Rodda v. White

584 N.E.2d 879, 222 Ill. App. 3d 989, 165 Ill. Dec. 445
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 17, 1991
Docket2—91—0193, 2 — 91-0217 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 584 N.E.2d 879 (Rodda v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodda v. White, 584 N.E.2d 879, 222 Ill. App. 3d 989, 165 Ill. Dec. 445 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE INGLIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

In these consolidated appeals, defendants, Bruce A. White and Michael Gay, appeal from a jury verdict in favor of Scott A. Rodda, plaintiff. Rodda was injured in the early hours of October 1, 1988, when he fell from the elevated bucket of a utility truck driven through the streets of Savanna by either White or Gay. Rodda was knocked out of the bucket after his forehead hit an overhead wire. All three individuals admit to extensive drinking prior to the incident. Plaintiff’s claims against two other defendants, the Herbst Grain Company and Jack Swanson, Inc., were dismissed by order of the trial court on September 25,1990.

The 12-member jury found plaintiff’s total damages to be $210,000. The jury determined plaintiff to be 30% at fault, White 40% at fault and Gay 30% at fault: The jury then found Rodda’s recoverable damages, his total damages reduced by his percentage of fault, to be $147,000. Each defendant made a separate and timely appeal, which this court consolidated on July 15, 1991. Defendants’ claims on appeal can be summarized as follows: (1) improper and prejudicial instructions were given to the jury; (2) the jury’s comparative negligence determinations were against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3) the $210,000 award was excessive. We affirm.

We begin our analysis by presenting a rather detailed recitation of the relevant trial testimony because defendants argue in part that the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Ten witnesses testified at the two-day trial. Plaintiff called George Heffelfinger as his first witness. Heffelfinger testified that in the early hours of October 1, 1988, he was leaving the parking lot of a Savanna supermarket when he saw a boom truck on Main Street with someone riding in and yelling from the bucket attached to the boom. Heffelfinger followed the truck in his car as the truck proceeded north on Main Street. The boom was partially raised, but Heffelfinger could not tell how high. He estimated the truck was travelling at about 20 to 25 miles per hour. At the next intersection, Main Street and Jefferson, Heffelfinger saw the individual in the bucket fall to the ground after apparently hitting one of the overhead wires.

Plaintiff next called Charles Sipes. Sipes operates Charlie’s Country Lounge in Savanna. Sipes testified that he closed the bar in the early hours of October 1. At closing time, he saw Rodda, White and Gay leave the bar and walk toward the boom truck parked in back of the bar. As Sipes was leaving in his car, he could hear the hydraulic cylinder from the boom “going up and down.”

Bruce White testified that he was celebrating his 27th birthday on Friday night, September 30. At the time, he was location manager for the Herbst Grain Company, the owner of the boom truck. He met Rodda and Gay between 9 and 10 p.m. at Bahr’s Bar.

Sometime while at Bahr’s, White testified that he gave Gay permission to borrow the boom truck for work the next day. White testified that Gay then brought the truck back to Bahr’s, sometime after which the trio departed for Charlie’s Lounge. According to White, Gay drove the boom truck to Charlie’s with White and Rodda as passengers in the cab. They arrived at Charlie’s after the bar had stopped serving alcohol. White used the restroom there, after which the trio left Charlie’s. White could not remember anything after they left Charlie’s. He was not sure who drove the truck after Charlie’s.

Plaintiff’s attorney then proceeded to impeach White by reading extensively from White’s earlier deposition. At his deposition, White stated that Gay drove the boom truck after they left Charlie’s and that White was a passenger. He also testified at his deposition that after they left, he noticed that the boom was up and asked Gay to pull over so that White could lower it. At his deposition, White stated that Gay was lying when Gay said White was driving the boom truck at the time.

White testified that any inconsistencies between his deposition and his trial testimony were because he was “covering up,” apparently referring to his deposition testimony. In answer to questioning about the “cover up,” White twice testified that: “I don’t know what the truth is.” When asked if he lied at his deposition, White responded: “I don’t know if I lied. That might be the truth.” In response to many questions about the incident, White claimed that he did not remember what happened due to his intoxicated state.

White did not remember anything about a red activation light or a master switch for the boom in the cab of the truck. However, plaintiff’s attorney impeached White by reading part of his deposition testimony to the jury. In his deposition, he indicated a fairly good understanding of how the switch activates the boom’s hydraulic system and how the red light indicates when the switch is on.

Michael Gay testified that he was acquainted with the control panel that can move the bucket on the truck in various directions because of his past employment with the Herbst Grain Company. He did not remember what each button did or whether a red activation light in the cab of the truck was working at the time of the accident. Plaintiff’s attorney then proceeded to impeach Gay by reading part of Gay’s deposition testimony to the jury. In his deposition testimony, Gay stated that the red light in the cab was “pretty bright” and “impossible to miss.” He further stated that the light “always worked fine,” including a day or so prior to the accident when he had borrowed the truck.

Gay testified at trial that on the evening in question he and Rodda met White at Bahr’s. Gay testified that White drove all of them to Charlie’s in the boom truck and that they arrived at about 2 a.m., at which time the bar was closing up. All Gay can remember after stopping at Charlie’s is climbing into the passenger side of the boom truck and passing out. The next thing he remembered was White stopping to lower the boom after the accident. He drove by the accident site later, apparently in his own pickup truck, and was thereafter cited for driving under the influence. He took a breathalyzer test at that time which indicated a .17 level of alcohol in his blood. Gay testified that he was not driving the boom truck at the time of the accident, but that he told the police officer at the scene that he was the driver because he wanted to “keep his job” and “cover” for White.

Gay stated that there are two control panels which govern movement of the boom, one attached to the bucket and the other located inside the rear driver side panel of the truck. He testified that there were controls inside the cab, consisting of a master switch and a red light, but that the master switch had possibly been bypassed. Gay admitted that it was dangerous to operate the boom truck while the bucket was elevated.

Scott Rodda testified that on the evening in question Gay called Rodda for a ride from work because Gay’s pickup truck had broken down. Rodda, 27 years old at the time, had just put in a full work day as a farm manager at a local farm. His average weekly gross pay was $375. Rodda testified that the two went to Bahr’s Bar for a few beers, then to the Upper Deck Lounge, and then back to Bahr’s.

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Bluebook (online)
584 N.E.2d 879, 222 Ill. App. 3d 989, 165 Ill. Dec. 445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodda-v-white-illappct-1991.