Herrera v. Reicher

608 S.W.2d 539 (1980)

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Herrera v. Reicher

Missouri Court of Appeals
608 S.W.2d 539 (1980)

Facts

In an earlier case, John Herrera (plaintiff) sued Paul Reicher Sr. (Reicher) (defendant) and Reicher’s son, Paul Reicher Jr. (Paul), for damages resulting from a car accident in which Paul was driving a car owned by Reicher. Paul was under 16 at the time of the accident. The jury in the earlier case found Paul liable for $8,000, but not Reicher. The jury was given several instructions for determining liability. Instruction Seven related to Reicher’s liability for negligent entrustment. To find Reicher liable, the jury had to answer yes to seven subparts to Instruction Seven, one of which was whether Paul had permission to drive Reicher’s car at the time of the accident. Other subparts included whether Reicher was negligent in making the car available to Paul and whether Reicher’s negligence combined with Paul’s negligence to cause the accident. The jury verdict did not contain responses to any of the subparts. Herrera then filed this case against Reicher and American Family Mutual Insurance Company (American Family) (defendant), seeking payment of the $8,000 judgment against Paul. American Family’s liability depended on whether Paul had permission to drive the car at the time of the accident. Reicher and American Family filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that collateral estoppel barred Herrera’s claim because the jury in the earlier case had found Reicher not liable for negligent entrustment. The trial court granted summary judgment, and Herrera appealed, arguing that collateral estoppel did not apply, because the jury verdict in the earlier case did not specifically determine whether Paul had permission to drive the car.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Flanigan, J.)

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