Wilson v. Nance

4 So. 3d 336, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 6, 2009 WL 199115
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 29, 2009
Docket2007-CA-01438-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 4 So. 3d 336 (Wilson v. Nance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Nance, 4 So. 3d 336, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 6, 2009 WL 199115 (Mich. 2009).

Opinions

[338]*338GRAVES, Presiding Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. The underlying dispute in this case involves a car accident and alleged injuries that resulted from the accident. On the first day of the trial, after the jury had been selected, plaintiffs counsel informed the trial court that the plaintiff was incompetent and requested a continuance so that a guardian could be appointed. After hearing testimony on the matter and arguments from both parties, the trial court granted the continuance and declared a mistrial. The court also ordered the plaintiff to complete guardianship proceedings in chancery court within ninety days. The plaintiff failed to do so. The trial court subsequently granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss because the plaintiff failed to comply with the court’s order. Aggrieved by the dismissal of her case, the plaintiff appeals to this Court.

FACTS

¶ 2. On February 26, 2000, Terri Wilson and Shane Nance were involved in a car accident. According to the complaint, Nance was driving the car and Wilson was his passenger. Wilson testified at a deposition that the accident occurred during a rainstorm and that the car hit a puddle of water, causing the car to leave the road and flip over several times. Wilson also testified that both she and Nance had consumed alcohol that day and that neither of them was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

¶ 3. Wilson brought suit against Nance for personal injuries on February 25, 2003. In the complaint, Wilson alleged that she suffered various injuries, including bruises and contusions, pain and mental anguish, and loss of wage-earning capacity. At her deposition, Wilson testified that she was “totally disabled, permanently disabled” because of the accident, that the accident caused her to suffer from mental health problems such as anxiety attacks, crying spells, reclusiveness, paranoia, and uncontrolled cursing, and that she had been prescribed medication for these conditions. In his answer, Nance admitted that the accident had occurred but denied fault.

¶ 4. The trial was initially scheduled for October 2005, but was rescheduled for June 2006, and then October 2006. On October 4, 2006, the trial began and a jury was selected. Following the jury selection, during a recess, Wilson’s counsel informed the trial court that she was incompetent to proceed with the trial and required a guardian. Wilson’s counsel requested a continuance. Nance opposed this motion. The record does not include a transcript of the trial on October 4, 2006, but the hearing is summarized in an order from the trial court. According to this order, the trial court allowed Wilson’s mother, Sandra Kay Wilson (Mrs. Wilson), to testify that

Terri Wilson had short term memory problems, that she cries a great deal, that her answers to questions make no sense, that she often goes for periods of time without sleep, and that she becomes very emotional ... that Terri Wilson needed to have a guardian appointed, and ... that this day was the first day that such a communication had been made to [her by] counsel for Plaintiff.

Mrs. Wilson also testified that she was not medically-trained and that Wilson was not, at that time, the ward of a guardian or conservator. She further stated that, although Wilson had provided discovery responses and had already testified at a deposition, there were inaccuracies in her deposition testimony. Lastly, she stated that Wilson had been on medication since [339]*339the accident and had been seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Rayudu, for treatment. Nance then informed the trial court that, based on the discovery provided by Wilson, her last appointment with Dr. Rayudu was in June 2002, before the complaint was filed.

¶ 5. Based on the testimony of Mrs. Wilson, the trial court granted a continuance and declared a mistrial, explicitly stating that the “sole reason for declaring a mistrial” was so that the plaintiff could have a guardian appointed. The trial court ordered Wilson to complete guardianship proceedings in chancery court within ninety days of October 4, 2006. The trial court further stated that “[i]n the event that Plaintiff fails to proceed as directed, or in the event that a guardian is not appointed for Plaintiff, the Court shall dismiss this cause of action with prejudice.”

¶ 6. After the court declared a mistrial, Nance submitted documents related to Wilson’s motion for a continuance, including Wilson’s deposition, some of the discovery provided by Wilson, and two documents from Wilson’s medical records. The medical documents included a psychiatric update by Wilson’s psychiatrist, Dr. Rayu-du, dated June 10, 2002, which stated that Wilson’s “case will be closed as of now.”

¶ 7. On November 15, 2006, Mrs. Wilson filed a petition for a conservatorship with the chancery court, citing Wilson’s “organic brain damage and post dramatic [sic] syndrome.” On December 18, 2006, Wilson filed a motion for additional time to complete the conservatorship.

¶ 8. On January 29, 2007, Nance filed a motion to dismiss based on Wilson’s failure to comply with the court’s order of November 3, 2006. Wilson responded to the motion to dismiss by stating that the petition for conservatorship was filed within the ninety-day period, that the proceedings had progressed toward a final hearing on March 9, 20071 and that Wilson had timely filed a motion for additional time to complete the proceedings. Wilson also asserted that she had “acted in good faith with the Court’s Order” and that the delay had not prejudiced Nance.

¶ 9. The trial court held a hearing on the motion to dismiss, and heard arguments from both sides. Nance argued that Wilson clearly did not comply with the court’s order and that a conservatorship is different from a guardianship. Nance also claimed that the testimony from Mrs. Wilson was not supported by the discovery provided by Wilson, and that Wilson never raised the issue of incompetence prior to October 4, 2006, despite the fact that she had not been treated for any mental health problems since 2002. Nance argued that a guardianship was not necessary and that Wilson had requested a continuance purely as a delay tactic.

¶ 10. Wilson claimed that on the day of trial, Mrs. Wilson informed plaintiffs counsel that Wilson was unable to proceed with the trial, and that counsel then brought it to the court’s attention. Wilson maintained that she and her counsel “sure as heck tried” to comply with the court’s order, that the petition for a conservator was filed within two weeks of the entry of the court’s order declaring a mistrial, and that a conservatorship is essentially the same as a guardianship. Wilson also submitted letters from two doctors from the same medical practice, which stated, in identical language, that Wilson had been treated “in the past” for post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from an accident, that she [340]*340has difficulty handling stress, and that her mother should handle her financial and medical affairs. However, Wilson’s attorney admitted that he did not have documentation that Wilson had consulted with these doctors since 2002.

¶ 11. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court dismissed the case with prejudice based on Wilson’s failure “to comply technically and with the spirit of’ the order. The trial court stated on the record at the conclusion of the hearing that

I ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 So. 3d 336, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 6, 2009 WL 199115, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-nance-miss-2009.