Jenkins, et al. v. Miss. Dep't of Transp., et al.
| Docket Number: | 2002-CA-01467-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 11-09-2004 Opinion Author: King, C.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Tort Claims Act - State aid road - Section 65-9-25 - Discretionary duty - Section 11-46-9 - Actual or constructive knowledge Judge(s) Concurring: Bridges and Lee, P.JJ., Irving, Myers, Chandler, Griffis and Ishee, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Barnes, J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PROPERTY DAMAGE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-25-2002 Appealed from: Oktibbeha County Circuit Court Judge: Lee J. Howard Disposition: SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANTS Case Number: 99-238-CV |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Christopher D. Jenkins, Adam Robertson and Shelia Robertson |
SHIRLEY C. BYERS |
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| Appellee: | Mississippi Department of Transportation, Oktibbeha County and A. L. Goodman | KATHERINE S. KERBY RONALD L. ROBERTS BERKLEY N. HUSKISON |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Tort Claims Act - State aid road - Section 65-9-25 - Discretionary duty - Section 11-46-9 - Actual or constructive knowledge |
| Summary of the Facts: | Christopher Jenkins drove his car into a crevice where the road covering a culvert had collapsed. His brother, Adam Robertson, a passenger in the car was injured. The brothers and their mother, Sheila Robertson, the owner of the vehicle, filed a complaint against the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Oktibbeha County, and A.L. Goodman, the Oktibbeha County Engineer. The complaint alleged that the culvert was negligently constructed, maintained and inspected, and sought damages for physical injuries, pain and suffering, and lost wages, as well as compensation for damage to the vehicle. MDOT, Oktibbeha County, and Goodman filed motions for summary judgment which the court granted. The plaintiffs appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: MDOT The court held that MDOT owed no duty of care to the plaintiffs because the road was not a designated state highway and in the alternative, that MDOT was entitled to exemption from liability under the Tort Claims Act. The plaintiffs argue that even though Old West Point Road is not designated as a state highway, it is designated as a state aid road, and since the Office of State Aid Road Construction is a subdivision of MDOT, that MDOT, through its subdivision, had a duty to properly inspect Old West Point Road. They also argue that MDOT is not immune under the Torts Claims Act exemptions because the State Aid Engineer had a statutory ministerial duty to conduct a proper annual inspection of Old West Point Road, which included the culvert. Section 65-9-25 delegates the duty to maintain state aid roads to the boards of supervisors in their respective counties. MDOT, through its subdivision of the Office of State Aid Road Construction and its State Aid Engineer, has the authority to inspect, repair, and supervise the maintenance of state aid roads. However, the only duty delineated in the statutes is the duty to make an annual inspection of completed roads to determine if the state will continue to give money to the county to maintain the road, which was conducted on Old West Point Road in March of 1999. The plaintiffs argue that a proper inspection would have prevented this accident that occurred only three months later in May 1999. However, they do not produce any evidence that indicates that the inspection was improper. The wooden culvert that collapsed was not mentioned in the March 1999, annual report by the state aid engineer, although several other maintenance problems were. Since the plaintiffs failed to produce sufficient evidence to establish that the March 1999 inspection was negligently performed, summary judgment was proper. Issue 2: Oktibbeha County The court held that the actions, or inactions, of Oktibbeha County and A.L. Goodman were discretionary, and thus immune from liability under the Tort Claims Act. The plaintiffs argue that Oktibbeha County and the county engineer, A.L.Goodman, breached their discretionary duty to use ordinary care in the inspection and maintenance of Old West Point Road. Section 11-46-9(d) grants immunity to governmental entities for failure to perform discretionary duties, and section 11-46-9(v) provides immunity for injuries arising from a dangerous condition on governmental property that was not caused by the negligent or other wrongful conduct of an employee of the governmental entity or of which the governmental entity did not have notice, either actual or constructive, and adequate opportunity to protect or warn against. Mere proof of a defective condition in the streets, no matter how dangerous, is not sufficient to show breach of the City’s duty to maintain its streets safely. The plaintiff must show that the City had actual or constructive knowledge of the defect. The plaintiffs attempt to use the affidavit of their expert to infer that the county had notice that the culvert would collapse because it was wooden, due to its location in the proximity to one, possibly two, retention ponds with minimal storage capacity for rainfall, and because banking of the roadway in the curve carried surface run-off to the upstream end of the culvert, and subjected the culvert to being washed out. However, the affidavit does not address the cause of the wash out on the night of the accident in question, nor does it provide any proof that the culvert was not properly maintained. The plaintiffs offered no evidence that would indicate when the culvert washed out or when the county had or should have had knowledge of the road’s condition or that the county, during its inspections, should have been aware of a defective condition. Therefore, summary judgment in favor Oktibbeha County and Goodman was appropriate. |
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