Winters v. Wangler

              Filed 11/26/08 NO. 4-07-1044
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
DEBORAH K. WINTERS, Administratrix of
the Estate of KENNETH L. KELLER,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ROGER WANGLER,
Defendant-Appellee,
and
ROGER D. SNIDER and JEANE WANGLER,
Defendants.
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Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Jersey County
No. 05L17
Honorable
Lois A. Bell,
Judge Presiding.
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JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:
In July 2006, plaintiff, Deborah K. Winters,
administratrix of the estate of Kenneth L. Keller, filed a
complaint alleging that defendants Roger D. Snider, Roger Wangle-r,
and Jeane Wangler negligently caused an accident that resulted
in Keller's death. In August 2006, Roger Wangler (hereinafter
Wangler) filed a motion to dismiss under section 2-619(a)(4) of
the Code of Civil Procedure (Civil Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(4)
(West 2004)), arguing that because the trial court had previously
granted Snider's motion to strike a portion of Winters' initial
complaint, Winters was "precluded from re-litigating" the same
issues against him. In August 2007, the trial court granted
Wangler's motion, reaffirming its earlier ruling against Snider
that section 15-102 of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Vehicle Code)
(625 ILCS 5/15-102 (West 2004)) did not apply to this case and