PJLf'if'/l ~ll C , , .: ' J, !. ~ l i ....... ~ ~ .. No. 19-0666 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA At Charleston WAL-MART STORES EAST, L.P., Petitioner, v. JOHNA DIANE ANKROM Respondent. From the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia Civil Action No. 15-C-319 PETITIONER'S BRIEF Jeffrey M. Wakefield (WV Bar No. 3984) Erica M. Baumgras (WV Bar No. 6862) Mitchell B. Tuggle (WV Bar No. 12577) Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC 200 Capitol Street Charleston, WV 25301 (P) 304-345-0200 (F) 304-345-0260 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................................................................................... ii ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR ......................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE CASE ........................................................................................................ 1 I. STATEMENT OF FACTS .................................................................................................. 1 A. The Incident ............................................................................................................. 1 B. Wal-Mart Policy for Detaining Shoplifters .............................................................. 5 II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY ................................................................................................. 5 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ....................................................................................................... 8 STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT AND DECISION ..................................... .10 STANDARD OF REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 10 ARGUMENT ................................................................................................................................. 11 I. THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT WAL-MART'S RENEWED MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW BECAUSE WAL-MART BREACHED NO DUTY TO RESPONDENT AND THE UNDISPUTED EVIDENCE ESTABLISHED THAT LEIST'S TORTIOUS CONDUCT PROXIMATELY CAUSED RESPONDENT'S INJURIES ........................ .11 A. Wal-Mart's stop of shoplifter Leist was performed in accordance with applicable West Virginia law and Wal-Mart policy .............................................. 12 B. The shoplifter's unforeseen decision to flee, without being pursued or chased by any Wal-Mart employees, was the proximate cause of Respondent's injuries ............................................................................................. 16 C. - Authority from courts nationwide supports entry of judgment in favor of Wal-Mart ................................................................................................................ 20 II. THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO INSTRUCT THE JURY ON INTERVENING CAUSE .................................................................................................. 30 III. THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED BY PRECLUDING WAL-MART FROM UTILIZING THE ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN RESPONDENT'S COMPLAINT DURING TRIAL ....................................................................................... 34 IV. THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN AWARDING RESPONDENT PREJUDGMENT INTEREST ON PAST MEDICAL EXPENSES ................................. 36 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 38 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Anderson v. Moulder, 183 W. Va. 77,394 S.E.2d 61 (1990) ....................................................... 32 Betts v. Jones, 208 N.C. App. 169, 702 S.E.2d 100 (2010) .......................................................... 26 Bond v. City of Huntington, 166 W. Va. 581,276 S.E.2d 539 (1981) .............................. 10, 36, 38 Brown v. Jewel Cos., 175 Ill. App. 3d 729, 125 Ill. Dec. 139, 530 N.E.2d 57 (1988) ................. 28 Buckhannon-Upshur Cty. Airport Auth. v. R & R Coal Contractor, 186 W. Va. 583,413 S.E.2d 404 ( 1991) ................................................................................................................................. 3 7 Butler v. K-Mart Corp., 432 So. 2d 968 (La. Ct. App. 1983) ................................................. 25, 27 Doe v. Pak, 237 W. Va. 1, 784 S.E.2d 328 (2016) ....................................................................... 37 Estate ofPostlewait ex rel. Postlewait v. Ohio Valley Med. Ctr., Inc., 214 W. Va. 668, 591 S.E.2d 226 (2003) ................................................................................................................. 9, 31 Gamblin v. Ford Motor Co., 204 W. Va. 419, 513 S.E.2d 467 (1998) ........................................ 