Freeland v. Henderson

252 So. 2d 899, 1971 Miss. LEXIS 1211
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1971
DocketNo. 46284
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 252 So. 2d 899 (Freeland v. Henderson) 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
Freeland v. Henderson, 252 So. 2d 899, 1971 Miss. LEXIS 1211 (Mich. 1971).

Opinion

BRADY, Justice:

This is an appeal from the Circuit Court of George County, Mississippi, wherein Choicy T. Henderson, Betty Henderson and Choicy T. Henderson, Administratrix of the Estate of Vernon E. Henderson, Deceased, obtained a judgment in the sum of $100,000 against Mrs. Evelyn Freeland, S. D’Antoni, Inc., T. L. Mydland Truck Lines, Inc., and Billy R. Williams. From that judgment this appeal is prosecuted by all defendants, who are appellants herein.

A concise statement of the material facts involved in this cause follows. On August 28, 1968, C. N. Freeland, who owns and operates a furniture and appliance store in Lucedale, Mississippi, left his place of business in a GMC three-quarter ton pickup truck. This truck was loaded with furniture and appliances which he was taking to Mobile. Proceeding in a generally eastward direction on Highway 98, he was approximately five miles east of Luce-dale when the right rear tire of his truck became flat. He parked the truck on the south shoulder of Highway 98 a disputed distance of two feet, or four or five inches from the blacktop. He crossed the road and went into the driveway of Mr. Seal and made two telephone calls. The first call was to Mr. Vernon E. Henderson, who owned and operated a Gulf Service Station in Lucedale, requesting him to send help out to change the flat tire on his truck. His second call was to his wife, Mrs. Evelyn Freeland, requesting that she send another of his trucks to the scene in order that the furniture could be changed to that truck if the flat could not be fixed.

Mrs. Freeland directed Earl J. Boulware, Jr., an employee of Mr. Freeland, to go to where Mr. Freeland had parked the truck [901]*901with the flat tire. Subsequent to the telephone conversation, Mrs. Freeland noticed that Mr. Freeland had left a list of appliance parts which he needed and intended to purchase in Mobile, Alabama. She therefore got in their white Pontiac automobile and proceeded to drive to the place where Mr. Freeland had parked his truck with the flat tire. The record discloses that Mr. Henderson had parked his truck directly behind Mr. Freeland’s truck a distance of three or four feet, and Mr. Boul-ware had parked the other truck of Mr. Freeland approximately seventy-five feet ahead of Mr. Freeland’s truck which had the flat tire.

The record discloses that Mrs. Freeland proceeded past the spot where the three trucks were located six hundred feet east to a driveway owned by a Mr. Byrd. She testified that she drove into the driveway and remained there fifteen or twenty minutes, being afraid of the traffic on Highway 98. Two of the Byrd children drove up in a car and in order to permit them to enter the driveway she backed her car eastward out of the driveway. It is disputed whether she backed her car onto the shoulder south of the blacktop or whether she backed into the westbound lane, thereby forcing Reverend Arthur H. Lord to reduce the speed of his car from fifty-five to sixty miles per hour to a slower rate, and causing truck No. 61 of Mydland Truck Lines, Inc., which was being operated at the time by the appellant, Mr. Billy R. Williams, to reduce its speed, thus requiring a car belonging to the mother and father of Billy R. Williams and being driven by appellant Williams’ mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, to slow down. Approximately three hundred feet east of the Williams’ car on Highway 98 was a truck belonging to Alterman Transport Lines of Miami, Florida, being operated by James Wiggins, which was likewise forced to slow down. Mrs. Freeland then proceeded west in the westbound lane of Highway 98 from the Byrd driveway to a point on Highway 98 opposite the Seal driveway. She alone disputed the fact that she gave no signals of any kind and testified that she slowed down preparatory to making a turn to the north and right into the Seal driveway.

Mrs. Lord testified that Mrs. Freeland almost came to a complete stop and that she realized the grave danger which she and her husband faced because of the Mydland truck which was putting on its brakes and rapidly approaching their station wagon from the rear. The record discloses that Mrs. Lord’s husband accelerated the speed of the station wagon and succeeded in passing Mrs. Freeland’s car by going between it and the trucks parked on the south shoulder of the eastbound lane of Highway 98.

Mr. Williams, the driver of the Mydland truck, did not testify but the record discloses that Williams first applied the brakes of the Mydland truck when he was just west of the Brannan driveway which is located a distance of 287 feet from the Seal driveway, both driveways being located on the north side of Highway 98.

Mr. James Wiggins testified that he saw everything which transpired; that Mrs. Freeland gave no signs or signals indicating that she was going to turn right into the Seal driveway.

The record reveals that the Mydland truck laid down 256 feet of tire marks caused by the application of the brakes when Mr. Williams endeavored to stop his truck because of the actions of Mrs. Free-land. The record discloses that he, too, endeavored to miss the Freeland car, turning to the left, or the application of the brakes caused his truck to swerve to the left. The left front part of his truck struck the left front part of C. N. Freeland’s truck, driving it back into Henderson’s truck and striking Mr. Henderson between the two trucks. Mr. Henderson sustained skull fractures and a broken neck. Mr. Boul-ware, who was engaged in trying to remove a spare tire, was also injured, and Mr. [902]*902Freeland’s truck was pushed off the shoulder of the road down an incline.

These are the basic facts relating to the accident but in our discussion of the errors which have been assigned we will supplement where needed additional facts which we considered in arriving at our decision.

The appellees charged in their declaration that the appellant C. N. Freeland and appellant Billy R. Williams, the driver of the truck for the alleged D’Antoni-Mydland joint venture, were both negligent and that the negligence of each was the proximate cause of the fatal accident. The appel-lees further urged that the issue of whether a joint venture existed between S. D’An-toni, Inc. and T. L. Mydland Truck Lines, Inc. was a jury issue which the jury resolved in favor of the appellees and therefore both of these appellants were liable for driver-employee Williams’ alleged negligence.

Appellant Mrs. Freeland assigns as error that the lower court erred in not granting her a directed verdict upon her motion and for not giving her a peremptory instruction. This appellant also earnestly urges that the negligence of Billy Ray Williams, driver of the Mydland truck, is solely responsible for the accident and that recovery can be had only against him and those who may be liable for his negligence. This appellant also urges in substance that her negligence is remote and that the negligence of Billy Ray Williams, an independent intervening act, was the sole cause of the accident. This appellant also asserts the wrongful admission of evidence and wrongful rulings of the court with reference thereto and finally the giving of erroneous instructions.

We consider first the basic issue of whether or not Mrs. Evelyn Freeland and Mr. C. N. Freeland, and whether or not Billy Ray Williams, the employee and operator of the Mydland truck, were guilty of negligence. As heretofore stated, only Mrs. Evelyn Freeland testified that she gave the statutorily required signals indicating that she was going to make a right turn off Highway 98 into the Seal driveway. Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
252 So. 2d 899, 1971 Miss. LEXIS 1211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/freeland-v-henderson-miss-1971.