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Tillman v. Singletary11/13/2003
ntrol of his vehicle, resulting in an accident. In such circumstance, a sudden, unanticipated, and unavoidable event is the proximate cause of the accident and thus does not give rise to a claim for negligence.
The instruction properly recited the applicable law and conditioned a result favorable to Powe on the jury's resolving the critical disputed issues of fact in his favor. That is apparently what the jury did. Whether that verdict was against the weight of the evidence is another matter, but that question cannot be resolved by considering the manner in which this jury was instructed. It was not error to submit Powe's theory of the case to the jury through an unavoidable accident instruction. Migues ex rel. Tillman v. Singletary , 2001 WL 268246, at *4 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001) (McMillin, C.J., dissenting).
. There is no question that this was a tragic accident, and Tillman suffered serious injuries. However, she presented her case before a Harrison County Circuit Court judge and jury, and in my view the judge properly granted directed verdicts on the issues of negligent entrustment and punitive damages. The jury heard the evidence and found for Singletary and Powe on the issues of negligent supervision and unavoidable accident. I would reverse the Court of Appeals with regard to its decision to reverse and remand in part, and would affirm the trial court's judgment in its entirety.
SMITH, P.J., JOINS THIS OPINION. WALLER, J., JOINS THIS OPINION IN PART.
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