (“Beverly”), and told them Trace had been injured and that he was going to take Trace to the hospital. Jeff said he asked Gary and Beverly where they wanted him to take Trace. Gary and Beverly told Jeff to take Trace to Huntsville General Hospital, and Jeff got in his vehicle with all three boys. Gary and Beverly met Jeff and the boys at the hospital.

Jay’s testimony about the events surrounding Trace’s injury was similar to Trace’s testimony. In response to questions from Trace’s attorney, Jay testified as follows:

“Q. Was Trace injured by a bottle rocket at some point?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Where were you when that injury occurred?
“A. I was on the dock.
“Q. Where was Cody Beddingfield?
“A. He was right next to me on the dock.
“Q. And where was Trace?
“A. He was on the shore, right where the dock started.
“Q. Tell us what happened?
“A. Cody, he lit a bottle rocket and pointed it at Trace and shot it at him. “Q. Let’s talk about that. Can you describe for the jury, what you — did you see this happen?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Describe for the jury what you saw, what Cody Beddingfield did.
[[Image here]]
“A. Okay. He lit it in his hand like that and then pointed it, then shot it.
“Q. Okay. Who did he point it at?
“A. At Trace.
“Q. What was the position of Trace when he was struck by the bottle rocket immediately before he was struck?
“A. He was kneeling over. I think he was tying his shoe or something like that. I don’t really remember.
“Q. Did you observe whether Trace was looking at Cody Beddingfield then or you then?
“A. No, he wasn’t.
“Q. Was he lighting a bottle rocket when he was struck, was Trace?
“A. No.
“Q. Did Cody Beddingfield say anything to you immediately before he aimed, lit and shot that bottle rocket at Trace?
[1182]*1182“A. Yes, he just said, hey, watch this.
“Q. Hey, watch this?
“A. Yeah.
[[Image here]]
“Q. All right. Now, did he give any warning to Trace whatsoever that he was about to shoot and aim a bottle rocket at him?
“A. No.
“Q. He didn’t yell out anything?
“A. No.
“Q. When he said, hey, watch this, was that a volume that, your understanding that for you just to hear?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Did he hit his target?
“A. Yes.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
127 So. 3d 1178, 2013 WL 857288, 2013 Ala. LEXIS 17, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beddingfield-v-linam-ala-2013.