Horn v. Commercial Carriers, Inc.
Horn v. Commercial Carriers, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action instituted by Dale V. Horn, as Plaintiff-in-error, hereinafter called Horn, against Commercial Carriers, Inc., hereinafter called Commercial, and its employee, Jim Matt Mooneghan, hereinafter called Mooneghan, and Fraker Heating and Equipment Co., Inc., hereinafter called Fraker, and its employee, Richard Nix, hereinafter called Nix, in the Circuit Court for Knox County, ■ Tennessee, for damages. Horn was awarded a jury verdict for Seven Thousand ($7,000.00) Dollars against Commercial, Mooneghan, Frakér and Nix. Motions for New Trials were filed by Commercial and Mooneghan and Fraker and Nix, respectively. Trial Judge overruled Motion for New Trial filed by Commercial and Mooneghan, but sustained the Motion for New Trial filed by' Fraker and Nix, and directed a verdict against Horn. A Motion for a New Trial of Horn challenging the action of the Trial Judge in granting a new trial for Fraker and Nix and directing a verdict in their favor was Mearé by the Trial Judge. Commercial and Mooneghan prayed and were granted an appeal in the nature of a Writ of Error, and they were allowed and granted time within which to file their appeal bond and file a Bill of Exceptions, which was done within the time allowed. Horn
We shall now briefly review the. evidence and the record in the case:
Horn was driving his .station wagon on 20th January, 1961, between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., in a northerly direction on Broadway in Knoxville, Tennessee. Broadway is one of the main thoroughfares of the city of Knoxville, and was 37% feet wide. It was divided by a center line. There were two lanes for north-bound traffic and two lanes for south-bound traffic. On this occasion, there were numerous vehicles parked next to the curb on the east and west sides of Broadway, so that for practical purposes, the lane nearest the center lane on the east was used for northbound traffic and the lane nearest the center line on the west was .used for south-bound traffic. The traffic was particularly heavy on this occasion, being described by one of the witnesses as being bumper to bumper. As Horn was proceeding north, he was being followed by a tractor-trailer unit of Commercial, being driven by Mooneghan, at a distance of two to three car lengths. On this occasion, the Fraker three-quarter ton pick-up truck, being driven by Nix, was being driven south at a speed of approximately 20 to 25 miles per hour in the south-bound lane nearest the center line, meeting the Horn station wagon. "When the distance between the front of the Horn station wagon and the front of the Fraker pick-up truck had closed to 5 or 10 feet, a Buick automobile with Ohio license, proceeding in a southerly direction, overtook Nix, driving the Fraker truck, and passed the Fraker truck at a speed of approximately
Commercial and Mooneghan have assigned two errors in this Court, which are in substance:
First. That there is no evidence to support the verdict against Commercial and Nix.
Second. The Court erred in charging the jury in substance and effect and Commercial and Nix were guilty of contributory negligence by the mere fact that the tractor-trailer of Commercial, being driven by Mooneghan, ran into the station wagon of Horn from the rear.
Horn assigned one error in this Court, which is in substance:
First. That the Trial Judge erred in sustaining a Motion for a New Trial filed by Fraker and Nix’ and directing a verdict in their favor.
As aforesaid, Horn assigned his error in the action of the Trial Judge in sustaining a Motion for a New Trial filed by Fraker and Nix and directing a verdict in their favor and filed a brief in support of the assignment.
Fraker and Nix have filed a very comprehensive and exhaustive reply brief, wherein it is forcibly insisted that the action of the Trial Judge in granting them a new trial and directing a verdict in their favor was cor
Obviously, if Horn did not make application for a New Trial, he does not have any right to assign as error the aforesaid action of the Trial Judge. Badger v. Tennessee Electric Power Co., 12 Tenn.App. 361; Bostick v. Thomas, 137 Tenn. 99, 191 S.W. 968.
