Jarves Addair, Admr. v. Arnold Bryant; Cathy Ballengee, Admx.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed two wrongful death judgments (verdicts of $25,000 and $40,000) against a mail-delivery truck driver and his employer for a collision that killed two motorcycle riders near an S-curve. It held the trial court properly refused a contributory negligence instruction because the defendants, who bore the burden of proving that defense, produced no evidence the decedents were negligent, and properly excluded evidence of the widow's remarriage to mitigate pecuniary damages because wrongful death damages are fixed at the time of death. On impeachment, the court modified its prior ruling in State v. Sette, announcing that a specific foundation need not initially be laid to impeach a witness with a prior inconsistent statement, but the witness must be informed of the statement's general nature and given an opportunity to explain or deny it, with counsel entitled on request to see any written statement, all subject to the trial court's discretion.