Martin Mortuary v. City of El Paso
Martin Mortuary v. City of El Paso
Opinion of the Court
This is a property damage suit resulting from an automobile accident brought by appellee against Richard E. Martin, d/b/a Martin Mortuary, and Samuel Anderson, appellants, and also against Guillermo L. Sanchez, who has not appealed from the judgment of the trial court. After plaintiff had taken an interlocutory default judgment against Sanchez, trial was had before a jury, which found Sanchez guilty of negligence proximately causing plaintiff’s damages, and found the defendants’ Martin and Anderson guilty of two acts constituting negligence per se, but further found that such acts were not proximate causes of plaintiff’s damages. The court granted plaintiff’s motion for judgment non obstante veredicto against defendants Martin and Anderson, and rendered judgment for $256.45 against these defendants. The sole point upon which this appeal is predicated is that since the jury found that each of the acts constituting negligence on the part of defendant Martin’s ambulance driver was not a proximate cause of the damages to plaintiff’s vehicle, the trial court erred in rendering judgment non obstante veredicto against defendants Martin and Anderson. The evidence is here briefly summarized:
M, L. Murray, a radio patrolman in the El Paso Police Department, testified that a little after midnight, on the morning of November 30, 1952, he stopped plaintiff’s police car on a red light at the intersection of Copia and Montana Streets in the city of El Paso. He was faced east, and the traffic light was red. He heard the siren
Gordon W. Bibb, the police officer who investigated the accident, testified that he measured 'the skid marks on Copia Street laid down by the ambulance, and found them to be 72 feet long, but that Mr. Sanchez’ car did not lay down any skid marks; that Mr. Sanchez told him that he did not see the ambulance or hear the siren or see the red -light (presumably the flashing red lights on the ambulance) until he got hit. Basing his opinion on the 72 feet of skid marks Officer Bibb concluded that the ambulance was going about forty miles per hour at the point of impact. .
The jury, in answer to special issues, found (1) that at the time of and immediately prior to the accident the ambulance was being operated at a greater rate of speed than thirty miles per hour, but (2) that this was not a proximate cause of plaintiff’s damages, (3) that at the time the ambulance entered the intersection of Copia and Montana Streets the traffic light facing it was red, but (4) this was not a proximate cause of the damages to plaintiff’s car, (5) that defendant Sanchez failed to keep a proper lookout for the ambulance and (6) such failure was a proximate cause of the-accident; (7) that defendant Sanchez failed to apply the brakes on his automobile prior - to the collision, and (8) that such failure was negligence, and (9) such negligence was a proximate cause of the accident, and (10) plaintiff’s damages were $256.45.
The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for judgment non obstante veredicto on the ground that the evidence raised no issue of fact as to the proximate cause with respect to (2) and (4) — in other words, that as a matter of law the speed of the ambulance and the fact that it entered the intersection when* the traffic light facing it was red as a matter of law were proximate causes of the damage to plaintiff’s car. In this conclusion we think the learned trial court fell into error.
In the leading case of Sein-sheimer v. Burkhart, 132 Tex. 336, 122 S.W.2d 1063, the court said that there are cases in which a court is warranted in holding that an act of negligence proximately caused an injury as a matter of law, but that such cases are rare, that generally the question is one of pure fact. We think the general rule is applicable to the facts in this case. A jury might well conclude that the driver of the ambulance, sounding his siren, in a'loud manner and seeing the police car and other cars stopped on Montana Street at its intersection with Copia, might reasonably expect
It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the trial court be reversed and judgment here rendered that the plaintiff take nothing as> against defendants Martin Mortuary, et al.- -
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.