Warren Dee Welliver

Robert Zibung sued Union Pacific Railroad under the Federal Employers' Liability Act after slipping and falling on an ice-covered parking lot while leaving work, alleging an unsafe working condition. A jury awarded him $40,000, but the trial court denied Union Pacific's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and Zibung's motion for a new trial limited to damages, instead granting a new trial on all issues. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Zibung made a submissible case under FELA with evidence of accumulated ice and available equipment to clear it, that a contributory negligence instruction was supported by his testimony about not looking down, and that the trial court had broad discretion under Missouri Rule 78.01 to order a new trial on all issues when damages and causation were intertwined.

labor & employmentproceduretorts & liability

The case concerned whether three Missouri corporations operating Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants were liable for sales tax on their purchases of vegetable cooking oil used to fry chicken, fish, and potatoes. The Director of Revenue assessed tax on 50 percent of the oil purchases, based on a policy that only that portion was absorbed into the final food products, and the Administrative Hearing Commission upheld the assessment after finding the companies' evidence of higher absorption rates unpersuasive. The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed, holding that the companies' uncontradicted testimony established an 82 percent absorption rate and that the exemption under section 144.030.2(2) applies to the extent the oil becomes a component part of the sold food. The court rejected the Director's regulations and prior administrative decisions to the extent they imposed a 50 percent limit or required proof beyond the actual incorporation into the product.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

This case involves Frank Guinan's appeal from the denial of his Rule 27.26 post-conviction relief motion after his conviction and death sentence for first-degree murder. Guinan alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel on multiple grounds, including a conflict from a signed affidavit, failure to pursue a change of venue, failure to obtain a psychiatric exam, and inadequate investigation of inmate witnesses; he also challenged trial court errors, prosecutorial statements, and the use of closed-circuit television for his evidentiary hearing. The court applied the Strickland standard for ineffective assistance claims and limited its review to whether the hearing court's findings were clearly erroneous, concluding that counsel's decisions were reasonable and caused no prejudice, that no affidavit or other errors affected the proceedings, and that the video hearing complied with Missouri statutes and preserved constitutional fairness. The court affirmed the denial of relief.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Donald Vandergriff, who was killed when his truck collided with a Missouri Pacific Railroad train at a crossing. Plaintiffs alleged negligence in the maintenance of warning flashers and the crossing's safety, but the jury found the railroad not at fault and assigned 100% fault to the decedent. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court addressed issues including the setting aside of a default judgment, the propriety of closing arguments, juror nondisclosure, and jury instructions regarding the flashers' operation. The court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no abuse of discretion in procedural rulings and that the evidence supported the instructions given, including that plaintiffs bore the burden to prove the flashers were not working at the time of the accident. The decision rejected extending a statutory presumption about auditory warnings to the visual flashers at issue.

proceduretorts & liability

The case concerned whether the Hillsboro R-III School District could apply a voter-approved increase in its ad valorem property tax levy to $2.54 per $100 assessed valuation for the 1986-87 school year, even though the October 1986 election occurred after the September 20 statutory deadline. Taxpayers Southwestern Bell and Union Electric paid the higher rate under protest and challenged its collection. The Missouri Supreme Court reversed the trial court's judgment upholding the taxes and remanded the case. The court held that § 164.021.2 requires the increased rate to be certified and assessed effective only as of September 20 following a favorable vote, so the county clerk could not use the new rate for that year. The opinion rejected arguments based on relation-back, directory-versus-mandatory language, or constitutional provisions, emphasizing strict adherence to the statutory timing for assessments.

taxesproperty

The case involved Mark Molasky, a prisoner serving time for prior convictions, who was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder after recorded conversations with another inmate suggested he solicited killings of his ex-wife, her husband, a prosecutor, and others, along with one count of tampering with physical evidence. After a mistrial on some counts and a second trial, he was convicted of second-degree attempted murder and tampering. The court reversed the attempted murder conviction, holding that the evidence showed only solicitation without the substantial step required under Missouri's attempt statute, but affirmed the tampering conviction as it was not appealed. The opinion addressed the sufficiency of evidence and the scope of attempt liability, distinguishing it from separate solicitation offenses.

