Doe v. Stegall

900 So. 2d 363, 2003 WL 22707337
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 18, 2003
Docket2001-CA-01674-COA, 1998-CA-01058-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 900 So. 2d 363 (Doe v. Stegall) 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
Doe v. Stegall, 900 So. 2d 363, 2003 WL 22707337 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

900 So.2d 363 (2003)

Wonda DOE, Appellant,
v.
Gaines L. STEGALL, Individually and d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments and Betty Stegall, Appellees.
Wonda Doe, Appellant,
v.
Gaines L. Stegall, Individually and d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments, Nottingham Place Apartments, Gaines W. Stegall and Betty Stegall, Appellees.

Nos. 2001-CA-01674-COA, 1998-CA-01058-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 18, 2003.
Rehearing Denied February 1, 2005.
Certiorari Denied April 28, 2005.

*364 Shane F. Langston, Rick D. Patt, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Jason Hood Strong, and Robert S. Addison, Jackson, Edward C. Taylor, Gulfport, attorneys for appellee.

Before KING, P.J., BRIDGES and THOMAS, JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This case was previously before the Mississippi Supreme Court in the cause styled Doe v. Stegall d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments, 757 So.2d 201 (Miss. 2000) (hereinafter referred to as "Wonda Doe I"). Doe's only assignment of error addressed the exclusion of Michael Herrin's testimony as evidence of a genuine issue of material fact and she did not attempt to revive the other dismissed allegations of her amended complaint. Therefore, the central issue before the Mississippi Supreme Court in Wonda Doe I and the central issue on the instant appeal is whether Wonda Doe presented evidence *365 sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact relative to the negligence of defendant Nottingham in allowing the burglar/rapist Michael Herring access to a master key used to enter Doe's apartment.

¶ 2. In Wonda Doe I, the trial court had excluded the deposition testimony of Herrin because it conflicted with an unsworn statement that Herrin had given the police at or around the time of his arrest. Another ground cited by the trial court in support of its exclusion of the testimony was the content of an unauthenticated letter addressed to the trial judge purporting to have been authored by Herrin. The letter appears to have been written in response to an order by the trial judge directing Herrin to produce the master key given to him by Nottingham management and used by Herrin to gain access to Doe's apartment.

¶ 3. Wonda Doe I concluded that the trial court erred in excluding the deposition testimony of Herrin and the case was remanded.

¶ 4. It should be noted here that this case was deflected to this Court considerably past the statutory 270 day deadline, established in Mississippi Code Annotated section 9-4-3, from the Mississippi Supreme Court, without any guilt on the part of this Court.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FOLLOWED THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT'S GUIDANCE AND EXCLUDED MICHAEL HERRIN'S TESTIMONY AFTER HE REFUSED TO SO TESTIFY, THUS MAKING SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF THE APPELLEES PROPER.

FACTS

¶ 5. The Mississippi Supreme Court's opinion in Wonda Doe I provides a thorough and accurate procedural history and summary of the material facts prior to remand; we now continue. After remand, Nottingham noticed a third deposition of Herrin. At this third deposition, Herrin refused to provide any further substantive testimony and he refused to authenticate or provide any testimony regarding the letter that had been sent to the trial judge. Because of the lack of response from Herrin at the deposition, the trial judge again excluded Herrin's deposition testimony and, therefore, again granted summary judgment in favor of Nottingham. In his memorandum opinion and order, the trial judge stated that it would be unfair to the defendants to subject them to possible damages without an adequate opportunity to confront the witness adverse to them.

¶ 6. It is this second summary judgment that Doe now appeals to this Court.

ANALYSIS

WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FOLLOWED THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT'S GUIDANCE AND EXCLUDED MICHAEL HERRIN'S TESTIMONY AFTER HE REFUSED TO SO TESTIFY, THUS MAKING SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF THE APPELLEES PROPER.

¶ 7. When reviewing a lower court's decision to grant or deny a summary judgment motion, it is proper to employ a de novo standard of review. Hudson v. Courtesy Motors, 794 So.2d 999, 1002(¶ 7) (Miss.2001) (citing Russell v. Orr, 700 So.2d 619, 622 (Miss.1997)).

¶ 8. The rule in Mississippi is that summary judgments shall be entered by a trial judge "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on *366 file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." M.R.C.P. 56(c).

¶ 9. It is standard practice that "summary judgment, in whole or in part, should be granted with great caution." Brown v. Credit Ctr. Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 363 (Miss.1983). The moving party has the burden of proving that no triable genuine issue of fact exists, and the non-moving party is given the benefit of reasonable doubt. Tucker v. Hinds, 558 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss.1990). However, the non-moving party cannot just remain silent and do nothing. Newell v. Hinton, 556 So.2d 1037, 1041 (Miss. 1990). He must bring forward "significant probative evidence demonstrating the existence of a triable issue of fact." Id. at 1042.

¶ 10. In Brown, the court explained that while considering the motion for summary judgment, "the trial court must view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant." Brown, 444 So.2d at 363. Upon this consideration, the motion should be granted if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, otherwise it should be denied. Id.

¶ 11. In order to determine whether summary judgment was appropriate in the present case, we examined the pleadings, depositions, admissions, answers to interrogatories, and affidavits to determine whether Doe made a sufficient showing to survive Nottingham's motion for summary judgment. In the present case, the record shows that the Mississippi Supreme Court already decided that Herrin's deposition testimony should be considered to establish a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat the summary judgment. Doe, 757 So.2d at 206(¶ 14). The supreme court reasoned that the jury should determine the weight and reliability to give to Herrin's testimony, notwithstanding that it is riddled with inconsistent and perjured statements.[1]Id. at 205(¶ 12).

¶ 12. After the opinion in Wonda Doe I was rendered, Nottingham's counsel noticed Herrin's deposition in an effort to establish whether Herrin was lying about the key. However, Herrin refused to testify at all, thus prohibiting Nottingham from attempting to elicit facts concerning the key or whether it even existed at all.

¶ 13. We are of the opinion that Wonda Doe I again requires we reverse the summary judgment. In Wonda Doe I, it was decided that if Herrin refused to subject himself to cross-examination concerning his letter to the trial judge, the trial court was not prohibited from excluding his deposition testimony. Id. at 206(¶ 15).

¶ 14. Doe also argues that the trial court committed reversible error by not employing means short of excluding Herrin's testimony such as holding him in contempt. In the opinion of Wonda Doe I, the Mississippi Supreme Court acknowledged the limited means available to the trial court in compelling Herrin's participation in the case. Id. at n. 2.

¶ 15.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
900 So. 2d 363, 2003 WL 22707337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-stegall-missctapp-2003.