Auto Transports, Inc. v. May

275 S.W.2d 767, 224 Ark. 704, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 466
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 28, 1955
Docket5-571
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 275 S.W.2d 767 (Auto Transports, Inc. v. May) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Auto Transports, Inc. v. May, 275 S.W.2d 767, 224 Ark. 704, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 466 (Ark. 1955).

Opinion

Ward, J.

Appellee, Dora E. May, secured a jury verdict against appellant on the ground that she was injured when the car in which she was riding was negligently struck or forced into a bridge by an auto transport truck belonging to appellant. The principal ground urged by appellant for a reversal is that there is no substantial evidence in the record to identify the truck.

The facts, with, the one exception of identity referred to above, are practically undisputed. On November 5, 1953, appellee was a passenger in a 1951 Pontiac automobile, owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. K. May and being driven by Mrs. J. K. May, traveling south on U. S. Highway 71. As the Pontiac approached a small bridge approximately 10 miles north of Waldron at about 6 o’clock P. M. the occupants saw a transport truck approaching from the south with bright lights blinking and apparently in the middle of the highway. Mrs. J. K. May attempted to pull to the right to avoid a collision and in doing so the Pontiac struck the bridge or the transport struck the Pontiac causing the injuries complained of.

There were no eye witnesses to the accident except the occupants of the Pontiac and the driver of the transport. The driver of the transport was not called as a witness. Appellee and Mrs. J. K. May, whose statements were substantially the same, admit that they could not identify any markings or letterings on the truck. Their only description of the transport truck was that it was yellow or of a yellowish tinge, that it was a two decker, that it was suitable for transporting automobiles, and that it was fringed with lights. There is more testimony relative to the identity of the transport but that will be discussed later in connection with the sufficiency of the evidence.

Statement of points relied on by appellant. As set out by appellant they are as follows:

1. “The evidence of identification of the vehicle alleged to have belonged to appellant was insufficient to submit to the jury, and the trial court should have directed a verdict for appellant, . . . ”

2. “The trial court erred in overruling appellant’s motion for new trial . . . because:

(a) “The jury’s verdict is so contrary to the preponderance of the evidence and so contrary to the weight of evidence as to shock the sense of justice;”

(b) “The jury’s verdict is wholly unsupported by any substantial evidence ...”

As we understand these different assignments of error they all amount to a contention that there is no substantial evidence, on the question of identification of the transport, to support the jury’s verdict, and we shall hereafter discuss the case on that basis.

Identification. Both sides cite several decisions of this court, two noted later, dealing with the question here under consideration. It is our thought however that former decisions bearing on the question of the sufficiency of the evidence, can only be persuasive when they rest upon substantially the same state of facts as those we are called on here to consider.

It is well understood, of course, that when this court revieAvs the evidence supporting the verdict of a jury it must vieAV the testimony relative to a factual situation in the light most favorable to appellee.

In addition to the testimony of appellee and Mrs. J. K. May relative to the identification of the transport there is other testimony which we think is sufficient to make a jury question. D. W. Miller, age 63, who had formerly been a deputy sheriff and policeman, stated that he Avas going north on Highway 71 at about the time the accident happened and when he was one-quarter to one-half mile south of the place of the accident, an auto transport, going in the same direction at the speed of about 80 MPH, passed him and almost forced him into a ditch, and; that the transport was empty and was colored yellow. When he proceeded on north to the small bridge where the accident occurred he saw the wrecked Pontiac.

Mrs. Clifton Alces was coming south on Highway 71 at approximately the time when the accident occurred and she saw a yellow auto transport parked by the side of the road a few hundred yards north of the said bridge, and a man was getting into the transport but she could not read the lettering on the truck.

Clifton Abes stated that he was traveling north on Highway 71 in a two ton truck; before he got to the bridge a yellow transport passed him going in the same direction traveling about 60 MEH or more, and that when he came to the bridge he found the wrecked Pontiac; after stopping briefly at the bridge he proceeded north approximately 150 yards and parked his truck; he saw a yellow transport truck parked by the roadside, and; by the lights of his own car he said he could read the lettering on the transport. This witness first gave his testimony relative to the lettering in a discovery deposition taken by appellant, and appellant stresses the fact that this testimony is at variance with the testimony he gave at the trial as it relates to the lettering and the identity of the transport. The substance of Akes’ deposition is: As I was going north on Highway 71 an automobile transport truck passed me going very fast in the same direction and in a few minutes or seconds I came to the bridge and saw the wrecked Pontiac where I stopped for a few seconds and then went on north about 150 yards to my cousin’s house and parked; “Q. Did you see this automobile carrier truck any more? A. Yes, sir, it was parked by the side of the road and I saw a man getting into the transport; Q. Can you describe the vehicle? A. It was just a common auto agency truck that carries cars. It was yellow. I have seen trucks of this description on the highways many times, and it had writing on it. Q. What was it? A. It had on the door ‘Auto Agency, Oklahoma City’ and there was more writing on the door. Q. Auto Agency, A-g-e-n-c-y? A. It was abbreviated or something on there. I know at the time there had been a wreck. Q. In other words you don’t know positively what name was on there do you? A. Yes sir, I know that ‘Auto Agency, Oklahoma City’ was on there. Q. And that is all you are positive that was on there? A. I didn’t read all of it. Q. Then that would be all that you are positive about? A. Yes sir. Q. Auto Agency, Oklahoma City? A. Yes sir. Q. Did it have Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A. I don’t know now whether it did or not. Q. Did it have the word ‘Incorporated’ on it? A. It could have I wouldn’t say.”

Akes’ testimony at the trial was more positive and definite regarding the identity of the transport and in substance it was as follows: The words “Oklahoma City” were on the right hand door; the lettering was in black and was two or three inches high. “Q. Now then, can you tell this court and jury the name on that door there? A. Auto Transports and an abbreviated letter at the bottom. Q. What was that abbreviated letter? A. I-n-c-.” Witness was positive that the words “Auto Transports, Inc.” were oh the door; he did not know what the word “I-n-c” meant. On cross-examination witness stated that the lettering was in a curved shape and that the words “Oklahoma City, Oklahoma” were above the words “Auto Transport, Inc.,” and he thought the word “Oklahoma” was below “Oklahoma City.”

At the close of appellee’s testimony appellant moved for an instructed verdict on the ground that the transport which caused the wreck had not been identified as belonging to it.

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275 S.W.2d 767, 224 Ark. 704, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/auto-transports-inc-v-may-ark-1955.