criminal law

The case involved International Business Machines Corporation seeking refunds of Missouri sales taxes paid on computer software programs it licensed to customers in the state during 1981 and 1982. The court affirmed the Administrative Hearing Commission's denial of the refund claims. The core reasoning examined a prior precedent (James v. Tres Computer Systems Inc.) stipulating that software is intangible property whose taxability is unaffected by the medium of delivery such as tapes or discs, while limiting review to issues properly presented to the Director of Revenue and noting divergent judicial views on whether software constitutes tangible personal property subject to tax.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

The case involved the interpretation of a will creating a trust for the testatrix's daughter Lois, with the corpus to be distributed upon Lois's death either to her children or, if none, to the testatrix's sisters if they survived the testatrix. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the respondents, holding that the will's language was clear and unambiguous, directing distribution to the estate of one sister who predeceased Lois but had survived the testatrix. The court reasoned that extrinsic evidence could not be used to correct a possible drafting error by substituting pronouns, as the meaning was plain on the face of the instrument and no mistake was apparent from the will itself.

family lawproperty

In Donahue v. City of St. Louis, the plaintiff sued the city for damages from a car accident at an intersection where a stop sign was missing, claiming it created a dangerous condition of public property under Missouri's sovereign immunity statute, § 537.600. The trial court dismissed the case for failure to state a claim, and the Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed that dismissal. The court reasoned that the statute requires the dangerous condition to directly cause the injury, but here the plaintiff's own failure to yield the right-of-way at the intersection was the direct cause, so the exception to sovereign immunity did not apply.

torts & liabilityprocedure

This case involved sellers suing buyers for the unpaid purchase price of a used Triumph automobile after the buyers attempted to rescind the transaction due to engine issues discovered shortly after taking possession. The trial court found for the sellers, and the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed that judgment on appeal. The court held that the Uniform Commercial Code governs individual sales of used automobiles as transactions in goods, but the buyers' attempted revocation of acceptance was ineffective because they failed to comply with Missouri motor vehicle title statutes requiring proper notarized reassignment and delivery of the certificate of ownership. As a result, the sale remained valid and the buyers remained liable for the full price.

business & regulatoryproperty

In State v. Smith, the Missouri Supreme Court reviewed the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence of Gerald Smith, a death row inmate who stabbed and killed fellow inmate Robert Baker inside a prison law cage while other inmates were present. The jury found multiple aggravating circumstances under state law, including that the murder involved depravity of mind, and imposed the death penalty. The court affirmed both the conviction and sentence, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict and that the aggravating circumstances were properly submitted and found, with any instructional issues regarding torture being harmless in light of other valid aggravators such as the defendant's prior capital murder conviction and status as an inmate.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved a dispute between Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company and its former general agent, John Emerick, who sued for fraud, breach of contract, and conversion arising from disagreements over expense approvals, office lease costs, and agency operations after his 1979 appointment to the Kansas City agency. The company counterclaimed for specific performance of an alleged settlement agreement. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the company on claims of franchise statute violations, breach of oral contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, and affirmed judgment against the company's counterclaim, but reversed the trial court's judgments awarding damages to Emerick on the fraud, breach of contract, and conversion counts. The court remanded for assessment of certain remaining damages and costs, such as renewal commissions, furniture value, and lease improvements, based on the employment contract terms and property transfers.

business & regulatorytorts & liabilityprocedure

The case involved claims by parents Carl and Barbara Wilson for wrongful birth and by their son Robert for wrongful life against Dr. Donald Kuenzi, alleging that the doctor negligently failed to inform the 36-year-old mother of the availability of amniocentesis testing to detect genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, thereby denying her the chance to decide on an abortion. The trial court dismissed both claims under a 1986 Missouri statute barring such actions, but the Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal on different grounds. The Court held that the statute did not apply retroactively to the 1983 birth, then determined that Missouri common law in 1983 did not recognize causes of action for wrongful birth or wrongful life. The opinion distinguished these claims from recognized actions like wrongful conception and noted that the underlying issues of abortion policy and proof difficulties did not alter the absence of precedent for the claims.

