Giles v. Brown

962 So. 2d 612, 2006 WL 3593407
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 12, 2006
Docket2005-CA-01734-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 962 So. 2d 612 (Giles v. Brown) 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
Giles v. Brown, 962 So. 2d 612, 2006 WL 3593407 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

962 So.2d 612 (2006)

Robert Lee GILES, Roberto Giles, A Minor, by and Through His Father and Next Friend, Robert Lee Giles, and Antonio Giles, A Minor, by and Through His Father and Next Friend, Robert Lee Giles, Appellants
v.
Robert A. BROWN and Leake County, Mississippi, Board of Supervisors, Appellees.

No. 2005-CA-01734-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 12, 2006.
Rehearing Denied May 29, 2007.

Don H. Evans, Jackson, attorney for appellants.

Michael Jeffrey Wolf, Jackson, attorney for appellees.

*613 Before KING, C.J., SOUTHWICK and IRVING, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Robert Giles and Robert Brown, a Leake County constable, were involved in a car accident that left Giles and his sons, Antonio and Roberto, injured.[1] The Gileses sued Brown, but after discovery in the matter, the Leake County Circuit Court granted summary judgment on behalf of Brown. Aggrieved, the Gileses appeal and assert that the court erred in granting summary judgment, because evidence exists that Brown acted either intentionally or with reckless disregard for the consequences of his actions.

¶ 2. Finding error, we reverse and remand in part and affirm in part.

FACTS

¶ 3. On September 17, 2003, Giles and his children were riding their ATV 4-wheeler along Highway 488 near Carthage, Mississippi. Brown received a call that there were individuals riding an ATV on the highway, which is against the law. Brown set out in response to the call and encountered Giles.[2] Brown, with emergency lights activated, pulled behind Giles. Giles pulled off the road onto an unidentified piece of property. Brown asked Giles for his license, and Giles informed Brown that his license was suspended. Neither man left his respective vehicle during the exchange.

¶ 4. What happened next is disputed. According to Brown, Giles became belligerent and eventually cursed at Brown before leaving and returning to the highway on his ATV. Brown testified that he followed with lights and siren activated until Giles made a sudden turn, causing the accident at issue. Brown testified that he did not know whether he had hit Giles's vehicle or Giles's children. Brown indicated that he had attempted to slow down and avoid the accident, but was unable to do so and went into a ditch. Brown suggested that he might have been able to avoid the accident if Giles had activated his turn signal or given some other indication that he was about to turn.

¶ 5. According to Giles, he explained to Brown that he did not have his license, but did live nearby and suggested that he would take Brown to his house so that Brown could confirm that Giles lived nearby. Giles believed that if he did so, Brown would be more likely to let him go with simply a warning. Giles testified that he never cursed at Brown. Giles averred that he then pulled out onto the road, with the understanding that Brown would follow him to his house. Neither Giles nor his sons could recall hearing Brown's siren or seeing any emergency lights as Brown followed them down the road. In fact, Giles testified that he never looked back to confirm that Brown was following him. He simply assumed that, because of their exchange and his slow pace, Brown would follow. Giles testified that he slowed down considerably for his turn, although he admitted that he did not activate a turn signal or otherwise indicate that he was about to turn. Giles testified that Brown's vehicle hit the ATV, causing Giles and his sons to fall off and causing the ATV to collide with a third vehicle at the intersection.

¶ 6. It is not clear exactly how fast the parties were traveling. Brown indicated that they might have been going as fast as *614 forty to forty-five miles per hour, while the Gileses estimated their speed to be closer to twenty to twenty-five miles per hour. Giles and his sons also testified that they slowed down significantly for the turn that eventually resulted in the accident. Amber Wilcher, the driver of the vehicle that was hit by the ATV at the intersection, testified that she saw Brown hit Giles's vehicle before the ATV collided with her car. She also thought that Brown's vehicle might have collided with her own. Apparently no photographs were taken of the damage to the various vehicles, or such photographs were not included as part of the record. An accident report was filled out, but the version of events related was clearly given by Brown, as the officers filling out the report made no independent findings to explain what had happened. As a result of the accident, Giles suffered an injury to his right foot which required thirteen stitches, Roberto had scrapes on his body, and Antonio suffered two broken legs and a broken pelvis. Criminal charges were filed against Giles as a result of the accident, and he pled guilty to reckless driving, improper equipment, improper restraint, and two simple assault charges.

¶ 7. After discovery, the court granted summary judgment, largely based on a finding that the affidavit given by Wilcher as to how the accident occurred was not reliable because of conflicting deposition testimony. The court also declined to give any significant weight to the affidavits of Antonio and Roberto because the affidavits "may be flawed due to their age." The court noted that Giles's deposition testimony indicates that he was, at all times, watching the road in front of him and he therefore had little knowledge of what happened behind him or how Brown collided with the ATV. The court found that Brown was not acting with reckless disregard in his following of the vehicle, and also noted that both Antonio and Roberto acknowledged that "they knew it was illegal to ride the ATV on public highways and in the manner in which they drove." In its reasoning, the court noted that Giles had pleaded guilty to several misdemeanors as a result of the incident and found that "[t]his is significant in that it mitigates against Plaintiff's claim that Robert Brown was driving recklessly. . . . Brown perceived a crime had been committed in his presence, and he was in hot pursuit."

¶ 8. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issue.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE

Standard of Review

¶ 9. We review a lower court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Citifinancial Retail Servs. v. Hooks, 922 So.2d 775, 779(¶ 16) (Miss.2006). Summary judgment is only properly granted when no genuine issue of material fact is shown to exist. Id. at 779(¶ 17) (citing M.R.C.P. 56(c)). "[T]he non-moving party should be given the benefit of every reasonable doubt." Id. (citing Tucker v. Hinds County, 558 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss.1990)). "Issues of fact sufficient to require denial of a motion for summary judgment obviously are present where one party swears to one version of the matter in issue and another says the opposite." Id. at 779(¶ 18) (quoting Tucker, 558 So.2d at 872).

Standard for Recovery Under Mississippi Tort Claims Act

¶ 10. The Gileses' recovery is governed by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA), which is found at Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-46-1, to 11-46-23. The Gileses argue that section 11-46-9(1)(c) applies, while Brown and Leake *615 County (Brown) argue that both 11-46-9(1)(c) and 11-46-9(1)(d) apply.

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Bluebook (online)
962 So. 2d 612, 2006 WL 3593407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giles-v-brown-missctapp-2006.