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Johnson v. State of Georgia Dep't of Transp.

Absent evidence of causation or negligence, defendants were entitled to summary judgment in plaintiffs' suit arising out of a one-car accident.

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James Leon Johnson and James Roy Johnson, cousins, brought these actions against the Georgia DOT and Pierce County for personal injuries arising out of a one-car accident on December 20, 1993.1 After discovery, the DOT filed identical motions for summary judgment in each case. The trial court, in a well-written and thorough order, granted the DOT’s motions, and the Johnsons appeal. Because the trial court correctly pinpointed and analyzed the fatal weakness in the Johnsons’ case—failure of proof of negligence and causation—we affirm.

Inexplicably, the Johnsons’ brief addresses first and at some length the issue of whether an expert witness affidavit was required under OCGA § 9-11-9.1 a, even though the trial court ruled in the Johnsons’ favor on this issue. But the Johnsons’ argument, while misdirected, inadvertently points to the dispositive issue in this case. The problem is not that expert testimony is required by the malpractice affidavit statute. Rather, the state of this record required expert testimony to survive summary judgment, because as it stands it is devoid of any evidence of either causation or negligence.

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