abortionhealthcaretorts & liability

In Schneider v. State, Division of Water Safety, the plaintiff, a minor child through her mother, sued the State of Missouri for the wrongful death of her father, who drowned after being thrown from a motor boat allegedly operated negligently by a state-employed water safety officer acting within the scope of his employment. The circuit court dismissed the action on sovereign immunity grounds under Section 537.600.1(1), RSMo 1986, and the court of appeals affirmed, but the Missouri Supreme Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. The court concluded that the statutory waiver of immunity for negligent acts arising out of the operation of motor vehicles or motorized vehicles applies to a motor boat, relying on the plain and ordinary meaning of "vehicle" as a means of carrying or transporting passengers and finding that a narrower interpretation limited to wheeled devices would produce unjust and unreasonable results contrary to legislative intent.

torts & liability

This case involved a libel claim by David McDowell and others against Credit Bureaus of Southeast Missouri for issuing a credit report that falsely stated the plaintiffs had filed for bankruptcy, which was shared with a financial institution and allegedly damaged their reputation. The trial court applied a qualified privilege to the credit report, requiring the plaintiffs to prove the statement was made with actual malice, and refused jury instructions that omitted this element. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for the defendant, holding that credit reports issued to parties with a legitimate interest in the subject's financial status are protected by qualified privilege under Missouri law, and that the plaintiffs' proposed instructions did not conform to the required standard even after considering U.S. Supreme Court precedent on private defamation claims. The court rejected arguments to abrogate the privilege or alter the malice requirement for such reports.

free speechbusiness & regulatorytorts & liability

The case concerned McDonnell Douglas Corporation's challenge to a trial court's jurisdiction over a wrongful death suit filed by the parents of an employee electrocuted at work, where the parents alleged reckless or intentional misconduct by the employer and claimed the incident fell outside workers' compensation coverage. The employer moved to dismiss, arguing the matter was an accident subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission, whose determination on that issue was pending. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the Commission alone has authority to decide whether the death qualified as an accident under the workers' compensation law, rendering the common law action in circuit court improper. It therefore made absolute a writ of prohibition preventing the trial court from exercising jurisdiction. The core reasoning was that workers' compensation is substitutional and exclusive for covered employment injuries, with precedents confirming the Commission's sole role in resolving the accident question as a factual matter.

labor & employmenttorts & liabilityprocedure

In State v. Walls, the defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree burglary after he and two accomplices broke into an elderly victim's home, beat and tied him, placed him in a freezer, and stole his car and money, leading to the victim's death from injuries, hypothermia, and suffocation. The jury imposed the death penalty after finding aggravating circumstances, including that the murder was committed for monetary gain and while the defendant was confined in a halfway house. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentence, holding that the evidence supported the findings, the aggravating factors outweighed any mitigators, and the penalty was proportionate to similar cases.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved the conviction of Lee Arthur Fields on two counts of rape and three counts of sodomy against his stepdaughters, ages 12 and 13 at the time of the offenses, based on evidence including the victims' initial statements to police and social workers describing repeated sexual abuse as well as the defendant's partial admission. Fields appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by refusing to submit jury instructions on the lesser included offenses of first- and second-degree sexual abuse. The court affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding that the evidence did not support instructing the jury on those lesser offenses and that the rape and sodomy convictions were properly submitted.

criminal law

In Love v. Park Lane Medical Center, the plaintiff sued the hospital for medical malpractice after a nurse's negligently administered injection caused a severe hip injury that required surgeries. The jury awarded $69,500 in damages but assessed 49% fault to the plaintiff for delaying medical treatment after discharge, resulting in a reduced judgment. The trial court later amended the judgment under Rule 75.01 to award the full amount, concluding that failure to seek timely treatment was not contributory negligence as a matter of law. The Missouri Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that under the comparative fault doctrine from Gustafson v. Benda, evidence of the plaintiff's delay in mitigation could be submitted to the jury to reduce recovery.

torts & liabilityhealthcare

In Childress v. Sams, the plaintiffs sued the high school party host Sams, participant Hulsey, and beer sellers Aro Gas and Aro Systems after a minor guest became intoxicated at the party, drove recklessly, and caused a car accident that injured Dawn Childress. The trial court granted summary judgment to Sams and dismissed the claims against the other defendants, and the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed those rulings. The court held that Sams and Hulsey qualified as social hosts because they charged only a nominal fee to cover beer costs without a profit motive, applying the no-liability rule for social hosts from prior cases such as Andres v. Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity. The beer sellers were not subject to dram shop liability, as they sold packaged beer for off-premises consumption rather than by the drink on premises and had not been convicted under the applicable statute for sales to minors or intoxicated persons.

torts & liability