Naturally, the Bar of Tennessee has always assumed that a Motion for a New Trial must be in writing and actually filed in order to have such a motion considered. We have read with considerable interest the cases cited in the reply brief of the Defendants-in-error, and have done quite a bit of independent research on the question. Section 27-201, Tennessee Code Annotated is as follows:
“A rehearing or motion for new trial can only be applied for within thirty (30) days from the decree,, verdict or judgment sought to be affected, subject, however, to the rules of court prescribing the length*197 of time in which the application is to be made, bnt such rules in no case shall allow less than ten (10) days for such application. The expiration of a term of court during said period shall not shorten the time allowed. ” ' .
Naturally, the application for a new trial must be bottomód on the Code Section aforesaid. In the case of Shettles v. State of Tennessee, rehearing denied 8th December, 1961, 209 Tenn. 157, 352 S.W.(2d) 1, the Supreme Court had before it the question' of whether or not a motion for a new trial was properly filed. In that case, a jury verdict was rendered on 29th June,--I960, but a motion for a new trial was not actually filed until 25th November, 1960. In a very able opinion by Mr. Justice Burnett, he quotes with approval from Caruthers’ History of a Lawsuit, Gilreath, 7th Ed., of page 458 and paragraph 421, the following, with italics added:
“In the exercise of the inherent right of all courts to prescribe reasonable rules of practice, many of the circuit courts of Tennessee now require that the. motion for a new trial be reduced to writing, that it shall contain a specific statement of the grounds ' relied on for obtaining a-new trial, and that the whole be spread on the minutes of the court, and that all errors or grounds for relief not appearing in the ■ motion shall-be considered as waived
This question is further complicated by reason of the fact that in the order, signed by the Trial Judge and included in the Technical Record, immediately after sustaining the motion for a new trial of Fraker and Nix and directing a verdict in their favor,- the following appears:
*198 “* # * The Plaintiff, Dale V. Horn’s Motion for a New Trial as to the Defendants, Fraker Heating and Equipment Company and Richard Nix came on to be heard on the ground that the Court erred in sustaining the Defendants Motion for a New Trial and erred in directing a verdict in favor of these Defendants. Upon consideration of the motion, the entire record, and the Court treating the Motion as heard, the Court is of the opinion that Plaintiff’s ground is not well taken.
“IT IS THEREFORE FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Plaintiff’s Motion for a New Trial be and the same hereby is overruled.
Thus, it can be seen that the same ground assigned by Horn in his Motion for a New Trial is; namely, that the Court erred in Sustaining the Motion of Fraker and Nix for a new trial and directing a verdict in their favor which is the same ground used as an Assignment of Error in this Court. The record in this case does not contain the Rules of the Circuit Court of Knox County, Tennessee, and we will not notice them, and can not notice them, unless they are proved on the trial below and incorporated in the Bill of Exceptions. We do not know, and have no way of determining, whether the Rules of the Circuit Court of Knox County, contain a requirement that a Motion for a New Trial shall be in writing when filed.
In Nobles v. Farmer, 9 Tenn.App. 6, a Motion for a New Trial appeared in the Bill of Exceptions, but was not identified by the Trial Judge and was not upon the minutes of the Court. The Court of Appeals in that case
In the main, in the present case, the. Court Heard a Motion for a New Trial, overruled it and this appears in an Order signed by the Trial Judge. Therefore, we are inclined to the view that under our Statutes, this was sufficient.
The question is also made in the Reply Brief that Horn had not complied with Rules 11 and 12 of this Court in pointing out to the Court the parts of the record which sustain his position in support of his Assignment of Error. Of course, it would have been helpful if Counsel for Horn had pointed out the testimony of the witnesses who sustained his position. Naturally, this placed an additional burden upon the Court, but we are inclined to overlook this insistence.
