People v. Piñeiro Quiñones
People v. Piñeiro Quiñones
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
■ Appellant herein was prosecuted in the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, for a violation of § 328 of the Penal Code. The charge was that: “On August 31, 1952, in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, . . . while driving a ‘Mercury’ automobile, license plate No. 18465, in an unlawful manner, negligently, unskillfully, carelessly and recklessly, at kilometer 1, hectometer 6 of Roosevelt Avenue, he caused it to collide with an electric light pole and with a ‘Ford’ vehicle
Appellant assigns as errors that, first, “the verdict is contrary to the law and to evidence, since it was not proved ' that defendant was guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, and therefore, the verdict was the product of passion and prejudice on the part of the jury” and second, that the trial court “erred in failing to charge the jury as to whether the victim’s ‘ death was the proximate cause (sic) of the alleged gross" negligence on the part of the defendant-appellant.”
The question raised in the first assignment is without merit. The People introduced evidence which consisted of photographs and oral evidence tending to show that in the afternoon of August 31, 1952, a Sunday, in the section between Puerto Nuevo and Hato Rey — known as Roosevelt Avenue — where at the time there was considerable trafile, the appellant was driving a “Mercury” automobile along one of the lanes going towards Hato Rey, at an excessive speed,
The evidence for the defense, photographs and oral evidence, tended to establish that on the afternoon of the day mentioned in the information, while the accused was going along Roosevelt Avenue on his way to Hato Rey at a speed of from 30 to 35 miles and driving the aforesaid “Mercury” automobile, another automobile, blowing its horn excessively and trying to overtake him at kilometer 1, hectometer 6, forced him to swerve to the left causing defendant’s car to cross the center island of the aforesaid avenue, collide with an electric light pole and land on the opposite lane, coming then to a stop; and that after he had stopped, the “Ford” automobile, driven at a considerable speed by Leticia Cintron, collided with the rear part of defendant’s vehicle.
The jury considered and weighed the evidence submitted by the parties and believed the evidence for the prosecution. Said evidence is sufficient to support the verdict, which in our opinion is not contrary to law, for which reason we do not feel- justified in disturbing the judgment on the ground stated by appellant. People v. García, 64 P.R.R. 278; People v. Camacho, 69 P.R.R. 332; People v. Rodríguez, 70 P.R.R. 21. The charge that said verdict “was the product of passion and prejudice on the part of the jury” is altogether untenable.
The question raised in the second assignment also lacks merit. The defense did not ask the trial court to instruct the jury as to proximate cause. Notwithstanding,
It is urged in the discussion of this assignment that excessive speed merely constitutes prima facie evidence of negligence. This principle only means that the accused may introduce evidence tending to explain and justify the excessive speed. State v. Lingman, 91 P.2d 457. The verdict of guilty rendered in the instant case shows that appellant was not successful in overcoming the prima facie case presented by the prosecution.
The judgment appealed from will be affirmed.
“Section 328.— (As amended by Act No. 51 of April 13, 1916, p. 105.) Every conductor, engineer, brakeman, switchman, or other person having charge wholly or in part of any railroad car, locomotive, automobile, train or steamboat, and any train dispatcher, telegraph operator, station agent, or other person wholly or in part charged with the duty of dispatching or directing the movements of any such car, locomotive, automobile, train or steamboat, who, through gross negligence or carelessness, suffers or causes the same to collide with another car, locomotive, automobile, train or steamboat, or with any other object or thing whereby the death of a human being is produced, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a maximum term of five years.
“If as a consequence of the collision, injury is suffered by any person, such conductor, engineer, brakeman, switchman or other person shall be punishable by imprisonment in jail for a maximum term of two years, or by a maximum fine of one thousand dollars, or by both penalties in the-discretion of the court.”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.