Melinda Mora v. Charles Wine and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 8, 2021
Docket05-19-00874-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Melinda Mora v. Charles Wine and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company (Melinda Mora v. Charles Wine and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Melinda Mora v. Charles Wine and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, (Tex. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

AFFIRMED and Opinion Filed January 8, 2021

S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-19-00874-CV

MELINDA MORA, Appellant V. CHARLES WINE AND THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellees

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 5 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CC-16-05690-E

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Schenck, Osborne, and Partida-Kipness Opinion by Justice Osborne Appellant Melinda Mora brought suit against appellees Charles Wine and The

Kansas City Southern Railway Company (“KCSR”) for injuries she allegedly

suffered in an automobile collision at a railroad crossing. The trial court granted

KCSR’s motion for summary judgment. Mora’s claims against Wine, the driver of

the car in which she was a passenger, then proceeded to trial before a jury. The jury

found that Wine’s negligence proximately caused the accident and awarded Mora

$25,000 for “medical care in the past.” The trial court rendered judgment for Mora

on the jury’s verdict. In three issues, Mora challenges the summary judgment order, the trial court’s evidentiary rulings, and the sufficiency of the evidence to support

the jury’s damages award. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND

Mora was a passenger in Wine’s car on November 17, 2014. As they

approached a railroad crossing owned and operated by KCSR, the car in front of

them stopped because the crossing’s warning lights had come on and the gates had

come down. Although Wine applied the brakes, he was not able to stop before

colliding with the stopped vehicle.

In interrogatories to Mora, KCSR requested that Mora “[s]tate generally your

contention as to how the INCIDENT occurred and identify the acts or omissions of

each party that you contend contributed to the INCIDENT.” After stating her

objections, Mora responded, “Plaintiff refers Defendant to Plaintiff’s Original

Petition.” In her petition, Mora alleged:

The railroad crossing gate came down suddenly and without warning causing the vehicle in front of CHARLES WINE’S vehicle to stop suddenly, which caused CHARLES WINE to rear-end the vehicle in front of him. Defendant THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY owned, operated, controlled, maintained and was responsible for the railroad crossing gate and signals. Defendant THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY negligently operated and maintained the railroad crossing gate.

....

15. The negligent, careless and reckless acts of [KCSR] consisted of, but are not limited to, failing to properly control, maintain, repair and/or operate the railroad crossing gate.

–2– KCSR moved for summary judgment on the ground that there was no

evidence of a breach of duty regarding the crossing gate, because “there is no

evidence that the gate came down ‘suddenly’ or in any other negligent manner.”

KSCR also challenged the proximate cause element of Mora’s claim, arguing that

“even if the crossing gate did come down suddenly, there is no evidence that this

acted as a proximate cause of the collision.” KSCR explained, “[t]hat is, however

the crossing gates came down, they did not prevent the car in front of Plaintiff’s car

from stopping short of the crossing.” The trial court granted KCSR’s motion.

In the subsequent trial of Mora’s claims against Wine, the jury found that

Wine’s negligence proximately caused “the occurrence in question.” The jury

answered “$0.00” to questions asking for amounts that would reasonably

compensate Mora for past and future physical pain and mental anguish, past and

future physical impairment, and “medical care that in reasonable probability will be

needed in the future.” The jury found that $25,000 would fairly and reasonably

compensate Mora for “medical care in the past.” The trial court rendered judgment

on the jury’s verdict. This appeal followed.

STANDARDS OF REVIEW

The parties have discussed the applicable standards of review in their briefing.

We need not detail them here. In sum, we review the trial court’s no-evidence

summary judgment order de novo under the same legal sufficiency standard as a

directed verdict, and its ruling on the admission or exclusion of evidence for abuse

–3– of discretion. See Merriman v. XTO Energy, Inc., 407 S.W.3d 244, 248 (Tex. 2013)

(summary judgment); Estate of Finney, 424 S.W.3d 608, 612 (Tex. App.—Dallas

2013, no pet.) (admission or exclusion of evidence).

In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support a jury’s finding,

we “credit favorable evidence if reasonable jurors could, and disregard contrary

evidence unless reasonable jurors could not.” City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d

802, 827 (Tex. 2005). Anything more than a scintilla of evidence is legally sufficient

to support the finding. Cont’l Coffee Prods. Co. v. Cazarez, 937 S.W.2d 444, 450

(Tex. 1996).

In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support a jury’s finding,

we consider all of the evidence to determine whether the evidence supporting a fact

finding is so weak or the evidence to the contrary so overwhelming that the answer

is clearly wrong and unjust and should be set aside and a new trial ordered. Dow

Chem. Co. v. Francis, 46 S.W.3d 237, 242 (Tex. 2001).

DISCUSSION

1. Summary judgment for KCSR

In her first issue, Mora argues the trial court erred by granting KCSR’s motion

for summary judgment because genuine issues of material fact existed concerning

whether “KCSR’s breach on the railroad crossing” proximately caused Mora’s

injuries. She argues that KCSR had a duty to maintain the safety precautions it had

in place at its railroad crossing, and KCSR does not contend otherwise. She also

–4– argues that when KCSR undertook repairs at a railroad crossing, it had a duty to

provide a safe detour or warn travelers of the danger. She argues that Wine’s

testimony raised a fact issue regarding whether KCSR’s warning signals were

operating properly at the time of the collision.

KCSR responds that Mora alleged only a single theory of negligence in her

petition: that the crossing gate came down “suddenly.” Mora did not amend her

petition or her discovery responses to allege any other negligence theory. KCSR

filed a no-evidence motion for summary judgment on the ground that there was no

evidence of either breach of duty or proximate cause, essential elements of Mora’s

negligence claim. KCSR relied on Wine’s testimony that (1) he did not recall the

vehicle in front of him stopping suddenly and (2) he never actually saw the gates

come down. KCSR also relied on Mora’s testimony that she was looking down at

her cell phone and “never saw the arms go down.”

Mora argues that she presented evidence raising a fact issue on KCSR’s

breach of duty through her own and Wine’s deposition testimony and photographs

she took at the scene after the accident. She argues that the evidence “at a minimum,

supports an inference that KCSR failed to properly maintain the railroad crossing

safety mechanisms, including the lights, sounds, and crossing bucks.” She relies on

Wine’s and her own testimony that:

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Melinda Mora v. Charles Wine and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melinda-mora-v-charles-wine-and-the-kansas-city-southern-railway-company-texapp-2021.