Lawyers jostled over jury instructions for four hours Thursday afternoon, before finally letting jurors deliberate the degree of responsibility that a Jones County landowner, Kemp Bush, had in an injury suffered by another resident on his property.
Bush was sued by Darlene Brewer for actual and other damages totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, including $172,157.98 in actual damages that originated from medical, pharmaceutical and other related costs. Plaintiff attorney James Quinn told the jury that Brewer now faces “a new reality” and a life very different from the one she enjoyed before the severe injury suffered to one of her eyes while she helped build a fence on Bush’s property back in the spring of 2016.
According to testimony from the witness stand Thursday, Brewer and Mack Busby, a friend to both Bush and Brewer, were putting barb wire strands on t-posts when a bungee cord Busby had attached to the spool of wire broke and struck Brewer in her eye. They were riding in a “mule” (a utility vehicle) and stretching the wire out when the attached cord broke.
Busby and Brewer had both assisted Bush with work on his farm for years before the accident, and in exchange Bush had helped them get started in the honey bee business. The plaintiffs argued that some of the work completed by Brewer was voluntary but that a portion of her work produced an implied contract of employer-employee, because she worked in exchange for something of value – the knowledge about how to raise bees. Due to that implication, they posited that Bush had an obligation to provide her with proper tools and instruction in regard to her fence-building activity. Quinn stated to the jury that Bush owned a device that was specifically suited to putting up the strands of wire, but it was not provided to Busby and Brewer the day of the accident.
Bush had asked Brewer and Busby to build the fence to keep cows out of his garden. Busby called Bush's garden a “community garden,” testifying that Bush would share vegetables from his garden with his neighbors and friends.
Brewer had done various types of work for Bush during the years between 2011 and 2016, including hauling hay, gardening, bush-hogging, and tending to his bees here in west Jones County and in Louisiana.
Bush was not at the scene on his property when the accident occurred, and his defense team outlined that it was routine for Brewer and Busby to come onto Bush’s property and use his tools to do work around the place.
“I was always welcome to use anything he (Bush) had,” said Busby. “It was like an open door.”
Busby also noted in court that Bush had nothing to do with the decision to use the bungee cord to help pull the wire, and he said he had seen safety goggles around Bush’s place before, but those were not used that day by he and Brewer.
Busby also testified in front of the jury that he was never under an obligation to help Bush but that he assisted him because they were buddies.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Sam Thomas of Madison, Miss., told the jury that “we’re here about fault. There hasn’t been a bit of proof that Mr. Bush did anything to cause her injury.”
He also pointed out to the jury that it was a “freak accident” and that the jury didn’t have to hang the accident on anybody due to that. Thomas finished up by telling the jurors that Brewer and Busby did not ask Bush for any tools or help that day.
The jury left the courtroom to deliberate at 5:14 p.m. and returned with a verdict in favor of Bush 34 minutes later.