A Montrose woman has been awarded half-a-million dollars due to injuries she sustained during an automobile accident ten years ago involving the Mississippi Department of Transportation Commission.
Mississippi Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Stanley Sorey rendered the verdict in favor of Rhonda Smith during a bench trial that was heard on November 16, 2020, in Smith County Circuit Court.
According to a Tuesday press release from Smith’s attorney, Thomas L. Tullos out of Bay Springs, Smith suffered injuries and disfigurement to her face when her car struck the rear of a loaded log truck while traveling on Highway 28 four miles west of Mize, Mississippi. In the lawsuit filed by Tullos, Smith accused the Mississippi Transportation Commission, as well as a flagman, of negligence.
Tullos relayed the Mississippi Transportation Commission was performing road work on Highway 528 at the time of the accident, but failed to properly notify traffic that road work was being performed. One lane of travel had been closed, and the driver of the log truck was abruptly stopped when a flagman ran out of an overgrown wooded ditch to bring the log truck to a stop before approaching the work zone area. This caused Smith to collide with the rear of the loaded log truck.
Tullos brought to light in the trial both the negligence of the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the flagman.
“The Mississippi Transportation Commission and the flagman were careless, reckless and negligent … that the flagger did not face road users and aim the stop paddle facing toward the road … the flagger failed to stand on either the side of the shoulder adjacent to the road being controlled or in the closed lane prior to stopping road users,” he explained. “That due to MTC’s negligence, neither Smith nor the driver of the log truck were able to easily see the flagman, and therefore, was never put on notice of any road work being performed.”
According to Tullos, during the trial, the testimony of the flagman became so contradictory and unbelievable that Judge Sorey found it unpersuasive. He went on to say the flagman testified that the photographs of the wreck site presented to him at trial had been forged; so much as to say he was confident that the pictures depicted the wrong truck during sworn testimony. Later, after a short break, the flagman recanted his testimony.
Also, during trial testimony, an economist testified Smith was able to prove over $1,000,000 in damages suffered, which included pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages.
Tullos said the trial court rendered a verdict in favor of his client, stating the proof demonstrated the actions of the flagger were a breach of his duties and was the “proximate” case of the accident that resulted in Smith’s injuries.
The Court’s $500,000 verdict in the case is the statutory cap limit, according to Tullos.
“Because of the legislature’s imposition of caps on the recovery of damages by injured people, Smith was not able to recover for all of the afflictions and injuries suffered by her,” Tullos mentioned.