PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY v. Brent

995 A.2d 672

414 Md. 334

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Maryland et al. v. Cleveland BRENT.

No. 71 September Term, 2009.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

May 17, 2010.

Rajesh A. Kumar, Special Counsel (Stephanie P. Anderson, County Atty., and Mary C. Crawford, Deputy County Atty., Upper Marlboro, MD), on brief for Petitioners.

Richard L. Jaklitsch (The Jaklitsch Law Group, Upper Marlboro, MD), on brief for Respondent.

ARGUED BEFORE BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, MURPHY, ADKINS, JOHN C. ELDRIDGE (retired, specially assigned) and LAWRENCE F. RODOWSKY (retired, specially assigned), JJ.

LAWRENCE F. RODOWSKY, Judge (retired, specially assigned).

This is an appeal from the judgment in Case No. CAL05-06034 in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County in which the Respondent, Cleveland Brent (Brent), sued the Petitioner, Michael W. Daily (Officer Daily). In an earlier case in the same court, CAL03-13492, Brent had obtained a judgment against Prince George's County, Maryland (the County).¹ Both actions asserted Brent's claim for damages for personal injuries sustained in one and the same automobile accident with a police cruiser operated by Officer Daily, of the County's police force. The principal issue before us is whether the claim asserted in No. CAL05-06034 (Brent II) is merged in the judgment previously rendered in CAL03-13492 (Brent I). As hereinafter explained, we shall hold that there is no claim preclusion.

The accident occurred on December 10, 2002, at an interchange between Branch Avenue and Allentown Road. Officer Daily was traveling on Allentown Road. The accident occurred when he entered and proceeded through an intersection on a red traffic signal. In July 2003, Brent filed Brent I, naming only the County as a defendant. The action was tried for three days to a jury, and the issues were submitted on a verdict sheet. The jury found that "the defendant" was negligent, that "the defendant, Prince George's County," had not proved that Brent was contributorily negligent, and that the damages were $320,000. Judgment was entered against the County accordingly. The court (Lamasney, J.) reduced the judgment that had been entered on that verdict to $20,000, pursuant to Maryland Code (1974, 2006 Repl.Vol.), § 5-524 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (CJ). That section provides:

"An owner or lessee of any motor vehicle registered under Title 13 of the Transportation Article may not raise the defense of sovereign or governmental immunity, to the extent of benefits provided by the security accepted by the Motor Vehicle Administration under § 17-103 of the Transportation Article, in any judicial proceeding in which the plaintiff claims that personal injury, property damage, or death was caused by the negligent use of the motor vehicle while in government service or performing a task of benefit to the government."

The "security accepted by the Motor Vehicle Administration" is $20,000 per person per accident. Maryland Code (1977, 2009 Repl.Vol.), § 17-103(b)(1) of the Transportation Article.

In an effort to avoid the effect of CJ § 5-524, Brent, in Brent I and after the verdict, filed a second amended complaint in which he named Officer Daily as an additional defendant to the same claim. The court dismissed the second amended complaint with prejudice, at the same hearing at which it reduced the judgment against the County. Further, some weeks before the dismissal in Brent I of the second amended complaint, Brent had filed Brent II in which only Officer Daily was named as a defendant.

Brent I was appealed to the Court of Special Appeals. That appeal challenged the dismissal of the second amended complaint or, at least, its dismissal with prejudice. In an unreported opinion, that court vacated the dismissal of the second amended complaint, but remanded with direction that that dismissal be "without prejudice to appellant's right to file a separate cause of action against Officer Daily." The court cautioned, however, that it did "not intimate any view whatsoever of what should be the proper outcome of Brent's lawsuit against Officer Daily."

In Brent II, Officer Daily, by motions, raised defenses of res judicata, collateral estoppel, and immunity. The immunity argument was based upon CJ § 5-639(b)(1). It provides that

"an operator of an emergency vehicle, who is authorized to operate the emergency vehicle by its owner or lessee, is immune from suit in the operator's individual capacity for damages resulting from a negligent act or omission while operating the emergency vehicle in the performance of emergency service."

