Washington Utilities Co. v. Wadley

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Washington Utilities Co. v. Wadley, 44 App. D.C. 176 (D.C. Cir. 1915)
1915 U.S. App. LEXIS 2698

Washington Utilities Co. v. Wadley

Opinion of the Court

Mr. Justice Robb

delivered the opinion of the Court:

The first assignment of error relates to the refusal of the court to direct a verdict for the defendant at the close of plaintiff’s evidence. By proceeding to introduce testimony in its own behalf, the defendant waived its right further to press this motion. McCabe & S. Constr. Co. v. Wilson, 209 U. S. 275, 52 L. ed. 788, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 558. But the ruling clearly was right, for, accepting -the plaintiff’s evidence as true, the motorman either saw, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have seen, him in ample time to' have prevented the accident.

Plaintiff’s declaration alleged that the accident occurred “at or near the intersection of Water street with Fourteenth street, S. W.in other words, just east, instead of just west, of said Tidal basin bridge. It now is suggested that there was a variance between the allegations and the proofs as to the place of the accident. Obviously, this objection comes too late. Had the‘point been made in the trial court, the defect, if there was one, could have been cured by amendment. Campbell v. United States, 224 U. S. 99, 56 L. ed. 684, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 398. That this is an afterthought is clear from an examination of the evidence which, as previously noted, shows that there was no misunderstanding as to where the accident actually took place.

This court has ruled that a street railway company is liable *181for personal injuries sustained by one who bas negligently exposed himself to the risk of injury if the motorman actually saw him, or could have seen him by the use of reasonable diligence, in time to stop the car. Washington R. & Electric Co. v. Cullember, 39 App. D. C. 316; Washington-Virginia R. Co. v. Himelright, 42 App. D. C. 532. The charge of the court in the present case was in strict accord with the rule laid down in the above cases, and we therefore shall pass over the assignments of error directed to this question.

A general exception was noted to the court’s charge on the question of damages. It now is insisted that there was no competent evidence tending to show that plaintiff received permanent injuries to his back or thumb, and hence that the element of damages for future disability should have been withdrawn from the jury. We many times have ruled that an omnibus exception of this kind will not be considered. The trial court is entitled to know the ground of the objection, where it may not be inferred from the objection itself. However, the plaintiff, testifying two years after the accident, stated in effect that his thumb was permanently injured and that he still had pains in his back at times. The physician who attended him at the time of the accident testified that his thumb was dislocated and that the muscles of the back were sprained; that he treated plaintiff for several weeks, during which time he “was suffering intense pain with his back. * * * That a sprain may last a lifetime.” He further testified that “he [plaintiff] is still suffering from his back;” although the witness would not say that the injury was permanent. This evidence was sufficient to warrant the charge as given. Washington R. & Electric Co. v. Cullember, 39 App. D. C. 316, 326; Horowitz v. Hamburg-American Packet Co. 18 Misc. 24, 41 N. Y. Supp. 54; Chicago & E. I. R. Co. v. Filler, 195 Ill. 18, 62 N. E. 919; Union P. R. Co. v. Jones, 1 C. C. A. 282, 4 U. S. App. 115, 49 Fed. 343.

It is further objected that the court erred in charging the jury, in reference to the validity of the release, that it was not necessary to find “that the agent was guilty of any inten*182tional fraud in the matter.” A direct answer to this assignment is found in Washington R. & Electric Co. v. McLean, 40 App. D. C. 465. The further point now is made that the charge was not sufficiently explicit on this question. That objection should have been raised in the trial court, and, as it was not, it will not be considered here.

The judgment must be affirmed, with costs. Affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
WASHINGTON UTILITIES COMPANY v. WADLEY
Cited By
3 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Objections and Exceptions; Waiver; Street Railways; Negligence; Direction .oe Verdict; Variance; Damage; Evidence; Release. 1. The defendant, by introducing evidence after the denial of his motion to direct a verdict in his favor, made at the close of the plaintiff’s case, waives such objection, and cannot urge it upon appeal. 2. In an action against a street railway company for injuries received by the plaintiff while driving a horse and wagon across the defendant’s tracks, it is not error for the trial court to refuse to direct a verdict for the defendant, where the testimony for the plaintiff is to the effect that the motorman of defendant’s car made no effort to stop the car before it hit the wagon, but “tried to beat the wagon across;” that he did not slow up at all until he struck the wagon; and that he had ample opportunity to stop and let the plaintiff get across. 3. Where in a personal injury action the declaration charged that the plaintiff was injured just east of a bridge named, while the testimony showed it occurred just west of the bridge, a claim made by the defendant for the first time on appeal, that there was a variance between the allegations and proof, is made too late and will not be considered, especially where the record shows that there was no misunderstanding at the trial as to where the accident actually occurred. 4. Where a person is injured by being struck by a street railway car while crossing the tracks of the company, the company is liable for the injury sustained, although such person negligently exposed himself to the risk of injury, if the motorman of the ear actually saw him, or could have seen him by the use of reasonable diligence, in time to stop the car. (Following Washington R. £ JUleetrio Go. v. Oullember, 39 App. D. G. 316, and Washington-Virginia R. Go. v. Eimelmght, 42 App. D. C. 532.) 5. A general exception to the trial court’s charge to the jury will not be considered on appeal. Note. — On doctrine of last clear chance as affected by question whether negligence of plaintiff or deceased and of defendant was concurrent, see notes in 7 L.R.A.(N.S.) 132; 7 L.R.A.(N.S.) 152; 17 L.R.A.(N.S.) 707; 19 L.R.A.(N.S.) 446; and 27 L.R.A.(N.S.) 379. 6. In a personal injury action, it is not error for the trial court to leave the question of whether the plaintiff was permanently injured to the jury, where the plaintiff in testifying two years after the accident said in effect that his thumb was permanently injured and that he still had pains in his back; and his physician testified that the thumb had been dislocated and the muscles of the plaintiff’s back sprained, and that the plaintiff was still suffering in his back, and that a sprain may last a lifetime, although the physician also testified that he would not say that the injury was permanent. (Washington R. & Electric Oo. v. Oullember, supra.) 7. Where one of the defenses in an action for personal injuries is that the plaintiff executed a release of his claim against the defendant, it is not error for the trial court, in charging the jury upon the question of the validity of the release, to tell them that it is not necessary to find that the defendant’s agent who procured its execution by the plaintiff was guilty of intentional fraud in the matter, (hollowing Washington R. & Electric Co. v. McLean, 40 App. D. C, 465.) 8. An objection to the charge of the trial court in a personal injury action, to the effect that the charge was not sufficiently explicit on the question of the validity of a release executed by the plaintiff, will not be considered when made for the first time on appeal.