Last week the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed a $2.1 million verdict against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in a defective tire case in Copiah County. The Associated Press later botched its analysis of the Court’s decision.
This week a unanimous Court of Appeals affirmed a 2005 Washington County jury verdict in favor of Goodyear in Oliver v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Judge Lee wrote the Court’s opinion. Goodyear’s defense counsel was a team of lawyers from Watkins & Eager that included David Ayers and Jimmy Wilkins.
The facts of the two cases were similar in some respects. In both cases the vehicle was speeding when a tire burst, leading to an accident where the un-belted driver was thrown from the vehicle and died. But that is where the similarities end. In the Copiah County case, the tire was new and had been properly maintained and serviced, including a few days before the accident. In the Washington County case, there was “considerable testimony at trial” that the decedent failed to properly maintain the tire. These differences apparently made a big difference in the trial court verdicts.
In the Washington County case the jury disagreed on whether the tire was defective, but unanimously agreed that a defective tire was not the proximate cause of the accident. The Court of Appeals can make a compelling argument that it is fair to everyone when it affirms a verdict against Goodyear one week and affirms a verdict for Goodyear the next week. Notice that as in the decision last week, the Court did not agree or disagree with the jury. Instead, the Court evaluated whether there was reversible error and determined that there was not. It will be interesting to see if this decision gets any press, since defense verdicts and appellate decisions affirming defense verdicts typically receive less press that plaintiff’s verdicts.