Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Dupriest

59 S.E.2d 767, 81 Ga. App. 773, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 995
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 19, 1950
Docket32989
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 59 S.E.2d 767 (Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Dupriest) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Dupriest, 59 S.E.2d 767, 81 Ga. App. 773, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 995 (Ga. Ct. App. 1950).

Opinions

Sutton, C. J.

There being no argument or insistence upon the assignment of error on the overruling of the demurrer to the petition, the same is treated as having been abandoned.

In the first special ground of the motion for a new trial the defendant assigns error on the following part of the charge of the court: “Defendant company alleges that the injury sustained by the plaintiff, if any, was due to the negligence of the plaintiff and his fellow employees.” It alleges that its contentions were misstated, “it being made to appear thereby that the defendant contended that the plaintiff could not recover because of his own negligence, whereas, the sole contention of the defendant, as shown by the pleadings and the evidence, was that it had not been negligent in furnishing . . a defective car, and that, even so, the injuries to the plaintiff were the result of [778]*778the negligence of his fellow employees.” The defendant contends that the alleged harmful error was accentuated when the trial judge thereafter charged the jury: “Gentlemen of the jury, I charge you that the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff, not only to establish negligence on the part of the defendant, but also due care on the plaintiff’s part. The plaintiff was bound to exercise ordinary care and diligence for his own safety, and before the plaintiff can recover he must have been exercising at the time of the alleged injury ordinary care for his own safety, and if you should further believe that the failure of the plaintiff to exercise ordinary care and diligence was the proximate cause of the alleged injury, then, in such event, the plaintiff cannot recover, and it would be your duty to find a verdict in favor of the defendant.” It is contended that the error was further accentuated when the court charged the jury: “No person can recover damages unless the party against whom the damages are claimed is guilty of negligence, and even in cases where the jury may believe that the defendant might be guilty of negligence, the person claiming damages cannot recover if the person injured could have by the exercise of ordinary care avoided the consequences of the defendant’s negligence. Therefore, if you believe from the evidence in this case that the plaintiff by the exercise of ordinary card could have avoided the consequences to himself, if you believe the defendant was in fact negligent, then the plaintiff cannot recover.”

The defendant in its answer alleged that the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries was the negligence of his fellow employees, and denied the allegation of the plaintiff that he was in the exercise of due care. The trial judge, in stating to the jury that the defendant alleged that the injury sustained by the plaintiff, if any, was due to the negligence of the plaintiff and his fellow employees,- was undertaking to state the issues in the case as made by the pleadings, and before undertaking to do this he clearly charged the jury that the issues were formed by the written pleadings. It cannot be said that the jury was confused, misled, or in any way prejudiced by the statement of the trial judge as to the contentions of the defendants in this respect. After making the statement as to the contentions of the defendant he clearly charged the jury as to the effect of negligence on the [779]*779part of fellow employees as a bar to recovery. Under the pleadings and the evidence the subsequent charges in regard to the effect of the plaintiff’s negligence, if any, were clearly authorized, and stated correct principles of law. No error against the plaintiff in error is shown by the first special ground of the motion.

In support of this ground of the motion the defendant cites and relies upon the cases of First National Bank v. Langston, 44 Ga. App. 465 (161 S. E. 637), and McJenkin Insurance & Realty Co. v. Thompson, 79 Ga. App. 473 (54 S. E. 2d, 336). The rule applied in these cases, to the effect that it was reversible error for the trial judge to charge on a defense not made, is not apr plicable to the facts of the present case.

The defendant complains, in the second special ground of the motion, because the trial judge charged that one issue for determination was whether the defendant was guilty of any negligence “by reason of furnishing a car with defective door hinge,” it being contended by the defendant that the plaintiff did not charge negligence or attempt to prove negligence in regard to a “defective door hinge.” It is clear that the word “hinge” was inadvertently used in this particular instance, and elsewhere throughout the charge it is made clear as to what negligence on the part of-the defendant was in issue, and that the primary issue in reality was in regard to a defective door and not a defective door hinge. No error is shown by this ground of the motion.

In.the third special ground of the motion it is alleged that the trial judge committed error in using the words “at the time of the accident” in making the following charge to the jury: “If you, in the investigation of this case, find that the defendant used that degree of care and caution at the time of the accident which an ordinarily prudent person would have used in the same or similar circumstances, you would be authorized to find for the defendant.” Among the reasons given by the defendant as to why this was error is that the issue was negligence in furnishing: a boxcar with a defective door, and that the car had already been delivered to the plaintiff’s employer at the time of the accident. This ground of the motion is without merit. The alleged negligence of the defendant in furnishing a car with a defective door was an act which was continual in nature, and [780]*780in existence at the time of the plaintiff’s injuries, if in existence at all. Furthermore, immediately after making the above statement the court instructed the jury that: “If you find that the door mechanism of said freight car was defective and that the defendant [plaintiff] by the exercise of ordinary care and diligence could have detected such defectiveness, if any, and thus avoided injury, then you would find in favor of the defendant. Further, if you should find from the evidence in the case that said freight car door was in nowise defective, then you would find in favor of the defendant company.” No error is shown by this ground of the motion.

In the fourth and final special ground of the motion error is assigned on the part of the charge as follows: “But, if you believe that the plaintiff and defendant were both negligent, and it is not a case where the defendant could have avoided it by the exercise of ordinary care, then you would have the right to compare the negligence of the two parties and balance the one against the other, and if they were equally negligent, the plaintiff would not be entitled to recover. If the negligence of the plaintiff was greater than the defendant’s negligence, the plaintiff would not be entitled to recover.

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Related

Lyle v. Dipuma
131 S.E.2d 784 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1963)
Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Dupriest
59 S.E.2d 767 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1950)

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Bluebook (online)
59 S.E.2d 767, 81 Ga. App. 773, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atlantic-coast-line-r-co-v-dupriest-gactapp-1950.