Carter v. Owens-Illinois, Inc.

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

The only issue in this case is, can a federal district court and a state circuit court have jurisdiction at the same time of the same subject matter involving identical parties? The trial court ruled that they could and we agree.

The appellant, Joe H. Carter, sued the appellee, Owens-Illinois, Inc., in the Federal District Court at Fort Smith over a vehicle accident that occurred in Fort Smith. Owens filed an answer to the lawsuit and later a counter-claim for property damages. After the lawsuit was filed in federal court, Owens filed a lawsuit in Sebastian Circuit…