IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE NORTHEASTERN DIVISION REGGIE D. BLAIR, Plaintiff, vs. No. 3:13-CV-0755 DERRICK NELSON and GUARANTEED LOGISTICS, LLC and SOUTHEASTERN LOGISTICS, LLC, AND Defendants. DERRICK NELSON and GUARANTEED LOGISTICS, LLC and SOUTHEASTERN LOGISTICS, LLC, vs. Counter-Plaintiffs, REGGIE D. BLAIR and LANIQUA OSBORNE Counter-Defendant and Defendant JOINT PROPOSED PRETRIAL ORDER Pursuant to the Court s Scheduling Order Document number 82, filed 05/18/16, the following Proposed Pretrial Order is submitted. (1) The Pleadings are Amended to Conform to this Order and This Order Supplants the Pleadings. Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 763
Plaintiff Blair prays for a full and fair verdict for Derrick Nelson driving his Guaranteed Logistics/Southeastern Logistics tractor-trailer into the backend of Blair s pickup truck, in which Blair was sitting. Blair asserts that Nelson failed to maintain a proper lookout for other vehicles on the roadway and/or keep his tractor-trailer on the roadway. Blair also asserts that Nelson also failed to maintain his vehicle under sufficient control so as to be able to stop the same within the radius of Nelson s headlights. Blair firmly believes that Derrick Nelson violated the following statute: Drove his vehicle in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons and property in violation of T.C.A. 55-10-205. Blair further firmly believes and asks for punitive damages for Nelson s failures because those failures resulted in Nelson running the front of his tractor-trailer into the back end of Blair pick-up truck at an interstate speed. The Defendants have plead comparative fault against Reggie Blair and Laniqua Osborne and rely upon Tennessee s Doctrine of Modified Comparative Fault and request a defense verdict in this case. Reggie Blair was negligent and grossly negligent by allowing his inoperable and inconspicuous vehicle to remain in Nelson s lane of travel, with no operable lights or emergency flashers, thereby causing defendant Nelson to take evasive action in a sudden emergency attempt to avoid the accident. Defendant Nelson was unable to avoid the collision with Blair s stationary and inconspicuous vehicle in the right-hand lane of travel at 3:30 a.m. in the morning on September 11, 2012. Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 2 of 7 PageID #: 764
Plaintiff Blair claims that Defendant Laniqua Osborne was driving his vehicle when it lost power and became inoperable. Osborne negligently allowed the vehicle to stop in the right-hand lane of travel due to her further negligence while driving as she was inattentive and fatigued when the vehicle lost power. Both Blair and Osborne had the time and opportunity to remove the inoperable and inconspicuous vehicle from the roadway but failed to do so, (2) Jurisdiction: This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1332. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. 1391. Jurisdiction and venue are not disputed. (3) Plaintiff s Theory of the Case: Derrick Nelson drove his Guaranteed Logistics/Southeastern Logistics tractor-trailer into the backend of a pickup truck containing the following people: Laniqua Osborne, J Neriah Mayo and Reggie Blair. With two hours sleep, Nelson had been driving for seven consecutive hours at the time of the impact. Nelson was also speeding at the time of impact. The pickup truck was driven by Osborne until it ran out of gas and came to rest on the shoulder of the road out of the two travel lanes of Interstate 65 northbound. At the area of impact, Interstate 65 northbound is straight and generally flat. Blair was sitting in the driver's seat cranking the engine of the pickup truck to no avail when Derrick Nelson ran into the backend of the pickup truck. Blair's actions did not cause the pickup truck to move from the place where Osborne brought the truck to rest out of gas. Osborne did nothing wrong because she brought the pick-up truck to a stop out Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 3 of 7 PageID #: 765
of the travel lanes. Blair has causally related medical charges totaling $228,600.81. Blair's life and livelihood was in the bed of the pickup truck at the time Derrick Nelson rearended the pickup truck. The bed of the pickup truck contained Blair s lawn mowing equipment. Blair made a living mowing yards. Blair's loss of future earnings due to his injuries total approximately $130,000. Blair now lives in daily disabling pain requiring him to take pain medications to make the pain bearable and is an emotionally broken person because he is now dependent upon the kindness of family members to get by. (4) Defendant s Theory of the Case: The Defendants deny liability for causing the accident and have plead comparative fault against Reggie Blair and Laniqua Osborne. Southeastern also counter-sued Blair for property damage and loss of use of its equipment. Reggie Blair and Laniqua Osborne negligently allowed Blair s inoperable and inconspicuous vehicle to remain in Nelson s lane of travel with no operable lights, no emergency flashers, and no reflective cones placed behind his vehicle to warn oncoming traffic of the vehicle s presence thereby causing defendant Nelson to take evasive action in a sudden emergency attempt to avoid the accident. Defendant Nelson was unable to avoid the collision with Blair s stationary and inconspicuous vehicle in the right-hand lane of travel at 3:30 a.m. in the morning on September 11, 2012 because Blair s vehicle could not be seen by oncoming traffic until it was too late to avoid the collision. Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 4 of 7 PageID #: 766
Plaintiff Blair and Defendant Osborne claim that Defendant Laniqua Osborne was driving Blair s vehicle when it lost power and became inoperable. Osborne was negligent, inattentive and fatigued when the vehicle lost power and she allowed it to remain in the right-hand lane of travel. The vehicle lost power due to it running out of gas or an electrical failure. It is unclear why the vehicle lost power. The Defendants were denied access to the vehicle after the accident so the Defendants have been prejudiced in their defense in order to determine the cause of the vehicle s power failure and reconstruct the accident. After the vehicle lost power, Defendant Osborne woke the sleeping Plaintiff from the passenger seat and told him the vehicle had stopped. Plaintiff then got out of his vehicle, put gas in the vehicle and tried to get it to start three separate times. Blair and Osborne failed to remove Blair s inoperable and inconspicuous vehicle from the right-hand lane of travel and failed to engage any lights on his vehicle or place the reflective cones behind his vehicle that were in the bed of his truck to warn oncoming traffic of his vehicle s presence. Further, Blair and Osborne made the decision to leave Blair s aunt s house at 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. on September 11, 2012 where they had been to an NFL Monday Night Football party. Knowing that it was late, they had been drinking, they had previously smoked marijuana, and they were fatigued, Plaintiff Blair negligently entrusted his vehicle to Laniqua Osborne to drive them home while he slept in the front passenger seat. All of these acts and omissions constitute negligence on Blair and Osborne and may give rise to gross negligence on their part. Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 5 of 7 PageID #: 767
(5) Statement of the Issues: (a) For the Court The Court must decide the issues presented in the Motions in Limine and Motions for Directed Verdicts. (b) For the Jury The jury is to decide the liability of the parties based on the theories presented and instructions from the Court, the compensatory damages for Blair permanent impairment, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, an amount within the range provided by Linda Jones for lost future earnings, and additional punitive damages for Nelson driving in such reckless disregard for public so as to drive done the shoulder of an interstate and into the backend of a disabled vehicle. The jury shall also decide the amount of damages Blair is responsible for Southeastern s property damage and loss of use of its equipment. (6) Succinct Statement of Relief Sought: Blair prays for compensatory damages for permanent impairment, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, lost future earnings, past medical charges and punitive damages. Defendants Nelson and Southeastern pray for a dismissal of this action against them and a finding of fault against Plaintiff Blair and Defendant Osborne. Southeastern also prays for an award of property damages against Plaintiff Blair. (7) Summary of Anticipated Evidentiary Disputes: As detailed in the plaintiff s motions in limine, witness Mayo s accepting of money from the Defendants as evidence of bias or prejudice, the defendant s Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 6 of 7 PageID #: 768
denial of the reflectivity of the back of the pick-up truck, the defendant s counter suit for punitive damages, Trooper Wright testifying about his guess of the location of the pick-up at impact, and testimony about the conduct of Blair, Osborne, and Mayo earlier in the evening in Huntsville, Alabama are anticipated to be at issue. The issues presented in the Motions in Limine, including but not limited to, the scope of Trooper Wright s testimony, relevance of the Plaintiff s exhibits, the events that occurred prior to the accident among Blair and Osborne, the Plaintiff s attempt to admit into evidence information from TrackYourTruck.com (8) Estimate Length of Trial: Three Days It is so ORDERED: United States District Judge Case 3:13-cv-00755 Document 146 Filed 07/20/16 Page 7 of 7 PageID #: 769