Anderson v. Reichart

116 S.W.2d 772, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 22, 1938
DocketNo. 13747.
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 116 S.W.2d 772 (Anderson v. Reichart) 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
Anderson v. Reichart, 116 S.W.2d 772, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060 (Tex. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

BROWN, Justice.

Appellant Anderson sued appellee Reicln-art for damages occasioned by a collision between the motor vehicle driven by appellant with that driven by appellee, and also sought to recover as against appellee’s employer. Appellee by cross-action sought to recover damages from appellant and appellant’s employer, who owned the motor vehicle driven by appellant.

The case being tried to a jury, in answer to special issues submitted the jury found that appellee was not guilty of negligence, but that appellant was negligent; that ap-pellee was injured and suffered damages to his person and vehicle, but that appellant was not damaged by the collision. The jury found for both of the employers.

On the verdict, judgment was rendered in favor of appellee on his cross-action against appellant, for both personal injuries and damage done his automobile.

The appeal taken presents eleven assignments of error.

The first three complain of the admission of the testimony of the witness Monaghan concerning’the value of appellee’s car immediately before the accident and immedi *774 ately afterward, and of the giving of the special issues predicated upon the reasonable cash market values at Wichita Falls, Tex., when no such values were proved.

The only testimony adduced to establish the proper measure of damages was from the lips of the witness Monaghan. He was dealt with on the basis of being an expert. He was not acquainted with the car in question. He never saw it before it was wrecked. He testified that he saw it in his place of business (in Wichita Falls) after it was injured. That he was a dealer in such cars. He was asked to “state to the jury the reasonable cash market value of that car in the condition it was in at the time you saw it in April, 1936.” He answered: “Well, I would say about $175.00. I don’t recall having seen the car prior to the collision.” This witness was then asked: “That car, in the condition it was in, with 25 days of service, with approximately 5000 miles registered-on its speedometer, with an extra sunvisor, six ply tires all around, extra tail light and spot light and radio and electric heater, I wish you would state to the jury what in your opinion, from your observation and your experience as an Oldsmobile dealer, would be the reasonable cash market value of that certain automobile, in first class running condition ?” The witness answered: “At that time, I would say that car with that equipment on there should have been worth about $1075.00. Of course, those tires, I don’t know what kind of tires or how much they cost — there are different priced tires you know. In my opinion, from this description I would think that the reasonable cash market value of the car was around $1075.00, because the car looked like a brand new automobile wrecked.”

The objection made was that no proper predicate had been laid to offer such testimony; that one who has not seen the car and who does not kow what condition it was in cannot simply classify it generally, and is not qualified to give such testimony by a hypothetical question.

After the objections were overruled and the witness was permitted to answer as shown above, motion was duly made to exclude Monaghan’s testimony concerning the value of the car before the accident, “because no proper predicate has been laid, and the witness.has not been shown qualified to give it, and the circumstancfcs are not such to permit that testimony to go to the jury.”

The objection to the submission of the issues covering values pointed out to the trial court that the evidence does not justify or warrant the submission of the issues; that there was no evidence fixing the vicinity in which the market value of the car in question was proved; and that the issue as given assumes that the evidence warrants the submission of the reasonable cash market value of the car at Wichita Falls, when there- is no evidence to justify or warrant the court in making such assumption.

The record discloses that the hypothetical question on values was based upon testimony given by appellee concerning his car.

Frankly, this is the first time we have ever seen the value of an automobile proved by asking a hypothetical question of a witness who is tendered as an expert.

We believe that the market value of an automobile may be testified to by an expert witness, on a hypothetical question, provided such witness can show that he is familiar with the market value of like cars, and provided further that testimony is given of the condition of the car in question immediately prior to its injury.

We say this because we do not believe a litigant could be deprived of all proof of the market value of his used car merely because no witness could be or was had, who had personal information concerning its condition, who could qualify as a witness on values.

There was no error in "permitting the witness to testify to the value as an expert.

No effort was made to establish the reasonable cash market value of the car at Wichita Falls.

It is argued that the car was in Wichita Falls, the witness was in such city, and a resident of such city, and that the inference is inevitable that the witness was testifying to the value at such place.

The Court of Civil Appeals in Ara v. Rutland, 172 S.W. 993, so reasoned, and. pointed out the facts that the evidence was received by the trial court without objection on the part .of the opposing party that such testimony did not specifically state that the values thus testified to were values at the particular place. But a writ of error was granted and the Commission of Appeals, in an opinion adopted by the Su *775 preme Court and entered as the judgment of such court, expressly approving the holding of the Commission on the question discussed, reversed and' remanded the cause. 215 S.W. 445. The opinion discloses that the objection made was that the proffered testimony failed to meet the legal requirement necessary to establish the true measure of damages, and that such objection was raised in the motion for a new trial.

The true measure of damages in the case at bar is the difference between the reasonable cash market value of the-automobile, at Wichita Falls, Tex., immediately before the accident, and that immediately afterward.

The Supreme Court held in the case of Ara v. Rutland, supra, that the testimony amounted to no evidence. That cause was tried to the court .without the aid of a jury.

We think no other authority need be cited in support of our conclusions that the evidence of the expert witness Mona-ghan was not admissible, and the issues of values at Wichita Falls, Tex., should not have been submitted, there being no competent evidence to support them. See, also, Taylor County v. Olds, Tex.Civ.App., 67 S.W.2d 1102; Cox v. American Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Tex.Civ.App., 28 S.W.2d 899.

The assignment of error touching proof of market value at Wichita Falls is sustained.

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116 S.W.2d 772, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-reichart-texapp-1938.