DocketNumber: 97-CA-00770-SCT
Filed Date: 3/11/1997
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/30/2014
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI NO. 97-CA-00770-SCT WAL-MART STORES, INC. v. THELMA A. HOWELL DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/11/97 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. MARCUS D. GORDON COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: NESHOBA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: EDLEY H. JONES, III ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: JAMES M. MARS, II NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED 10/08/98 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED: MANDATE ISSUED: 4/12/99 BEFORE PRATHER, C.J., BANKS AND WALLER, JJ. WALLER, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT: MEMORANDUM OPINION ¶1. Thelma Howell sued Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., for injuries she sustained while shopping at the Wal-Mart Superstore in Philadelphia, Mississippi. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Howell in the amount of $25, 000.00. Wal-Mart appealed and alleges the following assignments of error: I. WAL-MART WAS ENTITLED TO A JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW. II. HOWELL FAILED TO SATISFY HER BURDEN OF PROOF AS TO DAMAGES. III. THE JURY VERDICT WAS THE PRODUCT OF BIAS, PREJUDICE, AND IMPROPER PASSION. ¶2. A jury question was presented where Brent Garrett, a customer in Wal-Mart at the time Howell slipped, testified as to seeing a liquid on the floor and thereafter searching briefly for a Wal-Mart employee prior to Howell's slipping on the light-colored liquid detergent that was on the floor. There was testimony that Wal-Mart had 180 employees on the floor at the time of the fall, and a store policy that required each employee to check aisles for safety hazards at least five times over a shift. However, there was no testimony that any Wal-Mart employee had conducted a safety sweep of the aisle where Howell fell. It was further acknowledged by a manager that the location where Howell fell was more likely to have a spill than other departments of the store. Although this may be viewed as a somewhat close case, all conflicts in the evidence will be resolved in the plaintiff's favor on appeal where there has been a favorable jury verdict. Southwest Mississippi Reg'l Med. Ctr. v. Lawrence,684 So. 2d 1257
, 1269 (Miss.1996). ¶3. With respect to damages, Howell with no history of prior knee problems, incurred $5,089 in medical bills from treatment that included arthroscopic knee surgery. We cannot say on the basis of the record that the jury verdict of $25,000 was the result of prejudice, bias, fraud or is manifestly against the weight of the evidence. Sessums v. Northtown Limousines, Inc.664 So. 2d 164
, 170 (Miss.1995). ¶4. AFFIRMED. PRATHER, C.J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P.JJ., BANKS, ROBERTS, SMITH AND MILLS, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY.