Readnour v. Gibson

452 S.W.3d 617, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2014 WL 4656504
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 19, 2014
DocketNo. 2014-CA-000023-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 452 S.W.3d 617 (Readnour v. Gibson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Readnour v. Gibson, 452 S.W.3d 617, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2014 WL 4656504 (Ky. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

OPINION

COMBS, Judge:

Jack Readnour, pro se, appeals from an order of the Kenton Circuit Court granting summary judgment and dismissing the claims he asserted against Jerry Gibson, III; Tammy Gibson, his wife; Jerry Gibson, Jr., his father; Thomas G. Abbott; and Dylan Mead. After our review, we affirm.

On June 8, 2012, following an incident that can best be described as an example of “road rage,” the Gibsons filed an action against Readnour in Kenton Circuit Court for personal injuries and property damage. Readnour filed a timely answer denying liability.

On July 20, 2012, Readnour filed his own complaint for personal injury and property damage in Kenton Circuit Court against the Gibsons and against appellees Abbott and Mead. Proceeding without the assistance of an attorney, Readnour asserted claims based upon alleged violations of Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 508.030 (assault); KRS 508.040 (assault under extreme emotional disturbance); KRS 508.050 (menacing); KRS 508.070 (wanton endangerment); KRS 508.100 (criminal abuse); KRS 508.140 (stalking); KRS 509.020 (unlawful imprisonment); KRS 509.040 (kidnapping); KRS 189.290 (failure to drive carefully); and KRS 304.47-020 (insurance fraud). He also asserted a separate claim for “loss of personal liberty” and a claim for loss of consortium. Readn-our sought to recover both compensatory and punitive damages. In his complaint, Readnour described the following events.

On June 12, 2011, at approximately 12:55 p.m., Readnour, who was driving his wife’s mini-van, encountered a line of vehicles stalled in traffic on Orphanage Road in Kenton County. To avoid the traffic delay, Readnour decided to switch to the driving lane to his immediate left. Since it was blocked by orange cones several yards ahead, this lane of travel was apparently free of traffic. Readnour alleged that he intended to bypass the line of traffic by using this empty lane to reach a nearby access road and from there to cross a restaurant parking lot and again connect with the highway.

As Readnour drove the mini-van along this left-most lane, he encountered a Chevrolet Blazer occupied by Jerry Gibson, Jr., Jerry Gibson, III, Mead, and Abbott. According to Readnour, Gibson intentionally maneuvered the Blazer from the line of traffic into the left lane to cut off Readn-our’s progress. As the Blazer moved forward with the traffic flow and eased back into the right lane, Readnour again moved forward in the now-unobstructed, left lane. Readnour alleged that as he approached the Blazer for a second time, Gibson again intentionally maneuvered the vehicle into the left lane to cut off Readnour’s progress. As the Blazer moved slowly forward with the traffic flow and again eased back into the right lane, Readnour made a further attempt to overtake the Blazer. Now, according to Readnour, Gibson intentionally maneuvered the Blazer entirely [620]*620into the left lane to obstruct Readnour’s progress. “By this time, Carol Ann Readnour was well into a panic attack and was crying and yelling for help for relief from the situation.” Complaint at 4.

Readnour alleged that after encountering the Blazer for a third time, he exited his mini-van and yelled at Gibson “to get back into his own lane and quit obstructing [Readhour’s] attempt to leave [Orphanage Road].” Id. After the four occupants of the Blazer climbed out, a shouting match erupted on the highway. Readnour alleged that he suddenly felt threatened and returned to the mini-van. Readnour admitted in his deposition that he shoved one of the men as he stood in the roadway.

Once back in the mini-van, and “[i]n an attempt to break the hold” of the four men over him and his wife, Readnour “moved closer to the Blazer at a very slow speed ... in an attempt to ‘just’ touch the Blazer and hopefully get the [the Gibsons, Mead, and Abbott] to reenter their Blazer, move it to the right and allow [the Readnours] to move ahead.” Id. at 5. In his deposition, Readnour admitted that he struck the Blazer (significantly damaging both the front bumper and the right head lamp of the mini-van) in an effort to intimidate the occupants of the Blazer.

Finally, “[i]n a continued effort to escape the grasp of these four kidnappers,” Readnour backed the mini-van away from the Blazer and turned into the oncoming traffic lane. Id. at 6. In a now desperate attempt to stop the mini-van, Readnour alleged, the Gibsons “dove slightly into the path” of the mini-van, and the van “hit them slightly and brushed them aside.” Id. Readnour drove home. Police arrived and cited Readnour with leaving the scene of an accident.

After taking Readnour’s deposition, the Gibsons, Mead, and Abbott filed a motion for summary judgment. In an order entered December 4, 2013, the Kenton Circuit Court granted the motion. This appeal followed.

Upon a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, and all doubts must be resolved in his favor. Bear, Inc. v. Smith, 303 S.W.3d 137 (Ky.App.2010). The trial court examines the evidence not to decide any material issue of fact but to discover if a genuine issue as to any fact exists. Id. If no material fact remains in issue, the trial court decides whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Kentucky Rule[s] of Civil Procedure (CR) 56.03. “An appellate court need not defer to the trial court’s decision on summary judgment and will review the issue de novo because only legal questions and no factual findings are involved.” Hallahan v. The Courier-Journal, 138 S.W.3d 699, 705 (Ky.App.2004).

On appeal, Readnour contends that the trial court erred by dismissing his negligence claims. He claims that the appel-lees’ negligence arose from their violation of various state and local traffic laws and that they negligently inflicted emotional damage upon him and his wife. Readnour also argues that the trial court violated his federal rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and its Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses.

A common-law negligence claim requires proof of: (1) a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, (2) breach of that duty, (3) injury to the plaintiff, and (4) legal causation between the defendant’s breach and the plaintiffs injury. Wright v. House of Imports, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
452 S.W.3d 617, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2014 WL 4656504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/readnour-v-gibson-kyctapp-2014.