Mississippi Court to Review Car-Horse Accident Case

The Mississippi Supreme Court has agreed to review a George County case of an accident involving a car and a horse.

The personal-injury case involved a 2008 automobile collision between Diana Ladnier and Diego, a horse owned by Joseph Hester.

A George County judge ruled in favor Hester in 2010. The state Court of Appeals upheld the trial judge’s decision last year.

The accident occurred shortly after midnight on Jan. 2, 2008, near Lucedale.

According to court records, Ladnier was driving her car when three horses ran across the road. She struck the largest horse – Diego – who weighed about 1,000 pounds.

The horses were owned by Hester.

Ladnier claimed Hester was negligent for allowing his horses to roam free.

Hester claimed he had checked the fences on his property earlier that day. He said it appeared the horses trampled down a portion of the fence and that was the first time in two years they had done that.

The Appeals Court ruled that Ladnier failed to rebut evidence by Hester that his fence was adequate for containing horses.