Clark v. Deakle

800 So. 2d 1227, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 1468941
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 20, 2001
DocketNo. 2000-CA-01704-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 800 So. 2d 1227 (Clark v. Deakle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark v. Deakle, 800 So. 2d 1227, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 1468941 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

BRIDGES, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. This case comes from the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Honorable Dale Harkey presiding. Cynthia Clark sued Mark Deakle for damages resulting from a car wreck which occurred on January 24, 1997. There was no question at trial as to whether Deakle was liable; the only triable question was damages. The jury returned a damages award of twelve thousand dollars. Clark filed a motion seeking an additur or a new trial, which the trial court denied. Clark appeals the trial court’s denial and brings three issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED HIS DISCRETION IN NOT GRANTING THE PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ADDITUR OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE A NEW TRIAL BECAUSE THE JURY CLEARLY EVIDENCED BIAS, PREJUDICE AND/OR PASSION IN AWARDING AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE REASONABLE AND NECESSARY MEDICAL EXPENSES AND CORROBORATED, UNCONTESTED LOST WAGES.
2. WHETHER THE DENIAL OF THE PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ADDITUR OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE A NEW TRIAL WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION DUE TO THE FAILURE OF THE JURY TO AWARD ANY DAMAGES FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING.
3. WHETHER THE JURY EVIDENCED BIAS, PREJUDICE AND/OR PASSION IN ITS AWARD BY FAILING TO COMPENSATE THE PLAINTIFF FOR LOSS OF ENJOYMENT OF LIFE, THUS MAKING THE TRIAL COURT’S DENIAL OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR AD-DITUR OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE A NEW TRIAL AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION.

Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. On the morning of January 24, 1997, Cynthia Clark was driving her son and daughter to school. Clark was stopped at an intersection, when her Chevy Cavalier was struck from behind by a Ford F-150 pick-up truck driven by Mark Deakle. Deakle got out of his truck and walked to Clark’s car to see if anyone was hurt. They agreed to pull over to a nearby parking lot. Clark claimed her head was hurting, but no ambulance was requested at the scene. Clark’s two children did not complain of any pain. A police officer arrived, and an accident report was completed. After the report was completed, Clark then drove her children to school and went to work.

¶ 3. At the time of the accident, Clark was employed by Trinity Glass as a secretary. Her husband, Daniel Clark, was the office manager. Clark testified that as the day went on, she began experiencing headaches which caused her pain. After work, Clark went to the emergency room at Ocean Springs Hospital with her children. Clark’s children checked out as healthy, but Clark complained of neck soreness. Clark’s neck X-ray was normal. Clark was diagnosed as having a cervical muscle strain with a headache. She was released form the hospital and was told she could return to work with no restrictions.

¶ 4. Four days after leaving the emergency room, Clark was still experiencing [1229]*1229pain. Thus, Clark went to the Coastal Family Health Center four days after leaving the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a right trapezius muscle strain, and was prescribed physical therapy. During her physical therapy, Clark missed some work. Clark completed the prescribed physical therapy and returned to Coastal Family Health Center for reevaluation. Clark claimed to have some pain, but it did not prevent her from exercising. Clark was ruled to have good range of motion and was released with no work restrictions on April 17, 1997. However, she quit her job the next day, claiming she was unable to continue working because of the pain.

¶ 5. Clark then began to see a chiropractor by the name of Dr. Don Hembree. Dr. Hembree diagnosed Clark with recurring neck pain, headaches, mid and lower back pain, and dizziness. Hembree pursued several treatments, and eventually some improvement was made in Clark’s condition. Hembree ended his treatment of Clark on June 19,1997.

¶ 6. In September of 1997, Clark returned to Coastal Family Health Center complaining of pain. She was referred to Dr. Robert Terrell, an orthopaedic specialist. Dr. Terrell diagnosed Clark as having a C5-C6 bulging disc with cervical pain. Terrell prescribed more physical therapy. Terrell did not believe Clark was a candidate for surgery and released her from his care on December 4,1998. Sometime during this treatment, Clark began working half days at Trinity Glass, but she quit because the pain would no longer allow her to work as a secretary.

¶ 7. During her period of treatment with Dr. Terrell, Clark obtained a job in the summer of 1998 with Hubbard Commercial Mowers, a landscaping business. Clark had been unemployed since she quit her job at Trinity Glass in April of 1997. Clark’s duties included trimming hedges and pulling weeds. Complaining of pain, Clark quit this job after about two months. Clark submitted an application for employment to the unemployment office, and this was her last attempt at finding employment.

¶ 8. In October of 1998, Clark began doing housekeeping work for a man named Tommy Cooley. Clark testified she did the work to receive a little cash. Clark divorced her husband, Daniel Clark, in November of 1998. She filed for the divorce on the grounds of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, alleging her husband hit her fifteen years prior, screamed at her, and acted erratically. She married Cooley in December of 1998.

¶ 9. Clark was involved in another automobile accident on December 16, 1998. The circumstances surrounding this accident were similar to those surrounding Clark’s first accident, except this time Clark was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Clark was treated for her neck and back. Clark did not seek any treatment from the second accident because the pain was the same as it had been. The only new maladies resulting from the second accident was loss of balance and dizziness. Clark’s last reported trip to a doctor took place on January 8, 1999, when she visited Dr. Terrell.

¶ 10. Alleging she still suffered pain from the first accident, Clark filed suit against Deakle on January 28, 1999. Liability was not at issue during this trial; only damages were at issue. At trial, Clark offered $11,488.45 in medical bills into evidence. Clark also offered a document prepared by her first husband indicating lost wages totaling $1320 for her time at Trinity Glass. Clark claimed the accident cost Clark her first marriage. She claimed that after the accident, she [1230]*1230was unable to do simple housework, and this strained her marriage.

STATEMENT OF LAW

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. “In reviewing a trial court’s grant or denial of an additur, this Court’s standard of review is limited to an abuse of discretion.” Pickering v. Industria Masina I Traktora (IMT), 740 So.2d 836 (¶ 58) (Miss.1999). “We decide whether discretion was abused, not whether we would have granted or denied in the first instance.... Generally the jury’s decision will be upheld unless it was so unreasonable as to be outrageous.” American Nat’l Ins. v. Hogue, 749 So.2d 1254 (¶ 27) (Miss.Ct.App.2000).

ANALYSIS

1. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED HIS DISCRETION IN NOT GRANTING THE PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ADDITUR OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE A NEW TRIAL BECAUSE THE JURY CLEARLY EVIDENCED BIAS, PREJUDICE AND/OR PASSION IN AWARDING AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE REASONABLE AND NECESSARY MEDICAL EXPENSES AND CORROBORATED, UNCONTESTED LOST WAGES.

¶ 12.

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Bluebook (online)
800 So. 2d 1227, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 482, 2001 WL 1468941, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-deakle-missctapp-2001.