Campos v. Williams

457 S.E.2d 243, 217 Ga. App. 296, 95 Fulton County D. Rep. 1511, 1995 Ga. App. LEXIS 450
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided April 19, 1995·No. A95A0265·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinions

Birdsong, Presiding Judge.

Appellants, Quirino Campos et al., appeal the state court’s order granting appellee Dairyland Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment against appellants Campos and Jose Gonzalez, and dismissing the complaint of said appellants/plaintiffs.

Suit for damages was brought by Campos, Gonzalez and Porfirio [297] Vasquez for injuries sustained in an automobile accident when a Nissan pickup driven by Willie Williams allegedly ran a red light and collided with a Ford pickup which was making a left turn. Gonzalez and Campos were passengers in the Ford pickup; Vasquez was the driver. The whereabouts of defendant Willie Williams are unknown and he has been served with process by publication. Dairyland Insurance Company has been served as the purported uninsured motorist carrier of plaintiff Porfirio Vasquez. Pursuant to OCGA § 33-7-11 et seq., Dairyland filed an answer in its own name averring settlement, accord and satisfaction, release, and payment of the claims of Campos and Gonzalez. Thereafter, Dairyland moved for summary judgment based on releases executed by Campos and Gonzalez who have never tendered return of the consideration received for the releases. Appellants’ sole enumeration is that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of appellee Dairyland Insurance Company. Held:

1. The applicable summary judgment standard is that of Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491 (405 SE2d 474).

2. The enumeration of error does not reasonably encompass a claim that the trial court erred in dismissing “the complaint of [appellants/plaintiffs] Quirino Campos and Jose Gonzalez.” Accordingly, the only appellate issue preserved by the enumeration is whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Dairyland Insurance Company. Jones v. Sauls, 213 Ga. App. 55, 58 (443 SE2d 693) (issue not reasonably contained within the enumeration of errors).

3. Separate documents entitled “Indemnity and Hold Harmless Agreement” were signed by appellants Campos and Gonzalez. These documents executed in consideration of a certain sum contained both release and hold harmless agreements. The release agreements are ambiguous in that the printed portion of each agreement purports, inter alia, to release and forever discharge, “Dairyland Insurance Company, Zamorano Porfirio Vasquez, and Porfirio Vasquez . . . from any and all, and all manner of, actions and causes of action . . . suits . . . judgments ... claims and demands whatsoever in law or equity . . . and especially from all liability arising out of an occurrence that happened on or about September 19, 1991, at or near Chamblee, Atlanta, Ga.” Immediately thereafter there appears this inserted typewritten sentence: “Notwithstanding the above, this release only applies to Porfirio Vasquez and is not to be construed as a release of any other parties including Willie Williams.” Thereafter, in a numbered paragraph, the agreement contained a hold harmless clause whereby appellants Campos and Gonzalez agreed to indemnify and hold harmless the certain parties released from any and every claim or demand of every kind and character which may be asserted [298] by said appellants regarding or resulting from the incident. After signing the documents, appellants Campos and Gonzalez negotiated the settlement checks tendered by Dairyland; printed on the face of each check, in a block captioned “payment covers,” were the words, “FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT OF ALL CLAIMS.”

The release portion of the agreement is ambiguous whether only Porfirio Vasquez was released or whether Dairyland Insurance Company, Zamorano Porfirio Vasquez, and Porfirio Vasquez all were released thereby. Clearly each of these persons was “named” in the release within the meaning of Lackey v. McDowell, 262 Ga. 185 (415 SE2d 902). A release or settlement agreement is a form of contract subject to construction by the court. Darby v. Mathis, 212 Ga. App. 444 (1) (441 SE2d 905). Even ambiguous contracts are to be construed by the court and no jury question is presented unless after application of applicable rules of construction an ambiguity remains. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Blakey, 255 Ga. 699, 700 (342 SE2d 308).

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Campos v. Williams, 457 S.E.2d 243, 217 Ga. App. 296, 95 Fulton County D. Rep. 1511, 1995 Ga. App. LEXIS 450 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995).

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