Coleman v. Jitney Jungle Stores of America, Inc.

894 So. 2d 610, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1054, 2004 WL 2525125
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 9, 2004
DocketNo. 2003-CA-00314-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 894 So. 2d 610 (Coleman v. Jitney Jungle Stores of America, Inc.) 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
Coleman v. Jitney Jungle Stores of America, Inc., 894 So. 2d 610, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1054, 2004 WL 2525125 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

GRIFFIS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Martha E. Coleman appeals a judgment notwithstanding the verdict entered after the jury returned a verdict in the amount of $544,000 against Jitney Jungle Stores of America, Inc. She also appeals the trial court’s order granting a new trial. We find that the trial court erred in granting the judgment notwithstanding the verdict and remand for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 2. On March 22, 1999, Martha E. Coleman entered a Jitney Jungle store to purchase some tea. She had never shopped in this particular Jitney Jungle store and asked a store employee where she could find the tea. After locating the tea, Coleman proceeded to the front of the store to complete her purchase. While en route, Coleman was injured when she slipped and fell to the floor.

¶ 3. Coleman was treated by three separate medical providers and eventually underwent surgery to repair the muscle in her left shoulder. Coleman, who was 63 years old and eighteen months shy of retiring, was unable to return to work where she had been employed for twenty-five years.

¶ 4. The jury returned a verdict for Coleman in the amount of $544,000. After a judgment was entered, Jitney Jungle filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and/or in the alternative for a new trial. The trial court granted Jitney Jungle’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and also conditionally granted a new trial, should the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict be reversed on appeal.

¶5. Coleman raises two issues. First, she contends that the trial court erred in granting the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Second, she contends that the trial court erred in conditionally granting the motion for new trial.

ANALYSIS

I. Whether the court erred in granting a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

¶ 6. A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict tests the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting the verdict. Tait v. State, 669 So.2d 85, 88 (Miss.1996). All credible evidence tending to support the non-movant’s case and all favorable inferences that can be reasonably drawn therefrom are accepted as true and go to the benefit of the non-movant. Weathersby Chevrolet Co., Inc. v. Redd Pest Control Co., Inc. 778 So.2d 130, 132(¶ 5) (Miss.2001). If after examining the evidence, reasonable and fair-minded jurors could reach different conclusions, the jury verdict should be allowed to stand and the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict denied. Id.

¶ 7. In granting the judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the trial court found that Coleman’s evidence was insufficient to prove the required elements of negligence and that the jury verdict was based upon speculation and only amounted to a scintilla of evidence.

¶8. To prevail on her claim, Coleman was required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence each element of negligence: duty, breach of duty, proximate; causation, and injury. K-Mart Corp. v. Hardy, 735 So.2d 975, 981(¶ 14) (Miss.1999). Coleman was a business invitee when she entered the Jitney Jungle Store. Thus, Mississippi law imposes upon a business owner a duty to the invitee to keep its [612]*612premises • in a reasonably safe condition. Id. Jitney Jungle owed Coleman a duty to exercise reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition, and if Jitney Jungle was aware of a dangerous condition, which was not readily apparent to Coleman, Jitney Jungle was under a duty to warn Coleman of such conditions. Jerry Lee’s Grocery, Inc. v. Thompson, 528 So.2d 293, 295 (Miss.1988).

¶ 9. In a premises liability case, Coleman must prove one of three things: (1) a negligent act by Jitney Jungle caused her injury; (2) Jitney Jungle had actual knowledge of a dangerous condition but failed to warn her of the danger; or (3) the dangerous condition remained long enough to impute constructive knowledge to Jitney Jungle. Downs v. Choo, 656 So.2d 84, 86 (Miss.1995).

¶ 10. Coleman argues that Jitney Jungle’s negligence resulted from the improper handling of a leaky freezer that created the dangerous .condition that caused her injuries. Coleman points to the testimony of Xavier Hall, Jitney Jungle’s store manager. Hall testified that the freezer on aisle 6 had leaked at least a year and a half, that the freezer had a history of leaking, that he and other employees knew the freezer leaked, and that it was never repaired, replaced or removed. Hall stated that the freezer on aisle 6 had a history of leaking on a regular basis.

¶ 11. Jitney Jungle argues that there was no direct proof to establish its negligence. Jitney Jungle’s argument is based on the fact that Coleman knew nothing about the water where she fell. Coleman admitted that she did not see the water before she slipped, she never looked at the water after she slipped, and she does not know how much water was on the floor, where it came from or how long it had been there before the accident. Instead, Coleman only argues that the jury could make an inference that Coleman fell in water that came from a freezer that had a history of leaking.

¶ 12. Jitney Jungle further supports its argument by pointing to the conflicting evidence over where the accident occurred and where the freezer was located. Jitney Jungle contends that there was no freezer on aisle 6; instead, the freezers at the store were located on aisles 7 and 8. Coleman never identified where she slipped and fell and does not know where the accident occurred. Jitney Jungle points to Coleman’s testimony that implies she fell on aisle 6, other testimony that implies she fell on aisle 8 or possibly aisle 7, and other testimony that indicates she does not know or recall where she fell.

¶ 13. Hall’s testimony was indeed confusing. Hall was called as an adverse witness to testify in Coleman’s case-in-chief. During his testimony, Hall used a plat of the store that indicated the store layout. In response to questions asked on direct examination, Hall made a mistake in numbering the aisles so that aisle 6 on Hall’s plat was actually aisle 7 on the Jitney Jungle store plat. On cross-examination, Hall corrected this mistake. Adding to the confusion, Coleman’s incident report indicated that she fell on aisle 6 and did not mention any problem with the freezers. Neither the incident report nor Coleman’s testimony indicated that the water she fell in came from a leaky freezer.

¶ 14. Hall also testified that the freezer only leaked when the freezer’s drain iced over and prevented water from going down the drain. He testified that when the drain iced over, water from the freezer would leak onto the floor in aisle 7. The drain froze only occasionally and did not leak continuously. Hall corrected the problem when it occurred, and no one could predict when the drain might freeze again.

[613]*613¶ 15. The parties main dispute was the identity of the precise aisle on which Coleman fell. The jury resolved the conflicting evidence on this disputed issue of fact in favor of Coleman. Because the jury sits as finders of fact, their findings are entitled to substantial deference. Hearn v. Brown, 876 So.2d 380, 383 (¶ 13) (Miss.Ct.App.2003). The jury is in the best position to evaluate the testimony and determine what portions of the testimony of any witness it will accept or reject. Weathersby, 778 So.2d at 132.

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Related

Tait v. State
669 So. 2d 85 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Hartford Cas. Ins. Co. v. Halliburton Co.
826 So. 2d 1206 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Hearn v. Brown
876 So. 2d 380 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Downs v. Choo
656 So. 2d 84 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1995)
Weathersby Chevrolet v. Redd Pest Control
778 So. 2d 130 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Maxwell v. Illinois Central Gulf RR
513 So. 2d 901 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Sherman v. Keith
737 So. 2d 411 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1998)
Jerry Lee's Grocery, Inc. v. Thompson
528 So. 2d 293 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1988)
K-Mart Corp. v. Hardy Ex Rel. Hardy
735 So. 2d 975 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
894 So. 2d 610, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1054, 2004 WL 2525125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-jitney-jungle-stores-of-america-inc-missctapp-2004.