No Evidence Of Joint Enterprise

In Joseph P. Pritchett v. Mike Gaines and Janet Gaines, as Next Friends for Martha Michelle Gaines, Non Compos Mentis; Cause No. 12-10-00167 in the Twelfth Court of Appeals at Tyler, the jury found that the driver of an 18-wheeler transporting a used oil rig, which struck Michelle Gaines' vehicle and left her non compos mentis, was negligent, awarding $8 million in damages. The jury found Pritchett, to whose equipment yard the rig was being transported, jointly and severally liable for those damages under a theory of joint enterprise liability. The Court of Appeals reversed and rendered, holding that there was no evidence of an equal right of control by Pritchett in the direction of the enterprise as required for joint enterprise liability.