William R. Littrell v. Lawrence County Advocate, Inc.

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. This action was filed by the heirs at law and administrators of the estate of Edith Carolyn Littrell ["Decedent"] to recover the statutory benefits available in a non-dependency case. On August 4, 1996, the Decedent was delivering newspapers for the defendant. She was 53 years old, single, and had delivered newspapers twice weekly for four years on a 1-mile route driving her personal automobile, a Ford Bronco. The one-car accident occurred on the tertiary, non-paved Mt. Zion road in a remote section of Lawrence County at about the halfway point on her delivery route. The road was seventeen feet wide, graveled, straight, and the Decedent was west-bound, traveling up-grade. There were no witnesses to the accident, but the witness Richardson testified without objection that the Bronco "flipped over one and a-half times." The precise time of the accident was not established. The witness Richardson testified that he "learned there had been a car wreck" about 9: a.m. and went to the scene. Trooper Paul Moore testified that he received a 911 message about 9: a.m. that an accident had occurred and that he arrived at the scene 2 - 3 minutes later. Mr. Richardson testified that Trooper Moore arrived more than an hour after he - Mr. Richardson - arrived. The EMS people arrived before Trooper Moore, and were attending to the Decedent, who was taken to Crockett Hospital. Trooper Moore testified: " . . . there was a cooler inside the vehicle. There was a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, beer . . . there was also open beer cans in the vehicle. It had a strong, strong smell of it . . . beer." 2