Officer Daily's motions were denied at a hearing on March 30, 2007. The court (Krauser, J.) concluded that res judicata and collateral estoppel were not available to Officer Daily, because he was not a party to Brent I. Counsel for Brent represented to the court that the verdict sheets initially prepared by counsel for Judge Lamasney had included an issue based on the § 5-639(b)(1) defense, but that that issue had not been submitted to the jury at the request of counsel for the County. Based on the representations of counsel as to what had transpired in Brent I,² the court denied summary judgment on the ground of emergency service immunity under § 5-639(b)(1) because it considered that there was a dispute of fact that had not been decided in Brent I.³

Shortly thereafter, the County paid Brent the $20,000 judgment in Brent I, subject to an agreement that the $20,000 would be credited against an enrolled judgment, if any, rendered for the plaintiff in Brent II. At a hearing in August 2007, the parties advised the court (Krauser, J.) of their agreement that, at trial, the only issue of fact for the jury would be whether, at the time of the accident, Officer Daily had been operating an emergency vehicle in the performance of emergency service, i.e., the immunity defense under CJ § 5-639(b)(1). The parties also advised the court of their agreement that, if the jury found that Officer Daily was not acting at the time of the accident on an emergency call, then judgment would be entered in favor of Brent for $200,000 (against which the $20,000 paid by the County would be credited).⁴

At the trial of Brent II in December 2007, the court (Schiff, J.) submitted that lone issue to the jury. The jury answered "NO" to the question, "Do you find by a preponderance of the evidence that Officer Michael W. Daily was in emergency service on December 10, 2002?". After Officer Daily's post-trial motion was denied, the court entered judgment against him in the amount of $180,000. Appeal was timely noted to the Court of Special Appeals.⁵

The Court of Special Appeals affirmed, sub nom. Prince George's County v. Brent, 185 Md.App. 42, 968 A.2d 630 (2009). Officer Daily raised three principal contentions:

"`1. That the second action was barred because it split a single cause of action, or was otherwise barred by principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel;

"`2. That the trial judge erred at the second trial by failing to grant appellant's Motion for Judgment because the evidence conclusively established that Officer Daily was operating his vehicle in emergency service; and,

"`3. That the trial court erred in finding that §§ 5-507(b)(2) ... did not apply to afford Officer Daily immunity as to any amount in excess of the County's existing motor vehicle insurance limit.'"

Id. at 48, 968 A.2d at 634.

The court held that there was no splitting of the cause of action, which continued to be the negligence claim against Daily. Every fact necessary to decision of that claim, that is, negligence, contributory negligence, causation, damages and vicarious liability, were fully litigated in Brent I. The only issue for trial in Brent II was an issue of defense by way of immunity, that was not litigated in Brent I. The court further found that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the jury's finding and that CJ § 5-507(b)(2), hereinafter discussed, was inapplicable as an additional basis for immunity.

From the affirmance by the Court of Special Appeals, Officer Daily, purportedly joined by Prince George's County, Maryland, petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari. That petition essentially raised three questions:

I. Whether Brent II was barred by res judicata.⁶

II. Whether the circuit court erred in denying Officer Daily's motion for judgment and for judgment N.O.V.⁷

III. Whether Officer Daily was entitled to public official immunity under CJ § 5-507(b)(2).⁸

I

Brent's claim against Officer Daily is not barred by res judicata, i.e., claim preclusion. In determining the dimensions of a claim for applying the principles of claim preclusion, including the prohibition against splitting a cause of action, this Court has generally approved of the transactional approach found in § 24 of Restatement (Second) of Judgments (Restatement). Kent County Board of Education v. Bilbrough, 309 Md. 487, 499, 525 A.2d 232, 238 (1987); Shum v. Gaudreau, 317 Md. 49, 54-55, 562 A.2d 707, 710 (1989).⁹ Clearly, the claim in Brent I and II is the same claim. It arises out of the same accident and the same injuries to Brent.

The oft quoted definition of res judicata by this Court is that found in MPC, Inc. v. Kenny, 279 Md. 29, 32, 367 A.2d 486, 488-89 (1977):

"the doctrine of res judicata is that a judgment between the same parties and their privies is a final bar to any other suit upon the same cause of action, and is conclusive, not only as to all matters that have been decided in the original suit, but as to all matters which with propriety could have been litigated in the first suit."

See also Restatement § 17.¹⁰ The parties in Brent I and II are different so that the question arises whether master and servant are "privies" for purposes of the res judicata doctrine.

In lieu of using the term, "privies," the Restatement analyzes that subject under a topic, "Substantive legal relationships resulting in preclusion."...