11 Gantt v. K-Mart C01p., Appeal No. 02A01-9801-CV-00009, 1999 Tenn. App. LEXIS 100 (Ct. App. Feb. 17, 1999) .................................................................................................................. 27 Giant Food v. Mitchell, 334 Md. 633,640 A.2d 1134 (1994) ...................................................... 21 Gillingham v. Stephenson, 209 W. Va. 741,551 S.E.2d 663 (2001) ............................................ 20 Graham v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., 240 So.2d 157 (Fla. App. 1970) .................... 24, 27 Gribben, et al v. Kirk, 195 W.Va. 488,466 S.E.2d 147 (1995) .................................................... 11 Grove v. Myers, 181 W. Va. 342,382 S.E.2d 536 (1989) .......................................... 10, 36, 37, 38 Henderson v. Kroger Co., 217 Ga. App. 252, 252, 456 S.E.2d 752 (1995) ................................. 25 In re JS, 233 W. Va. 394, 758 S.E.2d 747 (2014) ...................................................................... 11 Jackson v. Brown, 239 W. Va. 316, 801 S.E.2d 194 (2017) ........................................................ 11 11 JWCF, LP v. Farruggia, 232 W. Va. 417, 752 S.E.2d 571 (2013) .............................................. 10 Kessel v. Leavitt, 204 W. Va. 95, 511 S.E.2d 720 (1998) ................................................ 10, 31, 32 Kilpatrick v. Dollar Tree Stores, No. 2:13-cv-2659-SHL-tmp, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189757 (W.D. Tenn. Sep. 19, 2014) ...................................................................................................... 25 Kmart Corp. v. Lentini, 650 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995) ................................ 21, 22, 27 Knight v. Powers Drygoods Co., 225 Minn. 280, 30 N.W.2d 536 (1948) ....................... 22, 23, 27 Lester v. Rose, 147 W. Va. 575, 130 S.E.2d 80 (1963) ................................................................ 31 Maloney v. Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co., 369 So. 2d 590 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978) ..................... 25 Marcus v. Staubs, 230 W. Va. 127, 736 S.E.2d 360 (2012) ................................................... 13, 33 Martin v. Piggly-Wiggly Corp., 469 So.2d 1057 (La. App. 1985) ................................... 23, 24, 27 Miller v. Fluharty, 201 W. Va. 685,500 S.E.2d 310 (1997) ........................................................ 37 Millerv. Whitworth, 193 W. Va. 262,455 S.E.2d 821 (1995) ............................................... 13, 14 Mills v. Jack Eckerd Corp., 224 Ga. App. 785,482 S.E.2d 449 (1997), .................... 24, 25, 27, 33 Perdue v. Doolittle, 186 W.Va. 681,414 S.E.2d 442 (1992) ....................................................... 11 Peters v. Menard, Inc., 224 Wis. 2d 174, 589 N.W.2d 395 (1999) .............................................. 27 Raburn v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 776 So.2d 137 (1999) ........................................................ 28, 29 Radloffv. National Food Stores, Inc., 20 Wis.2d 224, 121 N.W.2d 865, rehearing denied, 20 Wis.2d 224, 123 N.W.2d 570 (1963) .................. .- ............................................................... 22, 27 Schreiber v. National Smelting Co., 157 Ohio St. 1, 104 N.E.2d 4 (Ohio 1952) ......................... 31 Scott v. Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc., 96 Ohio App. 532, 122 N.E.2d 665 (1953) .......................... 26 Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007) ............................................................................................ 13 Scott v. Taco Bell Corp., 892 F. Supp. 142 (S.D.W. Va. 1995) ................................................... 13 Sneberger v. Morrison, 235 W. Va. 654, 776 S.E.2d 156 (2015) ................................................ 10 1ll State v. Hinkle, 200 W. Va. 280, 489 S.E.2d 257 (1996) ............................................................. 10 Sydenstricker v. Mohan, 217 W. Va. 552,618 S.E.2d 561 (2005) ............................................... 31 Tabary v. D.H. Holmes Co., Ltd., 542 So. 2d 526 (La. Ct. App. 1989) ....................................... 26 Wardv. West, 191 W. Va. 366,445 S.E.2d 753 (1994) ........................................................ passim Yourtee v. Hubbard, 196 W. Va. 683,474 S.E.2d 613 (1996) ..................................................... 32 Statutes W. Va. Code§ 55-7-13c ................................................................................................................. 8 W. Va. Code§ 56-6-31 ........................................................................................................... 36, 37 W. Va. Code§ 61-3A-l ................................................................................................................ 14 W. Va. Code§ 61-3A-3 ...............................................................................................................