We now come to the Assignment of Error of Horn challenging the action of the Trial Judge in granting a Motion for a New Trial filed by Fraker and Nix and in directing a verdict in their favor. In considering a Motion of a Defendant for a directed verdict and in ascertaining whether there was any evidence to support a verdict for a Plaintiff, the Plaintiff has to be given the benefit of all the evidence adduced in his behalf, and all
We have read and reread the Bill of Exceptions in an endeavor to find evidence to sustain the verdict of Horn against Fraker and Nix, but without avail. We, therefore, conclude that there is no evidence to sustain the verdict of Horn against Fraker and Nix.
The proof shows beyond. question and is uncontroverted that Nix was driving the Fraker truck south in the proper lane when the truck was struck on the, right front bumper by a Buick automobile with Ohio license, and that as a result thereof, the Fraker truck was pushed into the north lane in front of Horn at a time when the distance between the front of the Horn station wagon and the Fraker truck was from five to ten feet. Under such circumstances, a collision was inevitable, but without fault on the part of the driver, Nix, or Horn. Therefore, the action of the Trial Judge in granting a new trial to Fraker and Nix and directing a verdict as to them is affirmed.
Now as to the Assignment of Error of Commercial and. Mooneghan. The first assignment, in substance, states that there is no evidence to sustain the verdict of
The second Assignment of Error of Commercial and Mooneghan states simply that the Court erred in charging the jury in substance and effect that Commercial and Mooneghan were guilty of contributory negligence by the mere fact that their tractor-trailer vehicle ran into the station wagon of Horn from the rear.
In oral argument, Counsel for Commercial and Mooneghan indicated that he was complaining of the following portion of the charge, to-wit:
“* * * The operator of an automobile in a line of traffic must have that vehicle under such control and such distance from the automobile ahead of him, that when a sudden stop is made, he can bring his vehicle to a standstill without striking the one immediately in front of him. # * *”
It must be remembered that the foregoing portion of the charge complained of was taken out of context. However, a careful reading of the complete charge indicates to us that, over all, the charge thoroughly covered the issues.
The Trial Judge apparently obtained this portion of the charge complained of from Russell v. Furniture Renewal, Inc., et al., 177 Tenn. 525, 151 S.W.(2d) 1066, decided in 1961. In that case, an intersection collision occurred on a busy street in Johnson City, Tennessee.
“[2, 3] We are further of the opinion that Hagler was not guilty of any negligence, while the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in not having her automobile under control under the circumstances of this case.
“In 47 A.L.R., 703, the annotator said:
“ ‘The general rule is that, although ordinarily'a signal warning vehicles in the rear is necessary when the vehicle in front is stopped, nevertheless there is imposed upon the operators of the rear vehicles the corresponding duty of having their vehicles under such control as to be able to stop in time to prevent running into the car ahead in case the latter*204 .vehicle comes to a sudden stop in case of an emergency or in obedience to traffic signals.’
“ [4, 5] Many cases are'cited in support of the text; also, in annotations in 24 A.L.R. 508, 62 A.L.R. 970, and 104 A.L.R. 485.
‘ ‘ Such a rule is practical, sensible, and necessary, for it is a well-known fact that in a long, slow-moving line of vehicles the procession is likely to come to a sudden stop at any time; and it is therefore the. duty of an operator of an automobile to have his vehicle under such control and at such a distance from the car ahead .of him that when such sudden stop is made he can bring his machine to a standstill without strik-. ing.the one immediately in front of him.” .
Since the facts in the case at Bar are almost identical with those in Russell v. Furniture Renewal, Inc., et al., we think the part of the charge set' out above was correct and proper, and we certainly are not at liberty to belabor this point of law in the face of the opinion ,of the Supreme Court. Therefore,, the .second Assignment of Error is overruled, and the- judgment in the amount of Seven Thousand ($7,000) Dollars of Horn against Commercial and Mooneghan is affirmed, with interest from 6th October, 1961, the date of the overruling of the Motion of Commercial and Mooneghan for a New Trial.
One-half (%) of the costs in this Court is taxed to Horn and the sureties bn his appeal bond, and one-half (%) of the costs in this Court is taxed to Commercial and Mooneghan.
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