First Midwest Trust v. Rogers
Case Date: 04/03/1998
Court: 4th District Appellate
Docket No: 4-96-0788
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IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FOURTH DISTRICT FIRST MIDWEST TRUST COMPANY, as ) Appeal from Administrator of the Estate of Jerry ) Circuit Court of Mallady, Deceased, and GAYTHEL MALLADY, ) Douglas County Individually, ) No. 93L17 Plaintiffs-Appellants and ) Cross-Appellees, ) v. ) PAUL TY ROGERS and THE TOWN OF ARCOLA, ) Commonly known as ARCOLA TOWNSHIP, ) Honorable Defendants-Appellees and ) Stephen H. Peters, Cross-Appellants. ) Judge Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court: In July 1993, plaintiffs Jerry Mallady and his wife Gaythel sued defendants, Paul Ty Rogers and the Town of Arcola (Arcola), for damages resulting from a collision between Jerry's automobile and a snowplow driven by Rogers during the course of his employment with Arcola. In July 1996, the jury awarded damages based on Rogers' negligence and found Jerry 50% comparatively negligent. Plaintiffs appeal, arguing that (1) an enforceable settlement agreement existed; (2) defendants' reconstruction expert should not have been allowed to testify; (3) the trial court erred by allowing defendants to present section 11-205 of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Code) (625 ILCS 5/11-205 (West 1992)) to the jury; (4) the court should have set aside the comparative negli- gence finding and entered a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n.o.v.) on liability; and (5) the damages award is inadequate. Defendants cross- appeal, arguing that the court erred by (1) denying defendants' motion to reduce the damages award by the amount of funeral expenses and medical expenses for which plaintiffs had no liability; and (2) failing to apply section 2-1115.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended (735 ILCS 5/2-1115.1 (West Supp. 1995)), to limit the damages award for count III. We affirm in part, vacate in part, reverse in part and remand with directions. I. BACKGROUND A. The Accident On February 26, 1993, Rogers was working for Arcola plowing county roads in that township. Rogers stopped at the intersection of County Road 500N and Route 45, looked in both directions, and began to drive across Route 45. Jerry was driving north on Route 45 and collided with the snowplow. Rogers testified that he did not see Jerry's car. He later pleaded guilty to the offense of failure to yield the right-of-way (625 ILCS 5/11-904 (West 1992)). Jerry suffered severe injuries, including a closed head injury resulting in bleeding into the brain, facial lacerations, multiple rib fractures, a lacerated and ruptured lung, broken left leg and hip, dislocated hip, and right ankle, spinal, skull, and jaw fractures for which he underwent several surgical procedures. He remained hospitalized for 3 |