$745,000 Default Judgment for Man Hurt in Multi-Vehicle Crash Involving Dump Truck

Timothy Christianson was injured in an automobile accident that involved several vehicles. One of them was a 1994 dump truck owned by Ron Goucher, who operated as Goucher Trucking and had put it on the road with a driver named Thomas Borden behind the wheel. On May 3, 2010, Christianson filed suit in Missouri state court against both men. The petition charged Borden with negligence and charged Goucher with responsibility for Borden's driving as his employer, along with negligent hiring and negligent supervision.

Christianson hired a private process server to deliver the lawsuit. According to the return of service, the server handed Goucher the summons and petition at 10:00 a.m. on May 10, 2010, at an address on South Emery in Kansas City, in Jackson County. Goucher later confirmed those details himself in a sworn affidavit. Even so, he never filed an answer and never appeared in the case.

Because nobody defended, the court held a default hearing on April 1, 2011. A default does not hand the plaintiff a number automatically. Christianson still had to prove his damages, and he did: he testified, and he offered his medical records and bills along with the police report from the accident. After the hearing he voluntarily dismissed his claim against Borden, leaving Goucher as the only defendant, and the court entered judgment against Goucher for $745,000 plus post-judgment interest.

The evidence at that hearing showed substantial and permanent injuries to Christianson's neck, back and shoulders. They included herniated disks and nerve damage in his neck, compression fractures in the thoracic spine, and rotator cuff tears in both shoulders. Over four years he went through pain management epidurals, surgeries and intensive physical therapy. At 57, he told the court he still had neck and shoulder pain every day and a limited range of motion in his shoulder, and that he feared the symptoms would worsen as he aged.

Goucher surfaced more than a year after the judgment. On August 16, 2012, he moved to quash service and set the judgment aside, arguing that the process server's return had never been notarized and that the court therefore lacked jurisdiction over him. He also argued that the award was excessive, that he had never been told the amount of damages claimed, and that he had not received timely notice of the judgment. Christianson answered by asking the court to let the server file a notarized amended return with the required affidavit, which the trial court allowed. The court denied Goucher's motion on October 22, 2012.

Tom Hershewe of Kansas City represented Christianson on appeal. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, affirmed on October 1, 2013. Judge Victor Howard wrote that the record showed no defect in service itself, only in the paperwork recording it, and that Missouri rules permit a return to be amended after judgment. The court also held that the damages were supported by the evidence of Christianson's injuries and that a defendant who defaults is not entitled to notice of the damages hearing. The court denied rehearing later that month, and the Missouri Supreme Court denied transfer on December 24, 2013.