Agnew v. Kelley

464 S.W.2d 717, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2835
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 5, 1971
DocketNo. 17175
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 464 S.W.2d 717 (Agnew v. Kelley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agnew v. Kelley, 464 S.W.2d 717, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2835 (Tex. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION

LANGDON, Justice.

This is a damage suit initiated by Patricia Kelley, plaintiff, against Arden B. Agnew, defendant, for personal injuries sustained by her on May 5,1968, when a car driven by Arden B. Agnew ran into the rear of her car. Members Mutual Insurance Company intervened to recover payments made by it on a collision policy covering the Kelley automobile. Judgment, based upon a jury verdict, was rendered against the Agnews awarding $7,057.50 plus interest and costs to Patricia Kelley and $391.57 plus interest to Members Mutual Insurance Company.

Arden B. Agnew and her husband, Fred G. Agnew, have appealed from such judgment. In this opinion the parties will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant or as Kelley and Agnew, respectively.

On the date in question Kelley was stopped at the intersection of University Drive and Nottingham Street in Denton, Texas, preparing to make a left hand turn from University Drive on to Nottingham. The left turn indicator was on and had been for some time prior to her stop to make the left turn. Kelley brought her car to a stop to wait for traffic to clear. Several seconds, estimated at a few to ten to fifteen seconds, after she brought her car to a stop, the car driven by Arden Agnew, at a speed estimated at 35 to 45 miles per hour, ran into the rear of it.

At the time of such collision, Mrs. Kelley was a 39 year' old graduate student at North Texas State University without prior illness or injury of any significance. She served as Biology Department secretary and as part-time teaching assistant. As a result of the collision Kelley sustained a torsion type injury to her neck, upper back, and lower hack. She was examined by a physician shortly after the collision and was hospitalized for her injuries at Flow Memorial Hospital in Denton, Texas, from May 8th to May 14th, 1968. During this time she was under continuous cervical spine traction and intensive physiotherapy. She was released from the hospital as improved and later returned to work. However, by reason of said injuries, her hospitalization, and the effects of said injuries, she was unable to complete her current graduate work, or to obtain her Masters Degree in August, 1968, as she had expected.

At the time of trial in May, 1970, she still had not been able to complete her graduate work. The higher degree carried with it considerably increased pay for [719]*719teaching assistants. By reason of her failure to attain the degree on schedule, and thus qualify for the higher pay her current earnings were reduced, and her future earning capacity was impaired. Kelley still had recurrent pain and considerable discomfort from her injuries at the time of trial, approximately 2 years after the date of the collision.

This appeal is based upon twenty-seven (27) points of error.

The first five points are directed at the submission of and the answer to Special Issue No. 15, the damage issue. The Agnews contend that there is no evidence and insufficient evidence to support the inclusion of elements b, c, and d in such issue and that such inclusion constitutes a comment on the weight of the evidence. Elements b, c, and d, respectively, are future pain and suffering, loss of earnings in the past and loss of earning capacity in the future. It is also urged that the award of damages is excessive.

There is ample evidence in the record to support the submission of and the answer of the jury to Special Issue No. 15. Further, such answer is not against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. The inclusion of elements b, c, and d in Special Issue No. 15 does not in our opinion constitute a comment on the weight of the evidence.

In connection with its consideration and answer to Special Issue No. 15, the jury was instructed that it may consider “the following elements (including b, c and d) of damage, if any, and none other:”. We deem the issue proper under the record in this case.

We have also concluded that such findings are not excessive in the light of all of the facts and circumstances reflected by the record and the reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom. World Oil Co. v. Hicks, 129 Tex. 297, 103 S.W.2d 962 (1937); Dallas Ry. & Terminal Co. v. Farnsworth, 148 Tex. 584, 227 S.W.2d 1017 (1950) ; Flanigan v. Carswell, 159 Tex. 598, 324 S.W.2d 835 (1959); Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company v. DeLeon, 373 S.W.2d 886 (Eastland Civ.App., 1963, writ ref., n. r. e.); and R. E. Dumas Milner Chevrolet Company v. Morphis, 337 S.W.2d 185, 189 (Fort Worth Tex.Civ.App., 1960, ref., n. r. e.).

Point 6 asserts that there was insufficient evidence to support the answer of the jury to Issue No. 10, i. e., that Kelley did not stop her vehicle more suddenly than a person of ordinary care and point 7 complains of the court’s refusal to submit Agnew’s requested issue inquiring as to whether or not Kelley failed to keep a proper lookout to the rear.

We have concluded that the evidence is ample to support the answer of the jury to Issue No. 10.

As to the rejected issue on lookout, the record reflects that Kelley, by use of the rear view mirror in her car, observed the car driven by Arden Agnew as it approached the rear of her car. Under the evidence Kelley kept a proper lookout to the rear. There was no evidence to the contrary. Since there was no failure to keep a proper lookout there would have been no answer to the proximate cause issue properly conditioned on an affirmative answer to the requested lookout issue.

Further there is no evidence in the record which would support a proximate cause issue on proper lookout to the rear. The jury exonerated Kelley in connection with the manner in which she stopped for her left hand turn and in giving a continuous left turn signal before stopping for her turn. In our opinion the court fairly submitted all of the issues raised by the evidence.

Agnew’s points of error 8 through 26, both inclusive, are no evidence and insufficient evidence points directed at the findings by the jury which convicted Arden [720]*720Agnew of four separate acts of negligence, i. e., proper lookout, failure to timely turn her car to the right, failure to properly apply her brakes and driving at a greater rate of speed than a person of ordinary prudence in the exercise of ordinary care and findings of proximate cause as to each of such acts.

We have concluded that there is ample evidence to support the answers of the jury to each of such issues and that such answers are not against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.

In connection with the above points, the Agnews “urge, first of all, that the record as a whole contains no evidence whatsoever that Arden B. Agnew was operating the motor vehicle which collided with the vehicle driven by Patricia Kelley. The Appellee did not direct Requests for Admissions or Interrogatories to the Appellants and did not produce deposition testimony of the Appellants to establish any relationship of the Appellants to the accident.”

The Agnews are not residents of Texas.

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Bluebook (online)
464 S.W.2d 717, 1971 Tex. App. LEXIS 2835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agnew-v-kelley-texapp-1971.