D & N Trucking, L.L.C. v. Brewer

833 So. 2d 627, 2001 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 665, 2001 WL 1204131
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedOctober 12, 2001
Docket2000431
StatusPublished

This text of 833 So. 2d 627 (D & N Trucking, L.L.C. v. Brewer) 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
D & N Trucking, L.L.C. v. Brewer, 833 So. 2d 627, 2001 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 665, 2001 WL 1204131 (Ala. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

CRAWLEY, Judge.

The sole question presented in this case is whether the trial court erred in granting Janet Brewer and John Brewer, husband [628]*628and wife, a new trial based on the failure of D & N Trucking, L.L.C., to comply with the trial court’s discovery order and on the Brewers’ claim to have newly discovered evidence. We conclude that the trial court erred in granting the Brewers’ motion for a new trial, and we reverse and remand.

I. Facts

The underlying facts of the Brewers’ claim are based upon a motor-vehicle accident involving Janet Brewer. Mrs. Brewer’s vehicle was struck by a log that fell from a D & N Trucking log truck, after the log hit a bridge overpass. Immediately after the accident, Williams and Mrs. Brewer drove their vehicles to the side of the road to await the arrival of the authorities.

Officer Joseph Hillyer, the police officer who prepared the accident report, testified that he examined the truck and trailer at the site of the accident, and that he issued no citations for safety violations such as improperly securing the logs or faulty cables on the trailer. Officer Hillyer saw that the remaining load on the trailer was adequately secured and allowed D & N Trucking’s tractor-trailer to leave the accident scene. The driver, Robert Williams, drove from the accident site to the lumberyard, which was closed when he arrived with the load. Thomas Nick Lamb, one of the owners of D & N Trucking, testified that he went to the accident scene and when he went to the lumberyard to examine the trailer after leaving the accident scene, he was unable to determine which trailer had been involved in the accident. Nick Lamb stated “the trailer had done been unloaded and it was three or four trailers sitting there, and there wasn’t any cables broken on the trailers, so you couldn’t have no way to tell which trailer it was.”

The Brewers sued D & N Trucking, alleging, as to Mrs. Brewer, that she had suffered psychological injuries as a result of the accident, and, as to Mr. Brewer, claiming loss of consortium. The Brewers alleged in their amended complaint that D & N Trucking had caused the accident by failing to properly maintain the truck and/or trailer involved in the accident. The evidence produced during discovery and trial proceedings established the identity of the tractor involved in the accident, but the trailer from which the log fell was never identified.

On January 9, 2000, the trial court entered an order directing D & N Trucking to produce, within 15 days, a number of items, including maintenance records on the tractor for 4 years before the date of the accident up until the time that certain repairs were complete and maintenance records on the trailer for 1 year before the accident until certain repairs were complete, including all parts and labor used for such repairs and routine maintenance records.1 On June 20, 2000, the Brewers moved the trial court for sanctions against D & N Trucking for failure to comply with the discovery order. The trial court held a hearing on June 23, 2000. During the hearing, the Brewers moved for judgment in their favor, as a sanction, because, they claimed, D & N Trucking had not complied with the trial court’s order compelling it to produce the maintenance records on the trailer. The trial court denied their request, because, it said, D & N Trucking claimed that the maintenance records on the trailer did not exist.

II. Trial-Court Proceedings

The trial-court proceedings began with jury selection on October 23, 2000. The [629]*629trial lasted for three days. Nick Lamb, D & N Trucking’s last witness, testified that he knew the whereabouts of the repair records on 12 trailers belonging to D & N Trucking.2 Nick Lamb testified that all of the maintenance records on the 12 trailers were located in the glove compartment of each tractor. Upon determining that the documents that had been sought actually existed, the trial court offered to interrupt the proceedings to allow the parties to travel to D & N Trucking’s premises to obtain the needed documents. In response, the Brewers’ attorney declined the court’s offer, stating that he was in the middle of his cross-examination; he further indicated that the production of these records so late in the trial would be of little use to him. The trial court replied, “Okay.” The Brewers’ attorney continued to address D & N Trucking’s failure to produce the maintenance records, saying, “So, if he doesn’t have them, he doesn’t have them. Let’s just go on. It’s not going to do us any good for this trial.”

On October 26, 2000, the jury returned a verdict for the Brewers and awarded $25,000 in compensatory damages; it awarded no punitive damages. On November 21, 2000, the Brewers filed a motion for a new trial, or, in the alternative, for an additur, stating that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and that defendants should be sanctioned for noncompliance with discovery.

On December 20, 2000, the trial court held a hearing on the Brewers’ post-judgment motion. The trial court stated in open court that in order to find the jury verdict inadequate, it would have to invade the province of the jury, and it was not willing to do that. The trial court did, however, order a new trial as a way of sanctioning D & N Trucking for noncompliance with its discovery order, which the trial court found to be willful. The trial court stated, in part, in its order:

“A hearing was held on Plaintiffs Motion for a New Trial on December 20, 2000.... As a part of the Motion for New Trial, the Plaintiff asked for sanctions for Defendant’s failure to comply with discovery orders of the Court. As sanctions, the Plaintiff asked that their Motion for a New Trial be granted. The hearing primarily dealt with, among other things, the failure of the Defendant to provide maintenance records of the trailer involved in the accident.
“Previously the Court had held hearings regarding what records should be produced for trial. On June 7, 2000, the court issued an order. Paragraph 1C of said Order stated that ‘the Defendant has 15 days from the date of this Order to produce ... the maintenance records for four years before the accident and until the repairs were complete, and maintenance records for the trailer for one year before the accident until the repairs were complete, including all parts, labor for such repairs including all routine maintenance records.’ ... On June 21, 2000, the Defendant filed a reply ... [in which it stated that] ‘D & N Trucking, L.L.C., has submitted its maintenance records to Plaintiff as requested.’ ...
“At the trial of this case, there was conflicting evidence between Derrick Lamb and Nick Lamb, who were the two principals of D & N Trucking, as to what records existed.

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Bluebook (online)
833 So. 2d 627, 2001 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 665, 2001 WL 1204131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/d-n-trucking-llc-v-brewer-alacivapp-2001.