Golliday v. Loper
| Docket Number: | 2010-CA-00167-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 03-29-2011 Opinion Author: Lee, C.J. Holding: Dismissed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wrongful death - Partial summary judgment - M.R.C.P. 54(b) Judge(s) Concurring: Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Myers, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton and Maxwell, JJ. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 12-21-2009 Appealed from: Grenada County Circuit Court Judge: Joseph H. Loper Disposition: Partial Summary Judgment Granted to Defendants Case Number: 2008-128CVL |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Menetra China Reed Golliday as Administratrix and on behalf of the Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Deovante Chance Meeks, Deceased |
DAVID RANDALL WADE |
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| Appellee: | Ramesh Patel, Dipak Jeram and Jay Jay, LLC | ADAM STONE |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Wrongful death - Partial summary judgment - M.R.C.P. 54(b) |
| Summary of the Facts: | Deovante Meeks drowned in a Days Inn Hotel swimming pool located in Grenada. The hotel is owned and operated by Ramesh Patel, Dipak Jeram, and Jay Jay, LLC. Menetra Golliday, as administratrix of Meeks’s estate, filed a wrongful-death suit against Patel alleging various negligence claims resulting from Meeks’s death. Patel filed a motion for summary judgment and a motion to exclude testimony of Golliday’s expert, Thomas Ebro. The trial judge granted a partial summary judgment in Patel’s favor regarding Golliday’s theories of liability concerning the lack of a lifeguard and the lack of an emergency-response plan. The trial judge also barred Ebro from offering expert-opinion testimony in the field of swimming-pool-accident reconstruction. Golliday appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The trial judge entered its judgment as a final judgment pursuant to M.R.C.P. 54(b). Rule 54(b) allows the trial judge to direct the entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties in an action. However, the trial judge may do so only upon an expressed determination that there is no just reason for delay and upon an expressed direction for the entry of the judgment. A decision that leaves a portion of the claim pending as to all defendants does not fall within the ambit of Rule 54(b). In this case, the trial judge entered a partial summary judgment on two theories of liability. Although this case involves multiple defendants, the claims asserted by Golliday are not complex. Golliday’s claims arise from a single set of facts, namely the drowning of Meeks. Thus, the trial judge improvidently granted the Rule 54(b) final judgment. |
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