In a case stemming from a car accident in Tennessee, a state appellate court has ruled that a lawsuit with a jury demand cannot be bifurcated into two separate trials because they involve both governmental and nongovernmental defendants.
Plaintiff Alyssa Vandyke was injured in a car driven by her mother, Melissa, due to a faulty traffic light. In September 2018, Alyssa sued Montgomery County, the county sheriff and highway department, the couple that hit her, Larry and Lilly Cheek, and her mother.
