Brown v. RP Auto, LLC, et al.
| Docket Number: | 2010-CA-01624-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-21-2012 Opinion Author: Irving, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Negligent repair of vehicle - Causation Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Griffis, P.J., Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton, Maxwell, Russell and Fair, JJ. Nature of the Case: CIVIL - TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 09-08-2010 Appealed from: Union County Circuit Court Judge: Henry L. Lackey Disposition: JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANTS Case Number: CV2009-195-U |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Matt Brown and Holli Brown |
SETH WESLEY POUNDS |
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| Appellee: | RP Auto, LLC and Randy Wayne Parks | REGAN S. RUSSELL | ||
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: | Negligent repair of vehicle - Causation |
| Summary of the Facts: | Randy Wayne Parks, owner of RP Auto, LLC, performed repairs on a 2006 Ford Expedition owned by Matt and Holli Brown. The Browns later filed suit against Parks and RP Auto, alleging negligent repair of their vehicle. The circuit court found for Parks and RP Auto. The Browns appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | While the Browns raise multiple issues on appeal, those issues are related to the single issue of whether the circuit court’s judgment is supported by substantial evidence. Because the Browns had alleged that Parks negligently repaired their vehicle, they carried the burden of proving the four basic elements of a negligence claim: duty, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. Other than their own testimony, the Browns offered a single witness: Benny Carter, the shop foreman at Long-Lewis. Carter testified as an expert “master mechanic” and opined that the damage to the Browns’ vehicle was the result of negligent repair. However, he further testified that he did not know who had worked on the vehicle before the Browns brought it back to Long-Lewis. Further, Carter admitted that even after Long-Lewis’s extensive repairs, an electrical problem remained and that the vehicle could not be returned to good working order. The circuit court concluded that the cause of the vehicle’s ultimate engine failure had never been identified, and, therefore, the Browns had failed to establish a causal connection between the damage to their vehicle and Parks’s work. The circuit court’s decision is supported by substantial evidence. |
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