## Facts

- A tractor-trailer hauling approximately 42,000 pounds of terra cotta pipe rounded a curve near Waycross, Georgia at about 9:20 p.m. on July 25, 1963.
- The pipe load shifted, spilled off the trailer, and struck an oncoming passenger car.
- The impact crushed the car, killing Allen Mills and Patricia Mills and injuring their three minor sons.
- The children, acting through their grandmother as next friend, sued for their personal injuries and for the wrongful deaths of both parents under Georgia law.
- Defendants included multiple entities involved in the transport arrangement (carrier, driver, equipment owners/lessors, and a trailer lessor/sublessor), the shipper/loader, and the carrier’s liability insurer.
- In the district court jury trial, the jury awarded $100,000 for each parent’s wrongful death (total $200,000) and $2,500 for the children’s personal injuries.
- On appeal, defendants conceded negligence and conceded no negligence by the Mills family, contesting only jurisdiction, damages proof, certain expert testimony, and denial of a mistrial based on closing argument.

## Issues

1. Whether the question of diversity of citizenship had to be submitted to the jury rather than decided by the court.
2. Whether the evidence of the decedents’ life expectancy, earning capacity, and services was sufficient under Georgia law to support the two $100,000 wrongful-death awards.
3. Whether admitting expert testimony concerning matters such as life expectancy and earning capacity constituted reversible error.
4. Whether plaintiffs’ counsel’s closing argument was so prejudicial that the district court was required to grant a mistrial.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment in full.
- The court held that determining diversity of citizenship is ordinarily for the judge, not the jury (absent advisory use), and the jurisdictional objection did not undermine jurisdiction.
- The court held that the record contained sufficient evidence on life expectancy, earning capacity, and parental services to support the wrongful-death awards under Georgia’s “full value of the life” measure, and the amounts were not so excessive as to indicate passion or prejudice.
- The court held that the challenged expert testimony was properly admitted and did not reflect an abuse of discretion.
- The court held that denial of a mistrial based on closing argument was within the trial court’s discretion and did not warrant reversal.

## Legal Principles

- In federal court, disputed jurisdictional facts bearing on diversity are generally decided by the judge, not the jury, unless the judge elects to use the jury in an advisory capacity.
- Under Georgia wrongful-death law, damages focus on the “full value of the life” of the decedent from the decedent’s viewpoint, permitting the jury to consider evidence such as life expectancy, earning capacity, and the value of services.
- Appellate review of a jury’s wrongful-death damages award is highly deferential; reversal is appropriate only when the award is unsupported by the evidence or so excessive as to suggest passion or prejudice.
- Admission of expert testimony relevant to damages (including life expectancy and earning capacity) is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- Trial-court rulings on allegedly improper closing argument and requests for mistrial are reviewed for abuse of discretion; reversal requires a showing of substantial prejudice.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit upheld a jury’s wrongful-death awards and related rulings arising from a load-shift truck accident, holding that diversity was a judicial question, the damages evidence was sufficient under Georgia law, and the challenged expert-testimony and mistrial rulings did not constitute reversible error.


Har-Pen Truck Lines, Inc. v. Mills, 378 F.2d 705 (5th Cir. 1967)