Jones v. Miss. Transp. Comm'n
| Docket Number: | 2004-CA-00890-COA Linked Case(s): 2004-CA-00890-COA |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 01-24-2006 Opinion Author: Barnes, J. Holding: AFFIRMED |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Tort Claims Act - Dangerous condition - Section 11-46-9 - Constructive notice - Proximate causation Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Chandler, Griffis and Ishee, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Southwick and Roberts, JJ. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-12-2004 Appealed from: Clarke County Circuit Court Judge: Robert Bailey Disposition: VERDICT IN FAVOR OF MISSISSIPPI TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Case Number: 2001-69B |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Walter Jones |
TYLVESTER O. GOSS |
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| Appellee: | Mississippi Transportation Commission | EUGENE M. HARLOW |
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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: | Personal injury - Tort Claims Act - Dangerous condition - Section 11-46-9 - Constructive notice - Proximate causation |
| Summary of the Facts: | Walter Jones and Ernestine Lang were involved in a head-on automobile accident. Jones claims that the accident was set into motion when Lang ran off the road onto a defective shoulder. Jones sued the Mississippi Transportation Commission under the Tort Claims Act, asserting that MTC negligently failed to repair the allegedly defective shoulder and that it negligently failed to place and maintain traffic control devices or signs on the highway to warn of the dangerous condition. The court ruled in favor of MTC, and Jones appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Pursuant to section 11-46-9, a governmental entity is immune from claims arising from a non-obvious dangerous condition on government property, or failure to warn of the dangerous condition, absent actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. In the absence of notice, a governmental entity’s decision to maintain or repair roads, or to place traffic control devices or signs, is purely discretionary, and the entity will be immune from suit even upon proof of an abuse of discretion. The circuit judge in this case was confronted with substantial evidence that MTC had no notice of the dangerous condition. A longtime MDOT employee who was the maintenance supervisor for Clarke County at the time of the accident, testified that prior to the accident in question, he received no complaints regarding the condition of the shoulders. An ex-MDOT employee qualified as an expert witness in the field of roadway maintenance testified that a maintenance inspection report in no way notified MTC that the shoulders posed an immediate danger to the public. Jones also argues that MTC had constructive notice of the dangerous condition. Four witnesses testified that, at the time of the accident, the shoulder was somewhere between six and eight inches below the roadway. However, only two of these witnesses testified that the dangerous condition existed prior to the accident in question. This testimony was vague at best. Considering all this evidence, the trial court did not err in finding that MTC was not on constructive notice of the defective shoulder. The circuit court ruled that the defective shoulder was not the proximate cause of the accident, and Jones also argues this was error. However, testimony put forth by MTC’s expert witnesses support the circuit court’s finding. They both testified that they found no such evidence to support Jones’s assertion that Lang ran onto the shoulder prior to the accident. Both experts stated that the evidence suggested that Lang’s automobile never left the highway. |
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