Vece v. Vanacore
Vece v. Vanacore
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by the plaintiff to recover damages under a complaint in two counts, the first count alleging a bailment for hire .and the second count alleging negligence. The court found for the plaintiff, presumably under the first count, since the record is clear that the parties, in the trial as well as in the arguments on appeal, proceeded on the count of bailment only. The defendants have appealed, assigning as error (1) the failure of the court to strike facts found without evidence, (2) its refusal to add facts which were undisputed, and (3) its conclusion that the damage to the plaintiff’s boat occurred during the time of the bailment.
The court found the following facts: The plaintiff, owner of a twenty-seven-foot Richardson cruiser, in the fall of 1959 turned his boat over to the defendants for winter storage. In accordance with the agreement of the parties, the defendants took the boat out of the water, winterized it, covered it, and were to hook it up in the springtime and prepare it for use in the spring of 1960. At the time the plaintiff delivered the boat to the defendants, it was in good condition. During the period of storage, the defendants permitted the plaintiff to do minor work on the boat. In the spring, the defendants prepared to launch the boat. The plaintiff was present as a spectator. The boat was in a dolly or cradle on tracks. As it was being moved, a roller
The attack of the defendants on the finding is futile, since the facts which they seek to have stricken were supported by evidence, and other material facts which they seek to have added were neither admitted nor undisputed. State v. Coulombe, 143 Conn. 604, 609. The absence of direct contradiction does not make a fact admitted or undisputed under our rules. Town & Country House & Homes Service, Inc. v. Evans, 150 Conn. 314, 316. The trier is the final judge of the credibility of a witness and may disbelieve all or any part of his testimony. Chazen v. New Britain, 148 Conn. 349, 352.
The gist of the defendants’ claims on appeal is that the court was not warranted on the evidence in finding that the damage to the plaintiff’s boat occurred during the time of bailment, and consequently the burden of proof did not fall on the defendants to explain the particular circumstances involved in the causing of the damage. There is no question that a bailor-bailee relation existed between the parties when the boat was put into winter storage. The determining factor is: When did the bail
The plaintiff claims that he established a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the defendants when it was proved that the bailed boat was damaged and that he did not have the burden of satisfying the trial court that the conduct of the defendants, as bailees, constituted negligence. “It is true, as claimed by the plaintiff, that when a bailee returns the bailed property to the bailor in a damaged condition there arises a presumption that the damage was the result of the bailee’s negligence. ‘This presumption prevails unless and until the bailee proves the actual circumstances involved in the damaging of the property. If those circumstances are proved, then the burden is upon the bailor to satisfy the court that the bailee’s conduct in the matter constituted negligence. . . . The circumstances which the bailee must prove must be some
We cannot hold that the court was unwarranted in concluding that the damage occurred during the time of bailment. The plaintiff made out a prima facie case which the defendants failed to rebut by competent evidence.
There is no error.
In this opinion Pruyn and Jacobs, Js., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.