Belcher v. Denton

2016 Ark. App. 263, 492 S.W.3d 551, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 283
Court of Appeals of Arkansas·Decided May 11, 2016·No. CV-15-982·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge

[ t Joan Tillman Belcher, Special Admin-stratrix of the Estate of Cornelius Tillman, appeals the- June 19, 2014 judgment of the Pulaski County Circuit Court finding that Tillman was forty-nine point nine percent (49.9%) at fault in causing his own death and reducing the $7,612 judgment by that percentage. On appeal, appellant argues that (1) there was no evidence that Tillman was negligent, and, therefore, the issue of his negligence should not have been submitted to the jury; (2) the jury instructions and verdict form given to the jury were improper; and (3) the damages awarded by the jury were insufficient and failed to take into account' all elements of the injury proven. We affirm.

|2This case arose from a fatal pedestrian collision. Jerry Denton was driving through Wrightsville, Arkansas, 1 at approximately 5:00 a.m. on June 2, 2011, when he fatally struck Tillman. Belcher, as special administratrix of Tillman’s estate, brought a negligence action against Denton seeking damages for wrongful death as well as punitive damages. The central dispute at the jury trial was whether Denton crossed the center line into the southbound lane and struck Tillman. Bel-cher filed a motion in limine four days before the jury trial to prevent Denton from arguing comparative fault to the jury. The court addressed the motion at the beginning of trial on June 10, 2014. The court denied the motion, and the trial proceeded as scheduled.

Joe Weare 2 testified that he lived close to where the accident occurred on June 2, 2011, and that a surveillance camera at his home captured images before and after the accident. He stated that once he learned of the- accident, he informed police officers that his camera may have captured at least part of the accident. He testified that he copied short video clips from his computer’s hard drive and placed them onto a CD for the police. Weare stated that his camera caught Tillman walking down the street on June 2, 2011, at 5:00:56 a,m. He said that the next clip, at 5:01:26 a.m., showed the light of Denton’s vehicle coming northbound a few seconds after Tillman walked out of view.

|sOn cross-examination, Weare stated that his camera had a motion sensor. He testified that his camera captured Denton’s vehicle as it passed in front of the camera at 5:01:34 a.m. He stated that the vehicle passed the camera again at 5:02:33 a.m.

On redirect, Weare stated that Denton’s vehicle was caught in segments between 5:01:44 and 5:02:09, turning around and coming back. He testified that the final segment showed Denton traveling back in the direction he was originally going beginning at 5:02:21 a.m.

Trooper First Class Robert Middleton of the Arkansas State Police testified that he was dispatched to a pedestrian accident on June 2, 2011, on Highway 365 just south of 145th Street. He stated that upon arrival, he was shown Tillman’s body. He also stated that items were scattered along the road that appeared to belong to Tillman. Middleton indicated that as part of his investigation,- he noted and measured the location of the debris, Tillman’s body, and where he believed the vehicle was. He stated that he concluded that Denton, who was traveling north, crossed the. southbound lane and struck Tillman with the left front of his vehicle. Middleton opined that Tillman was thrown approximately 140 feet north from the area of impact.

On cross-examination, Middleton testified that he had not changed his opinion that Tillman was struck in the southbound lane. He conceded that he was not an accident reconstructionist. Upon further questioning, Middleton stated that it was possible for the debris to end up where it was if Denton was in the northbound lane close to the center line. ^Additionally, he stated that it was also possible that Den-ton was in the northbound lane the whole time.

Special Agent Joe Pickett of the Arkan- - sas State Police testified that he worked in the criminal investigation division. He stated that he got involved in the case in his capacity as a criminal investigator because the case was initially a hit-and-run involving a fatality. He said that when he arrived at the scene, Denton was in the back of a Pulaski County deputy’s car. Denton told Pickett that he remained in the' northbound lane the entire time and that he believed he had struck an animal or something. According to Pickett, Den-ton stated that he turned around to see what he had struck and could not locate anything. Denton then continued to Wal-mart. Pickett stated that he was approached by Weare while at the scene and informed that the accident may have been captured on camera. He stated that Weare provided Trooper Stacy Sims with the video clips, but that he (Pickett) had reviewed them. Pickett testified that his main goal was to determine whether Den-ton crossed the center line. He stated that he concluded that Denton had crossed the center line at some point; however, he said that he could not determine the exact area of impact due to the lack of evidence at the scene.

On cross-examination, Pickett stated that he was unable to determine in which lane the impact took place. He said his dilemma was whether or not Denton’s vehicle touched or crossed the center line. He testified that he could not say that Denton’s left tire crossed the center line.

|fiQn redirect, Pickett stated that based on the physical evidence, it was his belief that Denton's vehicle’ crossed into the southbound lane at some' point. However, he testified on recross that he could not say whether Denton’s vehicle crossed into the southbound lane before or after impact.

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Belcher v. Denton, 2016 Ark. App. 263, 492 S.W.3d 551, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 283 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

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