Shields v. FREIGHTLINER OF JOPLIN, INC.

334 S.W.3d 685, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 235, 2011 WL 723149
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 28, 2011
DocketSD 29515
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 334 S.W.3d 685 (Shields v. FREIGHTLINER OF JOPLIN, INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shields v. FREIGHTLINER OF JOPLIN, INC., 334 S.W.3d 685, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 235, 2011 WL 723149 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

JEFFREY W. BATES, Presiding Judge.

Wallace and Deborah Shields (the Shields) appeal from the denial of their motion for new trial following a jury verdict in favor of defendant Freightliner of Joplin, Inc. (Freightliner). The Shields argue that they are entitled to a new trial due to intentional nondisclosure by juror Russell Allgood (Allgood) during voir dire. We affirm.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The Shields filed suit against Freightliner to recover damages for personal injuries they suffered when their recreational vehicle ran off the road. The petition alleged that the crash resulted from Freightliner’s negligent failure to replace a defective part in the vehicle’s steering mechanism.

The case was tried to a jury in August 2008. Allgood was a member of the veni-re. The Shields’ attorney, Scott Vorhees (Vorhees), questioned the panel first. One of his questions was:

Let me ask you about some of the potential witnesses, some of the people you may hear from in this case. Some of them may work at Freightliner, so I want to ask you a series of names and if anybody know[s] any of these people or recognizes' them, please raise your hand.... How about ... Kevin Louder-milk?

Allgood did not respond.

Later, Vorhees asked: “Has anybody ever been accused of doing something that they did not do?” Venireperson Heimberg raised his hand. Vorhees did not ask any questions about the underlying facts of the event. Instead, he wanted to knowhow Heimberg felt when he was wrongly accused. Vorhees then said:

Sometimes people assume that you’ve done something that you didn’t do and it 'turns out that you actually did it, or vice versa? Who else in the back right has had an experience where somebody else has said I think you did X, but the truth was you didn’t really? Anybody had that experience?

Venireperson White responded by stating: “It’s a personal issue that I’d rather not go into.” Vorhees asked no further questions about that incident and moved on to Veni-reperson Christopher, who said; “Mine is personal too.” Vorhees responded by saying: “Okay. Yeah, I don’t want to pry too deeply into personal issues.” Venireper-son Kennedy responded that he had been accused of doing something he didn’t do on a construction job in another country. Once again, Vorhees asked no further quéstions about the details of the incident. He only wanted to know how Kennedy felt about the incident. Allgood did not respond to Vorhees’ questions on this topic.

Vorhees also asked: “Has anybody been a Defendant, been sued in any type of lawsuit?” Venireperson Williams responded that he had been sued for credit card debt. Thereafter, Vorhees asked several more questions inquiring whether anyone had “been sued” or had been involved as a defendant in a lawsuit. Allgood did not respond to these questions.

Early in the voir dire, venireperson Goettel’s response to a question included a statement that he was a mechanic. Vo-rhees later asked a series of questions relating to the topic of mechanical training:

Let me go back to what got me started on this. Mr. Goettel, you told us you were a mechanic?
*688 BY VENIREMAN GOETTEL: Yes.
BY MR. VORHEES: Who else besides Mr. Goettel has any training in mechanics, automotive mechanics, at all? Anybody else? Any kind of training in mechanics at all? Mr. Goettel, what is your training in mechanics? I know you used to work for Freightliner of Joplin?
BY VENIREMAN GOETTEL: I was a mechanic in the Army. I had training on diesels, training on cars, training on motorcycles. Everything but boats and aircraft.
BY MR. VORHEES: And you currently work for Kenworth?
BY VENIREMAN GOETTEL: Yes, sir, for 9 years, 8 months.
BY MR. VORHEES: Anybody else have any kind of training, even if it’s not formal training like Mr. Goettel, they don’t do it for a living, but you know, I, at home, kind of do my own mechanic work on my motorcycle, for example? Anybody have any kind of that at home I change my tires, change the oil, that kind of stuff?

Venireperson Newton responded. Vo-rhees wanted to know the extent of Veni-reperson Newton’s mechanical abilities. Newton said he was in the collision business, and his duties included doing body and frame repairs, as well as working on steering components. At home, he did all of his own work and never went to a mechanic. He had changed his brakes, done his own alignments and adjusted tie rods.

Vorhees then asked: “Anybody else who does their own type of service work at home, besides Mr. Newton?” Venireper-son Baker responded that he did what Newton did, except for alignments, suspensions and steering. The following colloquy then ensued when Vorhees asked:

Who else in that back right panel does their own service work of some kind, even if it’s not as much as Mr. Newton does? In the front. Is it Ms. Jennings?
BY VENIREWOMAN JENNINGS: Yes.
BY MR. VORHEES: Tell me what all you do on yours?
BY VENIREWOMAN JENNINGS: I’ve done my fair share of things like tires and stuff like that. I’ve also done like taking out transmissions in vans. My husband has an '82 [Camaro] that we’re restoring. It’s not fun, it’s dirty work.
BY MR. VORHEES: Do you all work on your own steering, change components in suspension systems?
BY VENIREWOMAN JENNINGS: He does. I just help him align it.
BY MR. VORHEES: Okay. I’m a pretty good tool handler, I can do that. Is that what you do?
BY VENIREWOMAN JENNINGS: That’s what our daughter does.
BY MR. VORHEES: Fair enough. If this case turns out to involve some mechanics and what a steering component is or isn’t and any of that, would you be able to listen to the evidence in this case and not go home and talk to your husband about it, because he kind of knows something about it? Is that a yes?
BY VENIREWOMAN JENNINGS: Yes.
BY MR. VORHEES: That’s all right. I just want to make sure she’s clear. Anybody else that they don’t do them own service work personally, but them husband or their spouse or whoever they live with does so you’re kind of there with it? Anybody else? Ms. Stanley? BY VENIREWOMAN STANLEY: My husband has done some work on our vehicles. I know how to change the oil and change spark plugs and wires, but I *689 don’t, it’s messy. He does really everything on our vehicles. We don’t do our alignments anymore. He used to have an old Taurus that had some alignment issues and he worked on that himself. But I didn’t know what he was doing. Also, I don’t have formal training in mechanics, but as part of my job I have to read a lot of documents about mechanical repairs and a specialty.engines and things like that. So I may have picked up a couple a couple [sic] things there.

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Bluebook (online)
334 S.W.3d 685, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 235, 2011 WL 723149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shields-v-freightliner-of-joplin-inc-moctapp-2011.