Henderson v. Henderson
Henderson v. Henderson
Opinion of the Court
Special ground 4 of the amended motion for a new trial assigns error on the ruling of the court admitting an accident report of Patrolman Greer, and on the overruling of the various objections interposed by counsel in regard to this evidence, as set out in the statement of facts, supra. The accident report was objected to only because it showed an arrest of the defendant for failure to grant the right of way. The defendant and her husband then testified that the defendant told her husband to pay a fine. The testimony of the defendant as to the manner in which she drove her car on the occasion of the collision in which the plaintiff was injured demands a finding that she was guilty of the offense of failure to yield the right of way. She testified before the jury that her attempt to plead guilty was for “reckless driving” which as such, is not criminal. It, nevertheless, amounts to an admission against her interest.
Accordingly (a) the admission of the accident report was not harmful because the plaintiff admitted the facts therein shown, and (b) the objection that the plea of guilty would be the highest and best evidence is not meritorious. Actually such a plea of guilty, attempted to have been made by the husband on the authority of the wife to a deputy sheriff who is not authorized to receive such pleas, would be void. The evidence is not admissible on the theory that it is a plea of guilty but it is admissible on the theory that it constitutes an admission against interest.
In Roper v. Scott, 77 Ga. App. 120 (2) (48 S. E. 2d 118) this court held: “Where a civil action is instituted for damages on grounds of negligence for the violation of penal ordinances or statutes, and the defendant has previously confessed or pleaded guilty to the violation of such penal statutes whether it he in or out of court, these confessions are competent evidence as
“Generally, proof of an explicit voluntary admission by a person of a fact adverse to his own interest is, in any civil proceeding against him, prima facie evidence of the existence of that fact; and, unless explained or denied, such admission may, of itself, authorize a jury to find accordingly. William Hester Marble Co. v. Walton, 22 Ga. App. 433 (4) (96 S. E. 269).” Scott v. Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., 33 Ga. App. 297 (1) (125 S. E. 773).
Aecordingfy, regardless of the legal effect of the attempt to plead guilty on the part of the defendant by authorizing her husband to pay a fine to a deputy sheriff, her own interpretation of this act as an acknowledgment that she was guilty of a traffic violation, out of which this cause arose is admissible as an admission against her interest, and is the highest and best evidence of that fact, the plea itself being void. Because of this admission, any facts to the same effect shown by the accident report are harmless to the defendant. Failure to yield the right of way is alleged in the petition and is a violation of Code (Ann. Supp.) § 68-1650 (b). This ground is without merit.
Special ground 5 assigns error on the failure of the court to declare a mistrial on motion because of the statement of counsel for the plaintiff in discussing a reported case, West v.
In discussing decided cases it is improper for counsel to make any remark as to the facts in such cases. Mays v. Mays, 153 Ga. 835 (113 S. E. 154). Assuming that it was under this-rule improper to point out that the insurance company lost the .case, it was not such prejudicial error as to require the grant of a mistrial, especially in view of the corrective action taken by the judge, to mention that another defendant in another case belonging to the same class as the defendant here lost that case. This assignment shows no such error as to require reversal.'.. The remaining special ground is expressly abandoned. , .
As to the general grounds of the motion .for a new trial it was necessary for the plaintiff’s recovery to prove gross negligence against the defendant. West v. Rosenberg, 44 Ga. App. 211 (1, 5a) (160 S. E. 808); Epps v. Parrish, 26 Ga. App. 399 (106 S. E. 297). The evidence shows that the defendant driver testified that she entered the intersection while talking with the plaintiff who was sitting beside her in the seat without looking to the right and accordingly without seeing another automobile which was approaching the intersection in plain view of her and for which she would have stopped if she had observed its approach. Questions of diligence and negligence and also questions as to the degree of negligence involved are ordinarily for the jury. McDuffie v. Childs, 43 Ga. App. 37 (157 S. E. 900); Slaton v. Hall, 172 Ga. 675 (158 S. E. 747). The evidence here was sufficient to authorize a finding that the defendant had not used even slight care in entering the intersection without glancing at the intersecting road to ascertain that ah automobile in plain
There having been on rehearing, a dissent to- the original opinion reversing this case, the ease was, pursuant to the Act of the General Assembly) approved March 8, .1945 (Ga. L. 1945, p. 232; Code, Ann. Supp., § 24-3501), considered by the court as a whole. The original opinion was vacated and the present opinion substituted therefor.
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I think the court erred in admitting the testimony of one of the defendants, Mrs. Mable Laverne Henderson, to the effect that she entered a plea of guilty to the charge of “reckless driving.” The evidence was introduced as an admission against interest but it is clear to me that the plaintiff’s motive and purpose in introducing the testimony was to show a legal plea of guilty, which meant that there was a charge' against the witness and that she entered a legal plea before a judge authorized to receive it. When it was developed from the evidence that there was no such plea of guilty the plaintiff did not seek to show what was said or written in such purported plea of guilty, but insisted on the admissibility of the testimony that the witness entered a plea of guilty and the court admitted the testimony as an admission against the witness’s interest. This was error for the reason that the highest and best evidence of what the charge was and to what charge the witness pleaded would have been a certified copy of the charge and the plea. There was no attempt made to introduce evidence as to what the witness actually admitted doing. It is true she stated that she intended to plead guilty to reckless driving but there is no such offense and her admitting guilt of such an offense means nothing and the admission of such evidence was erroneous and harmful, as originally held unanimously by the second division of this court. For authority that a certified copy of the record is the highest and best evidence of a plea of guilty see the recent case of Webb v. May, 91 Ga. App. 437 (85 S. E. 2d
Of course, if the defendant, Mrs. Henderson, had in her testimony admitted any of the acts charged against her in this civil proceeding, such as failing to yield the right of way, any similar extra-judicial admissions to the same or like effect would have been harmless. She, however, never made such an admission in the presence .of the jury. To have done so she would have to have admitted on the stand that she failed to yield the right of way under circumstances which would have made her failure to do so negligence as to- the driver of the car with which she collided and as to the plaintiff, and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. I submit that she made no such admission on the stand. The following is the testimony of the defendant, Mrs. Henderson, on the subject: “Q. Do you recognize that intersection and undergrowth and trees on the light there? A. Yes, sir. Q. I will ask you whether the view of one approaching that intersection is blocked on the right by trees and undergrowth? A. Yes, sir. Q. That is a dirt road? A. Yes, sir. Q. Which direction did you intend to turn, if any, when you entered the intersection? A. I intended to go-left but I went right by. Q. Ma’am? A. I intended to turn to the right—to the left but I just ran on by the road. Q. I didn’t understand you—you said you intended to turn left and what? A. I intended to turn left but we were talking and it slipped my mind and I went on across. Q. You didn’t turn right? A. No, sir. Q. Did you ever see that car on the right? A. I may have glanced it but we were nearly together. Q. You were practically together when you saw it? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you have any idea about how fast you were traveling? A.
Reference
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- HENDERSON Et Al. v. HENDERSON
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