Burley Ex Rel. Hill v. Douglas

26 So. 3d 1013, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 538, 2009 WL 3645687
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 5, 2009
Docket2007-CA-02134-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 26 So. 3d 1013 (Burley Ex Rel. Hill v. Douglas) 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
Burley Ex Rel. Hill v. Douglas, 26 So. 3d 1013, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 538, 2009 WL 3645687 (Mich. 2009).

Opinions

WALLER, Chief Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. James A. Burley brought the instant wrongful-death action as a result of the deaths of his grandchildren, Joshua and Jakura Hill, minors. The Yazoo County Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, ruling that Bur-ley lacked standing to bring the suit. Bur-ley appeals that decision. Finding that Burley qualified as an “interested party” under the wrongful-death statute, so that he had standing to commence the suit, we reverse the circuit court’s judgment and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On the morning of July 17, 2003, Francesca Hill and her two minor children, Joshua and Jakura, were traveling Carter Road near Yazoo City, Mississippi, when their car was struck by a truck driven by Eddie Douglas. At the time of the accident, Douglas was driving a truck owned by his employer, Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association (“YVEPA”). Hill and her two children were killed in the accident.

¶ 3. On June 7, 2004, James Burley commenced the instant wrongful-death action by filing suit against Douglas and YVEPA in the Circuit Court of Yazoo County, Mississippi. Burley styled his complaint, “James A. Burley, Parent/Guardian and Next Best Friend of Francesca Hill, Joshua Hill and Jakura Hill, Minors v. Eddie E. Douglas and Yazoo Valley Electnc Power Association.” Burley’s complaint alleged that “as a direct and proximate result of Defendants!’] ... willful and wanton misconduct, and gross negligence ... the Plaintiff, James A. Burley, lost the life of his daughter and [two] grandchildren.” The complaint stated that Burley “is the sole and proper person to bring this cause of action for and on their behalf.” Burley sought compensatory damages, as well as $20,000,000 in punitive damages.1

¶4. On August 6, 2004, YVEPA2 answered Burley’s complaint. YVEPA denied liability and asserted, inter alia, Burley’s lack of standing as an affirmative defense to the action. On June 2, 2005, nearly one year after commencement of the instant action, Burley filed petitions for appointment of administrator and for issuance of letters of administration in the Chancery Court of Humphreys County. These petitions represented that Joshua and Jakura were survived by “two grandparents, namely James Burley and Earnestine Hill.” On June 23, 2005, letters of administration were granted to Burley.

¶5. Thereafter, on August 3, 2005, the Humphreys County Chancery Court en[1016]*1016tered orders determining the heirs-at-law of Joshua and Jakura Hill. Those heirship orders concluded that Burley, among others, was an heir-at-law of both Joshua and Jakura.

¶ 6. On August 30, 2007, YVEPA filed a motion to dismiss or, alternatively, for summary judgment, as to the wrongful-death claims for Joshua and Jakura on the ground that Burley lacked standing to commence a wrongful-death action on their behalf. A hearing was held on the motion, and on November 7, 2007, the circuit court, finding that Burley lacked standing, dismissed the claims brought on behalf of and as to the deaths of Joshua and Jakura, and entered final judgment in favor of YVE-PA.3

¶ 7. Aggrieved by the trial court’s order, Burley appeals, assigning two issues for appellate review: (1) whether Burley was the proper party or person to file the subject wrongful-death action; and (2) whether the trial court erred in granting the appellees’ motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment, as to the wrongful-death claims of Joshua Hill and Jakura Hill. We find the first issue, whether Burley had standing to bring the wrongful-death action, dispositive.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 8. This Court reviews a trial court’s grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment or a motion to dismiss under a de novo standard. Monsanto v. Hall, 912 So.2d 134, 136 (Miss.2005).

DISCUSSION

Whether Burley had standing to file the instant wrongful-death action.

¶ 9. Burley argues that he was a proper plaintiff to commence and maintain this wrongful-death action because he “was judicially determined to be an heir at law and wrongful death beneficiary to the decedents, Jakura Hill and Joshua Hill.”4 Burley additionally argues that he possessed standing via the letters of administration. YVEPA asserts that Burley lacked standing to bring suit, as he was neither the personal representative of the estates of Joshua and Jakura at the time the complaint was filed, nor was he a statutory wrongful-death beneficiary pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 11-7-13.

¶ 10. This Court’s analysis of who has standing to bring a wrongful-death action must necessarily begin and end with Mississippi’s wrongful-death statute (“the Statute”), which provides a cause of action to recover for a person’s wrongful death caused by the defendant’s “real, wrongful, or negligent act or omission.” Miss.Code Ann. § 11-7-13 (Rev.2004). The Statute creates a new and independent cause of action in favor of those named in the statute. Partyka v. Yazoo Dev. Corp., 376 [1017]*1017So.2d 646, 650 (Miss.1979) (citing Hasson Grocery Co. v. Cook, 196 Miss. 452, 459, 17 So.2d 791 (1944)). The Statute provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

[T]he action for such damages may be brought in the name of the personal representative of the deceased person or unborn quick child for the benefit of all persons entitled under the law to recover, or by widow for the death of her husband, or by the husband for the death of the wife, or by the parent for the death of a child or unborn quick child, or in the name of a child, or in the name of a child for the death of a parent, or by a brother for the death of a sister, or by a sister for the death of a brother, or by a sister for the death of a sister, or a brother for the death of a brother, or all parties interested may join in the suit, and there shall be but one (1) suit for the same death which shall ensue for the benefit of all parties concerned, but the determination of such suit shall not bar another action unless it be decided on its merits....
[I]n an action brought pursuant to the provisions of this section by the widow, husband, child, father, mother, sister or brother of the deceased or unborn quick child, or by all interested parties, such party or parties may recover as damages property damages and funeral, medical or other related expenses incurred by or for the deceased as a result of such wrongful or negligent act or omission or breach of warranty, whether an estate has been opened or not. Any amount, but only such an amount, as may be recovered for property damage, funeral, medical or other related expenses shall be subject only to the payment of the debts or liabilities of the deceased for property damages, funeral, medical or other related expenses. All other damages recovered under the provisions of this section shall not be subject to the payment of the debts or liabilities of the deceased, except as hereinafter provided, and such damages shall be distributed as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 So. 3d 1013, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 538, 2009 WL 3645687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burley-ex-rel-hill-v-douglas-miss-2009.