Williams v. Bell

606 S.E.2d 436, 167 N.C. App. 674, 2005 N.C. App. LEXIS 18
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 4, 2005
DocketCOA03-1538
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 606 S.E.2d 436 (Williams v. Bell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Bell, 606 S.E.2d 436, 167 N.C. App. 674, 2005 N.C. App. LEXIS 18 (N.C. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

STEELMAN, Judge.

Plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s ruling excluding evidence of an insurance policy of defendant, American Bass Fishing Club, Inc. (American). Plaintiffs also appeal the trial court’s denial of their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, in which they requested the trial court hold as a matter of law that an agency relationship existed between defendants Bell and American. For the reason discussed herein, we hold there was no error committed in the trial of this case.

On 20 June 2001, the Williams family went to High Rock Lake in Davidson County for a family outing. Shortly after arriving, sisters Tiffany and Candace Williams went on a boat ride with their mother’s boyfriend, John Long. The three were on High Rock Lake, leaving the Buddie Creek access area, as Bell’s boat approached the access area. Bell’s boat collided with Long’s boat, throwing both girls into the water. Long was able to rescue Tiffany, who was injured, but Candace drowned as a result of the accident.

The personal representatives of the Estate of Candace Williams brought this action pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-18-2, seeking damages for wrongful death. Tonya Williams also sought damages for personal injuries suffered by the minor child, Tiffany Williams. Each of these claims was based on the negligence of defendant Bell. Plaintiffs also asserted that at the time of the accident, Bell was acting as an agent of American.

Since 2000, Bell was American’s director for the Western District of North Carolina. As the district director, Bell oversaw the administration of local tournaments in his district. However, Bell was not an employee of American, he received no salary, and had no full-time duties as district director.

The accident took place during American’s national championship tournament, which was held at High Rock Lake, starting on [676]*67617 June and ending three days later on 20 June 2001. Bell was the principal organizer of the tournament. He arranged for sponsorships, as well as for food and lodging for the contestants. However, once the tournament began, Bell participated in the tournament as a contestant and paid a registration fee. He had no duties related to tournament registration, received no compensation, and did not participate as an official of American during the weighing of the fish caught at the end of each day of the tournament. Furthermore, he was not authorized to answer any questions that arose during the contest concerning the rules and procedures of the tournament. Dan Jackson, American’s national director, was in charge of the tournament.

On the day of the accident, Bell arrived at the tournament towing his personal boat. There were at least two boat access areas for High Rock Lake; Southmont, where the main tournament activities took place, and Buddie Creek. Bell put his boat into the lake at Buddie Creek to avoid the crowds at the Southmont access. The tournament began at approximately 5:30 a.m. Bell fished until around 3:30 p.m., when he returned to the Southmont dock to weigh the fish he had caught that day. In this tournament, at the conclusion of each day’s fishing, the fish were released back into the lake following the weigh-in. Dan Jackson asked Bell and a volunteer, Max Neal, to return the fish to the lake. Around 4:15 p.m., Bell and Neal took a pontoon boat out onto High Rock Lake and released the fish. Bell then returned to the Southmont dock, where his wife was waiting. At about 5:00 p.m. Bell and his wife got into Bell’s personal boat, and proceeded from the Southmont access to the Buddie Creek access, where Bell’s boat trailer was located. It was while Bell was going to the Buddie Creek access that the collision with the boat containing Candace and Tiffany Williams occurred.

The trial court submitted six issues to the jury, including the issue of whether Bell was acting as an agent of American at the time of the accident. At the conclusion of a ten-day trial, the jury: (1) found that Bell’s negligence was the sole cause of the accident, (2) found that at the time of the accident Bell was not acting as the agent of American; and (3) awarded substantial damages to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs appeal.

In plaintiffs’ first assignment of error, they contend the trial court erred in sustaining the objection of American to two separate proffers made by plaintiffs. In order to discuss this assignment of error, it is necessary to review the proffers made by plaintiffs.

[677]*677During Bell’s testimony, plaintiffs made a proffer outside of the presence of the jury that: (1) Bell had no personal insurance applicable to the accident; and (2) Bell saw on the Internet the amount of insurance coverage that American had in effect. Later in the trial, plaintiffs sought to introduce answers to interrogatories identifying American’s insurance coverage, and to also introduce a copy of the insurance policy. Before the trial court, plaintiffs argued that the existence of the insurance policy “goes to the issue of whether this gentleman [Bell] was in fact his agent. ...” On appeal, plaintiffs contend the “mere fact the alleged principal obtained insurance which covered ‘executive officers and directors’, was evidence enough to weigh and influence the jury’s decision on this issue [,]” based on the following language contained in the insurance policy (emphasis in original).

Section II: — WHO IS AN INSURED

d. An organization other than a partnership, joint venture or limited liability company, you are an insured. Your “executive officers” and directors are insureds, but only with respect to their duties as your officers and directors.

Rule 401 of the Rules of Evidence provides the general test for relevant evidence. “ ‘Relevant evidence’ means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 401 (2004).

Rule 404 and the rules that follow in Article 4 of Chapter 8C, deal with situations that occur with sufficient frequency to justify a specific rule. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 401 official commentary (2004). Rule 411 is such a rule, dealing with the admissibility of evidence of liability insurance. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 411 (2004). The general rule is that the existence of liability insurance is not admissible to show a party acted negligently or wrongfully. Id. However, the rule does not require the exclusion of evidence of insurance for other purposes, such as proof of agency. Id. The official commentary to Rule 411 states that “[a]t best the inference of fault from the fact of insurance coverage is a tenuous one, as is its converse. More important, no doubt, has been the feeling that knowledge of the presence or absence of liability insurance would induce juries to decide cases on improper grounds.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 411 [678]*678official commentary (citing McCormick on Evidence § 168 (John W. Strong gen. Ed., 5th ed. 1999)). While Rule 411 does not prohibit the admission of evidence of liability insurance to establish agency, the evidence must still meet the relevancy requirements of Rule 401 to be admissible.

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Williams v. Bell
606 S.E.2d 436 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 S.E.2d 436, 167 N.C. App. 674, 2005 N.C. App. LEXIS 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-bell-ncctapp-2005.