Cotton v. Walker

144 So. 45, 164 Miss. 208, 1932 Miss. LEXIS 233
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1932
DocketNo. 30208.
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 144 So. 45 (Cotton v. Walker) 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
Cotton v. Walker, 144 So. 45, 164 Miss. 208, 1932 Miss. LEXIS 233 (Mich. 1932).

Opinion

*218 Cook, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The automobiles of Andrew Cotton and W. A. Walker collided on the streets of Macon, Mississippi. As is not unusual in such cases, the driver of each of these automobiles charged that the collision was the result of the negligence of the other. Thereafter the said W. A. Walker filed a suit against the said Andrew Cotton in the court of a justice of the peace for one hundred seventy-nine dollars and twenty-five cents, the alleged amount of damages to his automobile resulting from the negligence of the said Cotton, and recovered a judgment for the amount sued for. That cause was thereupon appealed to, and tried anew in, the circuit court, and the plaintiff therein, Walker, again recovered a judgment for the full amount sued for, and there was no appeal from that judgment.

While the above-mentioned cause was pending on appeal in the circuit court, the defendant therein, Andrew Cotton, filed a suit in the circuit court against the said W. A. Walker for damages alleged to have been sustained by him as a result of the negligence of the driver of-Walker’s automobile. The cause that originated in the justice court having proceeded to final judgment in the circuit court, the defendant in the cause instituted in the circuit court filed-therein a plea of the general issue, and a special plea of res adjudicata alleging the following:

*219 “Now comes the defendant in the above styled cause, by attorneys, and after leave of court first had and obtained for a further and special plea in this behalf says that the plaintiff ought not to have and maintain any action against the defendant in this behalf for the following reasons, to-wit:

“The alleged cause of action sued on by the plaintiff, Andrew Cotton, in this suit arises out of a collision between a Chevrolet truck belonging to the said Andrew Cotton and a Plymouth sedan belonging to the defendant, W. A, Walker, which occurred on Jefferson Street, near its intersection with Eighth street in the city of Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi, on the 12th day of March, 1930, and the only ground of negligence complained of by the said Andrew Cotton in his declaration in this behalf is as set out in the original declaration in the following words, to-wit:

“ ‘Plaintiff further alleges that the said Ben Walker was at the time of the impact driving at a great and unlawful rate of speed, coming south on the west side of Jefferson street past the intersection with Eighth street when ostensibly for the purpose of avoiding a collision with a car parked in front of the home now occupied by H. E. Dorroh, caused his car to be sharply swerved towards the east and ran on the east side of said street and collided with the plaintiff’s truck.’

“That heretofore there was pending in the Circuit Court of Noxubee County, Mississippi, a certain cause numbered 2064, wherein W. A. Walker was the sole plaintiff and Andrew Cotton was the sole defendant, in which suit the said Walker was claiming damages of the said Andrew Cotton on account of injuries to his said Plymouth sedan arising out of the same collision above referred to.

“That in the pleadings of said Cause numbered 2064, and on the trial thereof the said Andrew Cotton plead both by way of defense in bar and by way of mitigation of damages, that the said collision had been either wholly *220 or partially caused by the identical grounds of negligence upon which he now bases this suit in cause numbered 2072. That on the trial of said cause numbered 2064 the said Andrew Cotton himself testified, by way of defense, to an alleged state of facts tending to prove that the said W. A. Walker, by and through his son, Ben Walker, had been guilty of exactly the acts of negligence as complained of in the declaration in this suit numbered 2072. That on the trial of said cause numbered 2064, and at the request of the said Andrew Cotton the court granted certain instructions which submitted to the jury the issue of whether or not the said W. A. Walker; acting by and through his son, Ben -Walker, had been guilty of any negligence in the premises which was either wholly or partially the proximate cause of the collision.

“The only proof before the court and jury on the trial of said cause numbered 2064, as to the extent of the damage to the Plymouth sedan of the said W. A. Walker was that the same had been damaged to the extent of one hundred seventy-nine dollars and twenty-five cents, no more and no less.

“That upon the trial of said cause numbered 2064, and upon the issues so presented to the jury the said jury returned a verdict in favor of W. A. Walker, in the full sum of one hundred seventy-nine dollars and twenty-five cents, upon which verdict the Circuit Court of Noxubee County thereupon, on the 18th day of February, 1931, entered its final judgment, which judgment now remains in full force and effect.

“Wherefore, the said W. A. Walker says that the said verdict and judgment entered thereon in cause numbered 2064 was and is a final and conclusive adjudication as between the said W. A. Walker and Andrew Cotton by a, court of competent jurisdiction; that in truth and in fact the said collision, above referred to out of which this suit grows was wholly caused by the negligence and fault of the said Andrew Cotton and that no negligence *221 or fault on the part of W. A. Walker or his son, Ben Walker, in any wise proximately contributed thereto.

“True and correct copies of the original declaration, the counter affidavit or plea of the defendant, Andrew Cotton, the instructions of the court granted at the request of Andrew Cotton, the verdict of the jury and the final judgment thereon in said cause numbered 2064 are hereto attached and marked Exhibits ‘A’ to ‘F’ inclusive and prayed to be taken and considered a part of this plea.

“All of which this defendant is ready to verify.”

To the special plea of the defendant Walker there were attached copies of the original declaration or claim of the plaintiff, the counter affidavit and plea of the defendant, Cotton, the instructions granted at his request, the verdict of the jury, and the judgment thereon, in the said cause numbered 2Ó64, which said exhibits substantiated the averments of the special plea as to the issues submitted to the jury in said cause.

To this special plea the plaintiff, Andrew Cotton, filed a replication admitting that the two' suits grew out of the same collision, but denying that the grounds of negligence in the two suits were identical, for the reason that other and additional evidence had been discovered which would be offered on the trial of the cause then pending, and averring that the plaintiff therein should not be barred of his right of recovery by reason of anything set up in the special plea, for the reason that the plaintiff had a cause of action against the defendant which he had never had an opportunity of having adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction; that new and additional evidence bearing upon the question of the alleged negligence of the respective parties had been discovered; and that in the trial of the former cause the court granted the plaintiff therein an erroneous and prejudicial instruction.

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Bluebook (online)
144 So. 45, 164 Miss. 208, 1932 Miss. LEXIS 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cotton-v-walker-miss-1932.