General Motors Corp v moseley.docx - General Motors Corp v...

General Motors Corp. v. Moseley
Annotate this Case
213 Ga. App. 875 (1994)
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION v. MOSELEY et al.; and vice versa.
A94A0826, A94A0827.
Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Decided June 13, 1994.
Reconsiderations Denied July 14, 1994.
King & Spalding, Griffin B. Bell, Frank C. Jones, Byron Attridge, Chilton D. Varner, Philip
E. Holladay, Jr., for appellant.
Michael J. Bowers, Attorney General, Michael E. Hobbs, Deputy Attorney General,
Butler, Wooten, Overby & Cheeley, James E. Butler, Jr., Robert D. Cheeley, Patrick A.
Dawson, Albert M. Pearson III, Andersen, Davidson & Tate, Gerald Davidson, Jr., for
appellees.
Alston & Bird, James C. Grant, Robert D. McCallum, Jr., G. Conley Ingram, amici
curiae.
BLACKBURN, Judge.
On October 21, 1989, as Shannon Moseley drove his 1985 GMC pickup truck through
an intersection, he was struck on the driver's side by another pickup truck driven by
David Ruprecht. The side saddle gas fuel tank on Moseley's truck ruptured, and burst
into flames shortly after the collision. Moseley was killed in the incident, *876 and the
medical examiner who performed an autopsy concluded that he died from thermal burns
and smoke inhalation following the collision.
Thomas and Elaine Moseley, as administrators of Moseley's estate and as parents and
sole survivors, commenced this action against General Motors Corporation (GM).
Following trial in the matter, the jury awarded the Moseleys $4,241,611.84 against GM
and Ruprecht on their wrongful death claim, and $1.00 on a claim for pain and suffering.
The jury also assessed against GM $101,000,000 in punitive damages.
Subsequently, the State of Georgia sought 75 percent of the punitive damages award
pursuant to OCGA § 51-12-5.1 (e) (2), which apportions that percentage of such an

award to the State of Georgia and the remaining 25 percent to the plaintiffs in a product
liability action. The trial court disallowed that apportionment, finding the statute
unconstitutional. On appeal, however, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of
OCGA § 51-12-5.1 (e) (2), and reversed. State of Ga. v. Moseley, 263 Ga. 680 (436
SE2d 632) (1993).
GM filed a motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence, which the trial
court denied, and this appeal followed. The Moseleys, dissatisfied with the $1.00 award
for pain and suffering and the trial court's denial of their request for prejudgment
interest, also filed a motion for new trial which the trial court denied. The Moseleys have
filed a cross-appeal from that denial of their motion for new trial.
The parties originally filed their respective appeals with the Supreme Court, on the
ground that the case involved constitutional questions regarding the matter of punitive
damages. However, after noting that the issues in these cases involve only the
application of settled constitutional principles, and do not require the construction of
either the Georgia or the United States Constitution, or a determination of the
constitutionality of a law, the Supreme Court transferred the appeal and cross-appeal to
this Court.