Squillante v. Barr
Squillante v. Barr
Opinion of the Court
J.—This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries suffered by plaintiff as the result of a fall from a truck loaded with boxed grapes. The truck had been driven up to a loading platform at the packing plant of defendant Barr Packing Company. Plaintiff was a fruit shipper and buyer and on September 8, 1950, was at the packing plant to inspect grapes which he was buying through the Barr Company. Defendant Rodney Epps, who was the foreman at the plant, was talking with the plaintiff when, he saw the truck approaching the loading platform. Epps remarked to plaintiff that these were some of the grapes he would be getting and asked plaintiff if he would like to look at them. Plaintiff stated that he would and they proceeded to the truck which had been stopped so that the bed of the truck was approximately level with and along the side of the loading platform. Defendant Allen, who was driving the truck for the owner (defendant Weber) got out of the cab on the driver’s side and proceeded along that side of the truck to the rear, where he loosened the two ropes holding the loaded boxes in place. These boxes were in 3 tiers and 11 boxes high and the total height from the bed of the truck to the top of the boxes was 6% feet. The two ropes were fastened to the front of the bed of the truck, one on each side of the cab, extended up over the outer tiers of the loaded boxes and were secured by devices on the
Plaintiff had been in the grape business for 40 years and had been up on a similar truck before. He admitted that he knew that the ropes had to be loosened before the grapes were unloaded and that he made no attempt to see where the driver of the truck was before he attempted to go up on the truck and did not see Allen leave the truck.
There is substantial evidence showing that when defendant Allen drove the truck up to the loading platform, plaintiff and Epps were engaged in conversation inside the packing shed; that as Allen drove up, he saw plaintiff and Epps standing in the doorway; that he did not know plaintiff ■ that neither plaintiff nor Epps spoke to him and that he did not know that they had climbed up no the truck before the accident happened; that approximately two minutes elapsed from the time that Allen stopped his truck before the plaintiff fell.
A jury trial was had resulting in a verdict for all defendants and plaintiff appeals from the judgment entered in accordance with this verdict. Appellant first contends that the evidence established as a matter of law that at the time of the accident plaintiff was a business visitor or invitee on the Barr premises and on the Weber truck, and he was prejudiced by instructions which permitted the jury to find otherwise. Appellant admits that the jury was correctly
Appellant next asserts that the evidence established as a matter of law that defendants Barr and Epps were guilty of negligence proximately causing or contributing to the accident, and plaintiff was prejudiced by an instruction which submitted an issue of unavoidable accident to the jury. We cannot agree with this contention. “The question of negligence is generally one of fact for the jury, and its finding thereon, if supported by substantial evidence, is binding upon a reviewing court. It is only when there is no substantial conflict as to the facts, and from the facts reasonable persons can draw only the inference that a defendant was negligent, that the reviewing court will disturb the verdict of the jury rendered in favor of a defendant.” (Ferrell v. Matranga, 92 Cal.App.2d 620, 622 [207 P.2d 654].) Defendant Barr as owner of the packing plant was not an insurer of the safety of the plaintiff but owed him the duty to exercise reasonable care in keeping the premises safe for his invitee, and as was said in Girvetz v. Boys’ Market, Inc., 91 Cal.App.2d 827, 829 [206 P.2d 6]:
‘'To impose liability for injuries suffered by an invitee due
The evidence here is that Epps did not discover that Allen had loosened the ropes until after the accident happened and where, as here, the danger was as obvious or as well known to plaintiff as to Epps, there was no obligation to give warning of an obvious danger or one which should have been perceived by the plaintiff. (Royal Ins. Co. v. Mazzei, 50 Cal.App.2d 549, 552 [123 P.2d 586].) There was a conflict created by the evidence as to whether defendants should have had knowledge of the danger and should have warned plaintiff or whether the condition was or should have been obvious to appellant. As was said in Curland v. Los Angeles County Fair Assn., 118 Cal.App.2d 691, 695 [258 P.2d 1063]:
“Where different inferences may reasonably be drawn from the evidence, the decision on the questions of negligence and contributory negligence must be left to the trier of fact. The conclusion of the jury will not be disturbed on review if some substantial evidence or reasonable inference lends support thereto. (Nichols v. Mitchell, 32 Cal.2d 598, 606 [197 P.2d 550].)”
Under the circumstances here shown the question of the negligence of defendants, if any, was one of fact for the jury. The defense of unavoidable accident was set forth in the answer of defendants Barr and Epps and is nothing more than a denial by them that their negligence, if any, was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries and an instruction on this subject was properly given under the circumstances shown by the record. (Parker v. Womack, 37 Cal.2d 116, 120-121 [230 P.2d 823].)
Appellant further contends that the evidence established as a matter of law that contributory negligence was not a
Finally it is argued that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the issue of assumption of risk. This contention is likewise without merit. It is not argued that the law applicable is not correctly stated but it is claimed that the record is devoid of evidence that would support a finding that plaintiff voluntarily accepted a risk with knowledge and appreciation of the risk. Since there was substantial evidence to support a finding upon this issue, there was no reversible error in giving the criticized instruction.
Judgment affirmed.
Barnard, P. J., and Griffin, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied March 22, 1955, and appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied April 27, 1955. Carter, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.