Buel v. Sims

798 So. 2d 425, 2001 WL 254357
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 15, 2001
Docket2000-CA-00089-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 798 So. 2d 425 (Buel v. Sims) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buel v. Sims, 798 So. 2d 425, 2001 WL 254357 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

798 So.2d 425 (2001)

Debora K. BUEL
v.
Percy B. SIMS and Air Liquide America Corporation.

No. 2000-CA-00089-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 15, 2001.

*426 Woodrow W. Pringle, III, Gulfport, Attorney for Appellant.

James O. Dukes, Richard Joel Smith, Jr., Gulfport, Attorneys for Appellees.

Before McRAE, P.J., WALLER and COBB, JJ.

WALLER, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Debora K. Buel sued Percy B. Sims and his employer, Air Liquide America Corporation, for injuries she suffered in an automobile accident where she collided with an Air Liquide truck driven by Sims. Buel claims that Sims was negligent in failing to yield the right of way, keep a proper look out and control his truck.

¶ 2. Prior to trial, Buel filed a motion in limine seeking to bar evidence of her consumption of alcohol, specifically hospital test results, until Sims and Air Liquide had proven her consumption of alcohol contributed to or caused the accident. Buel also sought through an additional motion in limine to prohibit introduction of her medical records and alleged blood sample results until Sims and Air Liquide established the proper chain of custody and proper witnesses testified to sponsor the evidence offered. Both motions were denied by the trial court.

¶ 3. At the request of Sims and Air Liquide, jury instruction D-6 was given instructing the jury to find Buel negligent as a matter of law in operating her vehicle at a time when she had a blood alcohol level greater than 100. In granting jury instruction D-6, the trial court took judicial notice of number conversions for determining Buel's blood alcohol level. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Sims and Air Liquide, judgment was entered accordingly, and Buel appealed. Sims and Air Liquide filed a cross-appeal, assigning as error the trial court's failure to grant them a directed verdict for which we find no merit and do not address. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF CASE AND FACTS

¶ 4. One Saturday evening in March of 1997, Buel and friends attended a hockey game on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, at which Buel admitted to consuming several sixteen-ounce cans of beer. After the game ended, Buel proceeded to drive herself home. From the hockey game, Buel traveled north on Menge Avenue. As she crested the I-10 overpass, she saw Sims' 18-wheeler pulling out of a parking lot to turn north onto Menge Avenue.

¶ 5. Buel took no evasive action, assuming the 18-wheeler would be out of her lane of traffic before she arrived. Buel admitted she could have stopped before reaching the truck had she begun to slow down when she initially saw Sims. As Buel got closer to the truck, she realized that it would not clear her lane in time and that she was not going to be able to stop. Once she realized she could not avoid the *427 collision, Buel applied her brakes, slipped off her shoulder belt and lay across the seat to avoid being decapitated. Buel's car collided with the truck driven by Sims.

¶ 6. On the evening of the accident, Sims, the truck driver, was returning to his home in Louisiana, after making a delivery. Sims stopped at a truck stop on Menge Avenue to refuel and for a routine coffee break. After his break, Sims conducted a pre-trip safety inspection and ascertained that all of his lights were working. As Sims' trailer had been washed on the morning of the accident, the reflective strips running the length of the trailer would have been clearly visible to approaching motorists.

¶ 7. Traffic on Menge Avenue was very congested on the evening of the accident, forcing Sims to wait several minutes for traffic to clear before pulling onto Menge Avenue. As Sims began his turn onto Menge Avenue, Buel's vehicle first appeared over the crest of Menge Avenue, approaching at a high rate of speed and not slowing down. Sims accelerated and tried to steer his truck to clear Buel's lane. After the impact, Sims went to assist Buel when he noticed an overturned plastic cup and what appeared to be spilt liquid giving off the strong smell of an alcoholic beverage.

¶ 8. Two eyewitnesses, Joe and Sunshine Yates, were in their car across the street from the truck stop, waiting for traffic to clear so they could exit onto Menge Avenue. Joe was about to pull out of the parking lot when he looked to his right and realized Sims had already begun to exit. At the point Sims had halfway entered onto Menge Avenue, Joe stated that he first saw Buel's car "come out of nowhere, traveling at a high rate of speed." Immediately after impact, Joe rushed to assist Buel, noticing the strong smell of alcohol and that Buel's speech was slurred. Sunshine, Joe's wife, confirmed that Sims had already entered Menge Avenue when she observed Buel's vehicle top the crest on Menge avenue, traveling "pretty fast." After the collision, Sunshine remained in the car with her sleeping children and was unable to offer any additional testimony.

¶ 9. Following the accident, Buel was transported by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, where she was treated and discharged. Buel suffered numerous injuries, including a broken ankle, and pain in her ribs, chest and legs. Blood tests performed at the hospital reflected a blood alcohol content for Buel of 183 milligrams per deciliter. Buel's medical expenses totaled $5,418.83, and she incurred property losses of $7,400.

DISCUSSION

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO GRANT BUEL'S MOTIONS IN LIMINE?

¶ 10. Through her motions in limine, Buel sought to prohibit the admission of the blood alcohol test results unless and until Sims and Air Liquide had: 1) proven that consumption of alcohol contributed to or caused the accident; and 2) established the proper chain of custody and obtained witness testimony to sponsor the evidence offered. The trial court denied Buel's motion and admitted the blood test results into evidence.

¶ 11. This Court has consistently ruled that "[t]he relevancy and admissibility of evidence are largely within the discretion of the trial court and reversal may be had only where that discretion has been abused." Martindale v. Wilbanks, 744 So.2d 252, 253 (Miss.1999) (citations omitted). Unless the trial judge's discretion is so abused as to be prejudicial to a party, this Court will not reverse his or her ruling. Id.

*428 A. Proof that Buel's alcohol consumption caused or contributed to the accident.

¶ 12. Buel argues that as no evidence was offered to show she suffered from any impairment which caused or contributed to the accident, the trial court erred in failing to exclude the blood alcohol test results. Buel relies heavily on our decision in Pope v. McGee, 403 So.2d 1269, 1271 (Miss.1981), where, on retrial, we excluded evidence of two six packs of warm beer and a white powdery substance found in the defendant's vehicle. The patrolman investigating the accident testified that he was unable to detect the smell of alcohol on the defendant's breath, and a blood test showed no alcohol in his blood. Id. As there was no indication that the defendant had been drinking or under the influence of drugs, we directed that the evidence not be admitted on retrial.

¶ 13. Unlike the facts in Pope, there was overwhelming evidence that Buel had been drinking beer on the evening of the collision. Buel admitted to consuming "several sixteen ounce beers" prior to her collision, and there was testimony that Buel smelled like alcohol and that her speech was slurred.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
798 So. 2d 425, 2001 WL 254357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buel-v-sims-miss-2001.