Coleman v. Smith

901 So. 2d 729, 2004 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 865, 2004 WL 2633596
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedNovember 19, 2004
Docket2030198
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 901 So. 2d 729 (Coleman v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. Smith, 901 So. 2d 729, 2004 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 865, 2004 WL 2633596 (Ala. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

YATES, Presiding Judge.

Benjamin Wayne Coleman, by his mother and next friend, Leda Coleman,1 sued Jessie Boyd Smith on August 4, 2000, seeking to recover damages for injuries he sustained in an automobile accident. The case proceeded to trial on October 6, 2003. Smith moved the court for a preverdict judgment as a matter of law (“JML”) at [730]*730the close of the evidence, which the trial court granted. Coleman appeals. This case was transferred to this court by the supreme court, pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala.Code 1975.

Our supreme court has stated:

“When reviewing a ruling on a motion for a JML, this Court uses the same standard the trial court used initially in granting or denying a JML. Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. v. Crawford, 689 So.2d 3 (Ala.1997). Regarding questions of fact, the ultimate question is whether the nonmovant has presented sufficient evidence to allow the case or the issue to be submitted to the jury for a factual resolution. Carter v. Henderson, 598 So.2d 1350 (Ala.1992). For actions filed after June 11, 1987, the nonmovant must present ‘substantial evidence’ in order to withstand a motion. for a JML. See § 12-21-12, Ala.Code 1975; West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989). A reviewing court must determine whether the party who bears the burden of proof has produced substantial evidence creating a factual dispute requiring resolution by the jury. Carter, 598 So.2d at 1353. In reviewing a ruling on a motion for a JML, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmov-ant and entertains such reasonable inferences as the jury would have been free to draw. Motion Industries, Inc. v. Pate, 678 So.2d 724 (Ala.1996). Regarding a question of law, however, this Court indulges no presumption of correctness as to the trial court’s ruling. Ricwil, Inc. v. S.L. Pappas & Co., 599 So.2d 1126 (Ala.1992).”

Delchamps, Inc. v. Bryant, 738 So.2d 824, 830 (Ala.1999).

Coleman and Smith were students at Good Hope High School. After school on Friday, October 30, 1998, Smith and fellow student Jamie Coggins were going to get something to eat before a football game in which they were both scheduled to play later that evening. Smith was driving a 1972 GMC pick-up truck. It was a dry and sunny day. Coleman, who was a friend of Coggins’s, asked Coggins if he could go with him and Smith. Both Cog-gins and Smith agreed, and Coleman got into the truck. Coleman sat between Smith and Coggins.

Smith and his father had refurbished the truck by painting it and adding a new bed and tires. They also replaced a worn out “cam” on the engine with a RV cam. Both Smith and his father testified that the restoration work they had done on the truck did not enhance its power or speed. Sometime before leaving the campus on October 30, 1999, Smith and Coggins, who also owned a refurbished truck, became involved in a discussion regarding their trucks. Coggins testified that they discussed how fast the trucks could go. Smith denied that he and Coggins ever discussed how fast their trucks could go. Coggins testified that on the way to the restaurant Smith “punched” the accelerator of the truck and that he told Smith that he was not impressed.

Smith’s route on the date of the accident led them down Industrial Park Road. The evidence indicated that Industrial Park Road is a narrow road but that it is wide enough to allow oncoming traffic to pass. The road was constructed of tar and loose gravel with no painted center lines or shoulder lines. The road has a hill that prevents drivers from seeing oncoming traffic until the drivers reached the crest of the hill.

Coleman testified that as Smith turned onto Industrial Park Road Smith stated that he was going to “open it up” and that Smith then began to accelerate the truck. Coleman stated that as the truck ap[731]*731proached the “blind hill” he looked at the speedometer and saw that the truck was traveling 55 miles per hour. He stated that he asked Smith to slow down but that Smith continued to accelerate the truck as they approached the hill. Coleman testified that as they crested the hill they were traveling 65 miles per hour and were “dead” in the middle of the road. Coleman, testified that they met an oncoming vehicle and that Smith swerved to the right to avoid hitting the vehicle and veered toward a ditch. Smith’s vehicle “hit some gravel” and skidded out of the ditch and across the road to the left side of the road where it hit two mailboxes before completely crossing back over the road to the right and striking a tree. The state trooper that investigated the accident testified that the truck skidded approximately 400 feet. Smith and Coleman were ejected from the vehicle. Smith, Coleman, and Coggins were taken to the hospital where they were treated for injuries. Coleman eventually underwent surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

On cross-examination, Coleman testified that he was not afraid while riding with Smith and that Smith was not “goofing around.” He stated that Smith was traveling in a straight line down the road and that when they first saw the other vehicle at the crest of the hill the other vehicle was in the middle of the road and partially in Smith’s lane of travel. Coleman stated that Smith swerved to avoid hitting the other vehicle and lost control of the truck on the loose shoulder of the road. Coleman further testified on cross-examination that the “only reason,” in his opinion, that Smith went off the shoulder of the road was to avoid the other vehicle and that, otherwise, “[Smith] would have kept going straight down the road.”

Smith testified that as he turned onto Industrial Park Road he was concerned about the loose gravel kicking up and chipping the new paint job on the truck. He stated that he drove slow enough to avoid kicking up the loose gravel and that he estimated his speed to be 35 to 40 miles per hour. Smith stated that he was not “showing off’ and that nobody asked him to slow down. Smith testified that he was on his side of the road as he crested the hill and that the other vehicle was in the middle of the road. He stated that he swerved to the right in order to avoid the other vehicle and that he lost control of his truck in the loose gravel on the shoulder of the road.

On cross-examination, Smith estimated the length of his skid marks to be 170 to 200 feet. He also admitted that “at the most” he may have been traveling 50 to 55 miles per hour at the time of the accident.

Coggins estimated Smith’s speed at the time of the accident to be 35 to 40 miles per hour. He stated that Smith was not racing and was in control of the truck as he traveled on Industrial Park Road. He testified that Coleman never asked Smith to slow down or otherwise complained about Smith’s driving. Coggins further stated that as Smith crested the hill he was on his side of the road and that they met another vehicle that was a quarter of the way on Smith’s side of the road. He stated that Smith swerved to avoid the other vehicle and that Smith lost control of the truck in the loose gravel on the shoulder of the road.

Ricky Smith testified that he was a passenger in a van being driven by his wife on Industrial Park Road at the time of the accident. He stated that his wife was driving on her side of the road when they met a truck on the hill. Ricky testified that the truck was on his wife’s side of the road and that she swerved to avoid hitting the truck.

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Related

Hagen v. Pelletier
N.D. Alabama, 2019
Schubert v. Smith
132 So. 3d 6 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2013)
Clark v. Kindley
10 So. 3d 1005 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
901 So. 2d 729, 2004 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 865, 2004 WL 2633596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-smith-alacivapp-2004.