Parr v. Gaines

424 S.E.2d 515, 309 S.C. 477, 1992 S.C. App. LEXIS 167
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedOctober 26, 1992
Docket1878
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 424 S.E.2d 515 (Parr v. Gaines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parr v. Gaines, 424 S.E.2d 515, 309 S.C. 477, 1992 S.C. App. LEXIS 167 (S.C. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Bell, Judge:

This action, which sounds in breach of contract, negligence, and strict liability, arises out of a collision between a truck owned and driven by Henry L. Parr, Sr. and a truck owned by Pringle Paint Sundries, Inc., and driven by its employee, Dwight Gaines. Pringle and Gaines sued Volvo GM Heavy Duty Truck Corp., the manufacturer of Pringle’s truck, and Christopher Truck Sales, Inc., the dealer who sold the truck to Pringle and performed maintenance and repairs on it after Pringle purchased it. They alleged that the brakes on the truck were defective, in breach of express and implied warranties, and sought damages caused by the defect. Several months later, Parr brought a separate suit against Gaines, Pringle, Volvo, and Christopher, alleging negligence, negligent repair, negligent manufacture, strict product liability, and breach of express and implied warranties. Pringle answered and brought a third party complaint for indemnity against Volvo and Christopher. Parr sought damages for casualty to his truck, bodily injuries, medical expenses, and loss of income allegedly caused by his inability to work full time while recovering from the accident. Pringle sought damages for casualty to its truck, out-of-pocket repair costs before and after the accident, out-of-pocket cost of renting a replacement truck, and indemnification for any damages it was required to pay to Parr.

The cases were consolidated for trial. The jury returned a general verdict for Parr against Volvo and Christopher and *480 awarded him $80,000 in damages. The jury also returned a general verdict for Pringle against Volvo and Christopher, awarding $40,000 in damages. Upon a motion for a new trial nisi remittitur, the trial court reduced Pringle’s verdict to $31,286. From the denial of their motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdicts and for a new trial absolute on damages, Volvo and Christopher appeal. We affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to Parr and Pringle, the evidence showed the following. Pringle purchased a new Volvo truck from Christopher in August of 1987. Twice thereafter, the brakes on the truck failed. On June 13,1988, Pringle returned the truck to Christopher after the brakes malfunctioned a third time. As on the two prior occasions, Christopher inspected the brakes, found no defect in the braking system, adjusted the brakes, and returned the truck to Pringle.

On June 14, 1988, the day after Christopher adjusted the brakes, Dwight Gaines was driving the Volvo truck on Highway 76 near Newberry on his way to make a delivery. In front of him on the highway was Parr. Parr owns a dairy operation in Newberry County, and also grows crops on land in both Newberry and Laurens counties. He was on his way to inspect a hay field.

When Parr arrived at his field, which borders Highway 76, he slowed down. Gaines applied his brakes, but they malfunctioned, and he hit the rear of Parr’s truck. Parr suffered severely bruised ribs and extensive damage to his truck. Gaines was not injured, but the Volvo truck suffered some front end damage. At trial, Parr testified that the accident disabled him from working on his farm for five weeks, causing substantial dairy and crop losses.

I.

Volvo and Christopher first argue that the trial court erred by allowing Parr to present evidence regarding his farm losses. They contend these damages were too remote to be a foreseeable consequence of the accident.

Pringle, but not Volvo and Christopher, moved in limine to exclude evidence of Parr’s farming losses. The record does not indicate how, or even if, the court ruled on this motion. During trial, neither Pringle, Volvo, nor Christopher made a contemporaneous objection when Parr presented evidence regarding *481 the farming losses. Without objection, Parr testified that the injuries he sustained kept him from managing what he and two other experts described as a sophisticated farming operation. He also testified as to the dollar value of these losses.

Although limited exceptions exist, objections to the admission of evidence must be made when evidence is presented at trial to preserve error for appeal. State v. Davis, — S.C. —, 419 S.E. (2d) 820 (Ct. App. 1992). A motion in limine, even if granted, does not remove the need for a contemporaneous objection at trial. See State v. Floyd, 295 S.C. 518, 369 S.E. (2d) 842 (1988). Motions in limine are not final determinations of whether evidence will be admitted at trial. Id. If a motion in limine to exclude evidence is denied, a party-must renew its objection when the evidence is presented during trial. See White v. Wilbanks, 298 S.C. 225, 379 S.E. (2d) 298 (Ct. App. 1989), rev’d on other grounds, 301 S.C. 560, 393 S.E. (2d) 182 (1990). In this case, there was no objection to the evidence when it was presented.

Volvo and Christopher also argue that they preserved the farm loss issue for appeal by making a motion to strike all testimony on farm losses at the close of Parr’s case. In absence of a contemporaneous objection, a motion to strike may be denied. See Lindsey v. City of Greenville, 247 S.C. 232, 146 S.E. (2d) 863 (1966). Volvo and Christopher had ample opportunity to object to the evidence on Parr’s damages. The record does not provide a sound reason to excuse the failure to object when the evidence was presented. Id. Volvo and Christopher could not cure their failure to object contemporaneously by moving to exclude the evidence at the end of Parr’s case. Therefore, denying the motion to strike was not an abuse of discretion.

Finally, Volvo and Christopher argue the admissibility of farm losses is preserved under Rule 43(c)(1), SCRCP, which states: “If an objection has once been made at any stage to the admission of evidence, it shall not be necessary thereafter to reserve rights concerning the objectionable evidence.” In effect, Volvo and Christopher ask this court to hold that Rule 43(c)(1), SCRCP, obviates the requirement of objecting to evidence when it is presented to preserve the issue of its admissibility on appeal.

Under former practice, if a trial judge overruled an objec *482 tion to evidence, the objecting lawyer had to reserve the objection before questioning the witness on the objectionable evidence. Otherwise, the objection was considered waived. Rule 43(c)(1) assumes a contemporaneous objection has been made and overruled by the court. Pinkerton v. Jones, 423 S.E. (2d) 151 (S.C. Ct. App. 1992). It merely states that once a contemporaneous objection has been made, no further reservation of rights is needed to preserve the objection. It does not alter the rule requiring a contemporaneous objection. In this case, Volvo and Christopher made no contemporaneous objection. Therefore, their Rule 43(c)(1) argument is without merit.

II.

Volvo and Christopher next argue that the court erred by not allowing their expert to testify regarding tests that were conducted on the brakes of the Volvo truck.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
424 S.E.2d 515, 309 S.C. 477, 1992 S.C. App. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parr-v-gaines-scctapp-1992.