Ayo v. Holzenthal

141 So. 92, 19 La. App. 561, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 168
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 18, 1932
DocketNo. 14012
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 141 So. 92 (Ayo v. Holzenthal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ayo v. Holzenthal, 141 So. 92, 19 La. App. 561, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 168 (La. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

JANVIER, J.

On or about November 22, 1930, while plaintiff, a tenant of defendant, was engaged in scrubbing one of the floors in the rented premises, a piecei of plaster fell from the ceiling, striking her on the back. She was rendered unconscious, and was taken to the Charity Hospital. She refused to remain at the hospital, and returned home that day. Two days later, finding that she was still suffering pain, she returned to the hospital and remained there until December 12th, at which time she was discharged.

In her petition plaintiff claims that she sustained not only a lumbo sacral strain, but also that a miscarriage resulted. She says that at the time she had been pregnant for a period of approximately two months.

Por such injuries as plaintiff actually sustained, defendant is liable.

In Plescia v. Le Roy, 148 La. 316, 86 So. 824, the facts were as follows:

“ * * * The wife of defendant’s tenant ⅜ * * was injured by plaster falling from the ceiling of the premises so occupied.”

The court, in holding the defendant landlord liable, said:

“The owner of a building is liable in damages for injuries caused to his tenant by failure to make the necessary repairs, due to-the decay of his/ building, and of which he has knowledge. C. C. arts. 2693, 2695, 2715, 2716, 2717; C. C. art. 2322; Ciaccio v. Carbajal, 145 La. 869, 83 So. 73; Badie v. Columbia Brewing Co., 142 La. 853, 77 So. 768; Allain v. Prigola, 140 La. 982, 74 So. 404; Wise v. Lavigne, 138 La. 218, 70 So. 103; Schoppel v. Daly, 112 La. 201, 36 So. 322.”

We are concerned only with determining the extent of those injuries.

The district court rendered judgment for $750 and, as w.e are convinced that the injuries, except the alleged miscarriage, were-of a comparatively minor nature, we feel that our brother below must have come to the conclusion that a miscarriage actually was sustained. Whether he was correct in this, is practically the only question now presented.

As proof of this particular item of damage, plaintiff introduced in evidence the records of the Charity Hospital of New Orleans, in which institution she had been confined for a period slightly in excess of two weeks; but, in addition to these records of the hospital, she offered no evidence except the testimony of one physician, who examined her some time after she returned home and who stated that, in his opinion, which was based on the records of the hospital, the miscarriage actually had occurred. Another physician, testifying on behalf of defendant, was of the contrary opinion, basing his views on the same reports.

Since the two doctors, in interpreting the reports of the Charity Hospital, came to different conclusions as to whether there had been a miscarriage, we have carefully examined those reports, and, while we feel incompetent to discuss in detail the various symptoms which seem to be indicated thereby, we have reached the conclusion, after carefully examining the various entries, that the reports not only do not indicate a miscarriage, but, rather, prove the contrary; for, although it is true that in several places in the reports it is stated that a miscarriage was apparently threatened, nowhere do we find any mention of any such occurrence, and, in view of the minuteness of detail with which the reports were prepared, we cannot believe that, had such an event taken place, no mention would have been made thereof on the said reports.

In the argument before us there was raised the question of the admissibility in evidence of the Charity Hospital reports in the absence of any physician to identify them, or to testify as to the correctness of the [93]*93entries made therein. It appears that these records were offered in evidence by plaintiff herself, and no objection was made thereto. While it is true that Charity Hospital records constitute hearsay evidence, we do not feel that they should be excluded by the appellate court when they have been admitted without objection in the court below; particularly where they are detrimental to the interests of the party who introduced them.

In Dolan v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 11 La. App. 276, 123 So. 379, we reached the conclusion that similar records are nothing more than hearsay evidence and should be excluded, if objected to. Here, as we have said, no objection was made. In Abelleira v. Johnson Iron Works Co., 18 La. App. 310, 137 So. 908, we held that such records, if not objected to, are admissible in evidence. In Wigmore on Evidence, Vol. 1, page 173, § 18, we find that:

“The initiative in excluding improper evidence is left entirely to the opponent, — so far at least as concerns his right to appeal on that ground to another tribunal. The judge may of his own motion deal with offered evidence; but for all subsequent purposes it must appear that the opponent invoked some rule of evidence. A rule of evidence not invoked is waived.”

In Diaz v. United States, 223 U. S. 442, 450, 32 S. Ct. 250, 252, 56 L. Ed. 500, Ann. Cas. 1913C, 1138, the Supreme Court of the United States considered an objection made in the appellate court to evidence which, in the trial court, had been offered by the party who later objected to its admissibility. The objection was made on the ground that it constituted hearsay. The court, in discussing such evidence, said:

“But it was not admitted without his consent, but at his request, for it was he who offered it in .evidence. So, of the fact that it was hearsay, it suffices to observe that when evidence of that character is admitted without objection, it is to be considered and given its natural probative effect as if it were in law admissible. Damon v. Carrol, 163 Mass. 404, 408, 40 N. E. 185; Sherwood v. Sissa, 5 Nev. 349, 355; United States v. McCoy, 193 U. S. 593, 598, 24 S. Ct. 528, 48 L. Ed. 805, 807; Schlemmer v. Buffalo, etc., Ry. Co., 205 U. S. 1, 9, 27 S. Ct. 407, 51 L. Ed. 681, 685; Neal v. Delaware, 103 U. S. 370, 396, 26 L. Ed. 567, 573; Foster v. United States, 101 C. C. A. 405, 178 F. 165, 176.”

If, then, the evidence was admitted without objection, and, furthermore, was offered by the party against whose interests it now appears to be, although it may have been hearsay, nevertheless it is in the record and must be considered.

The physician who testified for the defendant was very convincing in his testimony to the effect that, as a matter of fact, no ae-tual pregnancy had been shown to exist. He gave it as his opinion that the passing of one menstrual period did not conclusively show pregnancy, particularly where, as in the instant case, the patient was a victim of a chronic condition described here as “P. I. D., or pelvic inflammatory disease,” which condition sometimes causes the passing of periods and later the discharge of blood, which would somewhat resemble an abortion, or miscarriage, in the earlier stages of pregnancy.

The testimony of plaintiff herself on this question is not at all convincing.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Joyner v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company
240 So. 2d 545 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1970)
Keener v. Fidelity and Casualty Co. of New York
96 So. 2d 509 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1957)
Lado v. First Nat. Life Ins. Co.
158 So. 872 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1935)
Gaines v. Acme Industrial Life Ins. Soc.
155 So. 276 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1934)
Klein v. Medical Building Realty Co.
147 So. 122 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1933)
Williams v. Locicero
142 So. 856 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1932)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
141 So. 92, 19 La. App. 561, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ayo-v-holzenthal-lactapp-1932.