American Rubber Corp. v. Jolley

72 So. 2d 102, 260 Ala. 600, 67 A.L.R. 2d 489, 1954 Ala. LEXIS 358
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedApril 15, 1954
Docket8 Div. 716
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 72 So. 2d 102 (American Rubber Corp. v. Jolley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Rubber Corp. v. Jolley, 72 So. 2d 102, 260 Ala. 600, 67 A.L.R. 2d 489, 1954 Ala. LEXIS 358 (Ala. 1954).

Opinion

*603 STAKELY, Justice.

This is a suit for damages growing out ■of an alleged nuisance. Woody W. Jolley (appellee) owns a house and lot in the residential area of Albertville, Alabama, in which he resides as a home. The house is a newly constructed house, having been built in about 1950. On or about April 1, 1951, American Rubber Corp. (one of the •appellants), began operating a rubber plant ■or factory in a building formerly used as a ■cotton warehouse. This building is adjacent to or in close proximity to the home <of Woody W. Jolley. Tendencies of the evidence show that after the operation of the rubber plant or factory began, vibrations were felt in the home of Woody W. Jolley. ■ Various cracks and defects began to appear in the house and there was a ■constant noise arising from the operation ■of the rubber factory or plant to such an ■extent that Woody W. Jolley could not sleep and because of the dust created by the operation of the plant, it was necessary to keep the windows of the house down on the .side towards the plant.

The case was tried on one count to- which we shall' later refer, to which the defendants pleaded the general issue. Thomas J. Brumlik and Warren G. Brumlik (appellants), two of the officers of the defendant ■corporation, were also made parties defendant to the suit. The result of the trial was a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $4,000 which was later reduced' to the sum. of $1,500. It is from this judgment that the appeal comes to this court.

Assignment No. 2. Although there were two counts in the original complaint, the case was tried only on count two as amended. The demurrer to Count Two as originally filed attacked the count on the theory that the count contained two separate causes of action, one growing out of injuries from the nuisance in its permanent condition,' and the other for injuries growing out of the nuisance from its abatable condition. This court has shown that these are different causes of action and should not be combined in one count. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Gadsden Sand & Gravel Co., 248 Ala. 273, 27 So.2d 578; Harris v. Town of Tarrant City, 221 Ala. 558, 130 So. 83.

Count two as- originally filed contained the allegation that the “defendants by and through their agents or servants, acting within the line and scope of their employment, during the time aforesaid, constructed and erected a rubber plant or factory and other constructions necessary and incident to the suitable operation of said rubber plant.” Evidently in order to eliminate from the count any claim for damagés growing out of the nuisance in its permanent condition, the words “constructed and erected” were eliminated by amendment to count two and in lieu thereof were inserted the words, “installed and maintained machinery and equipment for the operation of their rubber plant or factory.” But count two also contains the further, allegation: “Plaintiff avers that the defendants acting by and through their duly authorized servants or agents, which said servants or agents were acting within the line and scope of their employment, have installed and erected upon and maintained and operated until the time of the filing o'f this suit, said rubber plant and factory * ' * ’ The court overruled the demurrer to count two as amended, but the record fails' to show the demurrer to count two as amended or that the original demurrer filed to count two was refiled to count two as amended. We, therefore, do not have before us on the record a ruling of the court which we can review.

Assignment No. 3. The court overruled a motion for continuance on the ground that one of the attorneys for the defendant was ill. However other attorneys for the defendant were present, ready and able to conduct the trial of the cause. We find no error in the ruling. A motion to postpone the trial of a case is addressed to the sound judicial discretion of the trial *604 court and its refusal is not reviewable except for gross abuse of discretion. We find no such abuse of discretion in the present case. City of Birmingham v. Banks, 228 Ala. 295, 153 So. 189.

Assignment No. 4. In seeking to describe the home of plaintiff, the plaintiff was asked the following question and gave the following answer: “What kind of structure is that you have there ? ” A. Well, it is what you call a wheel chair house.” It is complained that the question and answer were designed to arouse bias and prejudice in the minds of the jurors. It is sufficient to say that there was no objection to the question and no objection to the answer.

Assignment No. 5. It is insisted that the court was in error in overruling the appellants’ motion for a mistrial predicated on the ground of an improper and prejudicial statement in the presence of the jury by the appellee’s attorney. The attorney said: “We offer to show, your Honor, that this man is a paraplegic Veteran. ” There is no reversible error here. The offer to show that the plaintiff was a paraplegic Veteran was made after the court had sustained objection to the following question asked the plaintiff by his counsel, “How did you obtain funds for building that house, Mr. Jolley? ” Furthermore, the court promptly stated to the jury there was no such evidence before the jury and directed the jury to disregard the statement. We are not satisfied that the statement was so prejudicial that the prompt action of the court did not eradicate prejudice, if any, from the minds of the jury. Alabama Great Southern R. Co. v. Swain, 248 Ala. 535, 28 So.2d 714; Smith v. Reed, 252 Ala. 107, 39 So.2d 653.

Assignment No. 6. It is contended that the court was in error in allowing the plaintiff to testify to the reasonable market value of his home. It is claimed that the difference between the value of the plaintiff’s property before the commencement of the alleged nuisance and afterwards is the correct measure of damages for a permanent nuisance but not for a temporary nuisance and in the latter case evidence as to such value is inadmissible. ' See Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co. v. Mitchell, 161 Ala. 278, 49 So. 851. Our examination of the record, however, shows that there was no objection to this testimony, which is a sufficient answer to the contention.

Assignment No. 13. The appellants objected to the following question asked the appellee’s witness James Hoffman, “What did it cost to build that home?” Hoffman was the contractor who built the house. His answer was that the contract price was $16,400 and the total cost of the property was $19,905.20. Since the nuisance complained of was abatable and remediable, although the plaintiff could not recover for depreciation in the market value of his premises, he could recover the reasonable expense of restoring the premises and the depreciation of the rental or usable value during the continuance of the injury. City of Eufaula v. Simmons, 86 Ala. 515, 6 So. 47; Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co. v. Mitchell, supra; 66 C.J.S., Nuisances, § 175, pages 978-979. In order to prove such damages, testimony as to the cost or value of the property along with testimony as to other factors, such as for example location of the property, and the type of the property, would be competent as affording the jury a basis on which such damages could be computed. There was, accordingly, no error in the ruling of the court.

Assignment No. 14.

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Bluebook (online)
72 So. 2d 102, 260 Ala. 600, 67 A.L.R. 2d 489, 1954 Ala. LEXIS 358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-rubber-corp-v-jolley-ala-1954.