Taylor v. Roseville
Filed 4/4/06 Taylor v. Roseville Toyota CA3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT
(Placer)
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| JASON TAYLOR et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. ROSEVILLE TOYOTA, INC., Defendant and Appellant. |
C050008
(Super. Ct. No. SCV12239)
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Derrick Lewis, an employee of Roseville Toyota, was driving a car owned by Roseville Toyota on a personal errand on his lunch break when he rear-ended a car stopped at a stoplight. The driver and passenger of such car, Jason and Amy Taylor (plaintiffs), filed an action against Lewis and Roseville Toyota for personal damages resulting from the accident. A jury found by special verdict Lewis was negligent, his negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to plaintiffs, and while Lewis was not acting within the scope of his employment, Roseville Toyota had given Lewis permission, by words or conduct, to use its car at the time of the accident. Roseville Toyota was found liable for a total of $277,662 in damages. Roseville Toyota appeals both the judgment and the trial court's subsequent order denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Roseville Toyota contends the jury's finding of permissive use was not supported by substantial evidence, the trial court should have granted the judgment notwithstanding the verdict because of the insufficiency of the evidence, and the trial court erred in instructing the jury with plaintiff's special jury instruction regarding the factors that the jury could consider in deciding the question of permission. We shall affirm.
BACKGROUND
We limit our discussion of the evidence presented at trial to the evidence relevant to the issue of permission, the focus of this appeal.
Roseville Toyota, a new and used vehicle dealership, has in place a system for controlling access to the keys to its vehicles. All keys are kept in a key control shack by a key shack attendant. When a salesperson, mechanic, detailer, porter, or vendor wants to move a Roseville Toyota vehicle, they must go up to the window of the key control shack and fill out a key â€
