Black v. Johnson

481 S.W.2d 701, 252 Ark. 889, 1972 Ark. LEXIS 1697
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 19, 1972
Docket5-5951
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 481 S.W.2d 701 (Black v. Johnson) 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
Black v. Johnson, 481 S.W.2d 701, 252 Ark. 889, 1972 Ark. LEXIS 1697 (Ark. 1972).

Opinion

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

This is an appeal by Juanita L. Black from a judgment of the Pulaski County Circuit Court based on a jury verdict in favor of DeWitt T. Johnson in a personal injury suit brought by Mrs. Black against Mr. Johnson growing out of an automobile collision.

On her appeal to this court Mrs. Black relies on the following points for reversal:

“The verdict of the jury was not supported by substantial evidence.
The Court erred in failing to grant the plaintiff’s motion for new trial on the grounds of newly discovered evidence.
The court erred in failing to grant the plaintiff’s motion for new trial on the grounds of surprise at the tíme of trial.”

The record reveals the following facts: On September 12, 1968, Mrs. Black was driving her automobile east on 25th Street in the City of Little Rock, and a westbound dty bus had stopped on the north side of 25th Street at the Lewis Street intersection. As Mrs. Black drove her automobile across Lewis Street and past the bus, Mr. Johnson was driving his automobile into 25th Street from a private driveway on the north side of 25th Street approximately 75 or 80 feet east of the curb line of Lewis Street, and his automobile collided with the one driven by Mrs. Black.

Mrs. Black alleged in her complaint that Mr. Johnson was negligent in failing to yield the right-of-way, in failing to keep a proper lookout, in failing to keep his vehicle under proper control and as a result of such negligence she sustained injuries to her cervical, dorsal and lumbar spine, as well as an aggravation and acceleration of degenerative disc disease, to her damage in the amount of $38,000, and sustained damage to her automobile in the amount of $200. Mr. Johnson answered with a general denial and alleged that any damage sustained by Mrs. Black was occasioned by her own negligence in failure to yield the right-of-way, failure to keep her vehicle under control, failure to keep a proper lookout and failure to operate her vehicle at the proper rate of speed under the circumstances.

Under Mrs. Black’s first point she apparently recognizes the well established rule that if there is any substantial evidence to sustain the jury verdict, we must affirm the judgment rendered thereon. Mr. T. A. Owen testified that at the time of the collision he investigated the accident. He testified that 25th Street was 26 feet wide and that he determined, from the debris on the street, that the point of impact between the two vehicles was 19 feet south of the north curb of 25 th Street, and approximately 79 feet east of the east curb of Lewis Street. He said that Mr. Johnson stated to him that he was traveling between five and eight miles an hour coming out of the driveway into the street when the collision occurred; that Mrs. Black’s automobile had traveled some distance up the street from where he determined the point of impact had occurred, and that he does not remember where Mr. Johnson’s automobile was following the accident. He testified that Mrs. Black stated she was going 20 miles per hour and he found no skid marks behind either automobile. He testified that Mr. Johnson’s automobile was damaged on the right front and that the debris he noticed consisted of a piece of chrome from an automobile and dirt covering an area approximately two feet wide and six feet long.

Mrs. Black testified that she was going east on 25th Street and then testified in part as follows:

“A. * * * There was a bus stopped on Lewis there and I didn’t know whether they were loading or unloading school children because it was about Seven Thirty in the morning, and I had slowed up and I got almost passed the bus and I glanced and saw Mr. Johnson coming out of his driveway, headed north and I tried to speed up a little bit, but I didn’t make it and he hit the left side of my Rambler on the back door and dented it to where I had to have it repaired, tore the chrome off.
Q. Mrs. Black, did you have an opportunity to do anything to avoid this accident?
A. Nothing only I tried to speed up a little bit and I didn’t make it. I wasn’t going very fast.”

Mrs. Black testified that it cost $146 to have her automobile repaired; that by the time she got her automobile stopped she was very nervous but didn’t feel any pain at that time. She said she went to Dr. Lohstoeter four days after the collision and at that time was having pain in her low back and was having terrible headaches. She testified that she continued to return to Dr. Lohstoeter at intervals for almost a year and although the collision occurred almost three years ago, she still has difficulty which is growing worse as far as her nerves, legs and back are concerned; that she still has pain in her neck and still has headaches.

On direct examiniation Mrs. Black testified as to medical bills she had been out since the injuries and also testified as to an estimate made of her automobile damage in the amount of $146.60 which she paid for the repair of her automobile.

On cross-examination Mrs. Black testified that prior to the accident she had been going to Dr. Ogden for treatment since 1962 and had been receiving shots for her spine from Dr. Ogden from about 1967. She said that these shots given her by Dr. Ogden were for relaxing her muscles and that she had been going to see him immediately prior to the accident.

“Q. But you didn’t go to see him after this accident?
A. No, because it was an orthopedic job, he’s no orthopedic, he’s just an M.D. and surgeon.
Q. Okay. But he had been treating you for the back problem?
A. He gave me shots in my spine to relax the muscles.
Q. Since 1967?
A. I’m not taking them now.
Q. Okay, but from 1967, up until the time of the accident?
A. Along in there, in ‘67 for about six months, he gave me shots in my spine to relax the muscles. I hadn’t been to him since. Is that clear, is that what you wanted to know.”

On cross-examination Mrs. Black testified that she gave a check for repairs; that she did not have the canceled check with her and did not sign a ticket. She testified that the automobile was repaired about three days after the accident. She then identified her signature on a ticket from Twin City Rambler, Inc. dated September 13, 1968, in the amount of $30.02 representing labor in the amount of $21 for painting left rear door and quarter panel. She testified, however, that this ticket, although dated the day following the accident, was not for repair of the damage occasioned in the collision, and that she does not know where that ticket came from. She testified that she had surgery on her back consisting of a laminectomy in 1940 or 1942 and had a myelogram in the Missouri Pacific Hospital in 1962. She said that she had been in Missouri Pacific Hospital two or three times for pain in both legs since 1962 and had continued taking spinal injections from Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
481 S.W.2d 701, 252 Ark. 889, 1972 Ark. LEXIS 1697, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/black-v-johnson-ark-1972.