Lafferty v. Lipson
Lafferty v. Lipson
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff sued the defendant in the common pleas court of Detroit to recover damages arising out of an automobile collision. The case was heard by a judge of that court without a jury. According to the printed record filed here, as the settled record on appeal, the plaintiff was the only witness to testify. It fails to disclose that any testimony was taken on behalf of the defendant. At the close of said testimony, defendant moved for no cause for action on the ground that the plaintiff was negligent as a matter of law and that there was no showing .that the defendant was negligent. The plaintiff also moved for á judgment in his favor. The common pleas judge who heard the case filed an opinion concluding that, taking the testimony in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, it showed that the defendant was negligent and that it did not show that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. The court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $750 damages and $8.50 costs.
The defendant appealed to the circuit court where the case was heard by a circuit judge without a jury, based on the transcript of the testimony from the common pleas court. Insofar as disclosed here by the printed record, it consisted only of the testimony of the plaintiff. The circuit judge entered judgment for the plaintiff in accordance with the judgment in the common pleas court and the defendant appeals.
The only testimony as to where the defendant’s car could have been, either before or after plaintiff entered the intersection after stopping, was from-the plaintiff himself, the only witness sworn. He testified:
“A. I looked to the east and to the west and to the south and there wasn’t any vehicle at that particular time.
“Q. There were no moving vehicles?
“A. Not even coming south or north.
“Q. Was there any vehicle approaching the intersection?
“A. No moving vehicle of any kind on the street.
“Q. Did vou make an observation?
“A. Yes."
“Q. What happened after you made the observation ?
“A. After I made the observation, I concluded it was safe to make the crossing. There wasn’t a soul on any street; east, west or coming south. I attempted to go across the crossing.
“Q. At the time you entered the intersection, at what rate of speed were you going?
“A. I was going no more than 5.
“Q. Do you remember if you had the car in which gear ?
“A. First gear.
“Q. Then what happened?
“A. As I crossed the intersection, and was more than three-quarters through, the tail end of my right eye, I observed the ear coming from the west side of Sturtevant.
“Q. Indicating coming from which direction?
“A. I would say from the south side of Sturtevant and apparently turned out from a house there. * * *
“Q. Mr. Lafferty, you testified that when you made an observation before approaching the intersection, there was no traffic in motion?
“A. None whatsoever. Not from 3 directions—not even a truck.
“Q. Having passed three-quarters of the distance through the intersection, did you observe any vehicle ?
“A. Yes, I observed it coming from the west.
“A. The vehicle was coming, it seemed to be from the south side of Sturtevant at a good pace; like somebody had gunned the car.”
The common pleas judge, in his opinion denying the defendant’s motion for judgment at the close of the testimony, intimated that it would be incumbent on the defendant to show where her car was, that it was in sight. The court said:
“We would have to assume, for a directed verdict
It should be kept in mind that this was said by the common pleas judge after the testimony of the plaintiff, above quoted. It was not a charge that the defendant had the burden of proving that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. On the contrary, it correctly indicated that unless the defendant showed that her car was in sight, plaintiff’s testimony, that it was not, would stand uncontradicted. Perhaps part of the court’s statement is open to misconstruction, unless considered in connection with the time in the trial when it was made—after the plaintiff’s testimony.
At the conclusion of plaintiff’s testimony in common pleas court, plaintiff’s testimony supported the trial court’s finding that it showed negligence by the
Affirmed. Costs to appellee.
For the defendant.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). Plaintiff testified that he did not see defendant’s approaching automobile until he, the plaintiff, “was almost through the intersection.” Defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground of plaintiff’s contributory negligence as a matter of law. The judge of the common pleas court, in his opinion denying that motion, stated, in effect, that if defendant’s automobile had been shown to have been where plaintiff could have seen it approaching the intersection, then it would have been necessary, under the circumstances of this case, to hold plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law for failure to see it, but that, as a prerequisite to such holding, the burden of proof was on defendant to show where her automobile “was at all times prior to the accident” and to show that it had been where plaintiff could have seen it. That is an erroneous conception of the law. The burden was on plaintiff to establish his freedom from contributory negligence, Yackso v. Bokulich, 333 Mich 412, and to present proofs, including those relating to the respective locations of the 2 automo
No proofs appear in the record here as to where defendant’s automobile came from before entering the intersection. Assuming, as does Mr. Justice Boyles and as testified by plaintiff, that it had “apparently turned out from a house” 60 to 100 feet distant from the intersection, plaintiff would, nonetheless, have been guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law for failure to see defendant’s automobile while it was approaching from plaintiff’s right for that distance of 60 to 100 feet. In Levine v. Schonborn, 336 Mich 312, defendant’s automobile entered an intersection from behind plaintiff and then turned left, thereafter approaching plaintiff, for a distance of 50 feet, from her right. We held her guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law for failure to have seen defendant’s automobile while it travelled those 50 feet. Here, indulging plaintiff’s guess as to where defendant’s automobile came from, plaintiff, at all events, had an opportunity to observe it travelling toward him for a distance of from 60 to 100 feet but failed to do so until too late. Under Levine v. Schonborn, supra; Molda v. Clark, 236 Mich 277; Franks v. Woodward, 258 Mich 447, and cases therein cited, plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, barring his right to recover.
The judgment should be reversed, with costs to defendant.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.