Manthey

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Jose Luis Cuellar Beltran got into a serious automobile accident with plaintiffs Janiece Darlene Manthey and Nathan Drake while Beltran was driving a semi-trailer truck owned by his employer, defendant Barillas Trucking, Inc. (Barillas). After a three-week trial, a jury found Beltran was negligent in the operation of the truck, Barillas was vicariously liable for Beltran’s negligence, and Manthey was not comparatively negligent in the operation of her vehicle. The jury awarded $5,310,362 in compensatory damages to Manthey and $8,650,000 in compensatory damages to Drake. Thereafter, the trial court entered judgment for the plaintiffs. The defendants appeal the judgment. They contend: (1) the trial court erred by admitting evidence of prior automobile collisions involving other truck drivers employed by Barillas; (2) the court erred by admitting evidence of Barillas’ postaccident investigation into the collision giving rise to this case; and (3) insufficient evidence supported the jury’s finding that Manthey was not comparatively negligent. We reject these arguments and affirm the judgment. II

BACKGROUND1

A. Factual Background On March 21, 2018, at about…