Arrington v. Hinesley

52 S.E.2d 533, 78 Ga. App. 810, 1949 Ga. App. LEXIS 986
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 18, 1949·No. 32340.·Published

Opinion

Gardner, J.

Insofar as the original grounds are concerned, after a careful reading of the evidence, the evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict. This being true, this court is without authority to disturb it. It has the approval of the trial judge who heard the case. He had tried the case once before, where the plaintiff had recovered a verdict, and on motion for a new trial he had granted another hearing. He refused this one. There is much said by counsel for the plaintiff concerning the case of Hinesley v. Anderson, 75 Ga. App. 394 (43 S. E. 2d, 736). That was an entirely different ease and of course has no part in this one. There is also considerable argument as to the judge granting a new trial when this case was tried before. That was entirely within the discretion of the judge. There is considerable comment that the trial judge passed on and overruled the motion in the instant case too quickly and without, due consideration. There is no law which has been called to our attention or so far as we know as to any limitation as to time in which a trial judge shall consider a motion for a new trial. We might say here, however, that the trial judge was perfectly familiar with all the facts in this case from having previously tried it. The general grounds are without merit.

(a) Special ground 1 assigns error upon the following question and answer, which the court permitted over the objections *813 of the plaintiff: “Q. As far as you know, did you hit any motorcycle?” The witness answered: “No, sir; I didn’t run into them. It was a fair, clear day and I am not quite blind and I don’t see who in the world I could have run over without seeing them.” Under the petition as amended and under the answer as amended, one of the controlling issues was whether or not the truck of the defendant struck the motorcycle of the plaintiff. The main objection was based on the contention that the answer of the defendant was evasive and did not warrant the admission of this testimony. We do not think that, under the answer as amended and under the petition as amended, the admission of this testimony over objections is cause for a new trial.

(b) Special ground 2. At the conclusion of the testimony for both sides, the court instructed the jury that, they need not consider the allegations that the defendant was intoxicated at the time of the alleged collision, since there was no evidence to sustain this allegation. We have read the testimony on this point and have come to the conclusion that there was ho error in the position of the judge on this point. Counsel for the plaintiff cite a number of cases, but when we read them, we find that they have no application to the facts in this case. Then too, as we have above stated, even if we may concede that the defendant was driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, there is nothing to show as a matter of law that such was the proximate cause of the alleged injuries. Moreover, as above stated, the jury were authorized to find that the plaintiff received no injuries as alleged, from the allegéd collision. This ground shows no cause for reversal.

(c) In special ground 3, the plaintiff contends that the court erred in charging the jury as follows: “In other words, the defendant contends that there is no liability on his part to the plaintiff; he contends that he didn’t know of the accident, that he did not do it, and if it was done there was no contact between his machine and the plaintiff’s motorcycle; and he contends, gentlemen, as already stated, that he was not liable and was hot guilty of any negligence, and that he should not be held liable for any sum for any alleged injuries to the plaintiff.” Error is assigned, because there were no pleadings to authorize the charge, *814 but to the contrary the pleadings of the defendant admitted the contact between the truck and the motorcycle; that the portion of the charge which set up that the defendant was contending that there was no contact between the truck and the motorcycle was without pleadings to support it; that the instructions, to the effect that the contentions of the defendant were that the motorcycle did not come into contact with the truck, are not Joased on any legal testimony; that the charge was without pleadings or evidence to support it; that the instructions removed the burden from the defendant of proving that his truck did not come in contact with a motorcycle, whereas the defendant in his answer admitted it. In viewing the whole charge in the light of the pleadings, and the evidence, this ground shows no cause for reversal.

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Arrington v. Hinesley, 52 S.E.2d 533, 78 Ga. App. 810, 1949 Ga. App. LEXIS 986 (Ga. Ct. App. 1949).

52 S.E.2d 533 (Arrington v. Hinesley) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Hinesley v. Anderson
43 S.E.2d 736 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1947)