Boggs v. King

416 S.W.2d 565, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2507
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 15, 1967
DocketNo. 7715
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 416 S.W.2d 565 (Boggs v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boggs v. King, 416 S.W.2d 565, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2507 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

NORTHCUTT, Justice.

Appellant, Pearl Boggs, a widow, instituted suit in her own behalf, as plaintiff, and hereafter referred to as appellant, against R. P. King, defendant, and hereafter referred to as appellee, in the District Court of Crosby County, Texas, for damages suffered by her when she struck by an automobile driven by R. P. King as she was crossing a four-lane highway within the city limits of Crosbyton, Texas. The case went to trial on plaintiff’s second original amended petition and defendant’s third amended original answer. The case was tried to a jury and special issues were submitted on the issues of appellee’s primary negligence, appellant’s contributory negligence, sudden emergency and in connection with the discovery by appellee of the perilous position of the appellant. Issues were also submitted to the jury in connection with damages and the jury returned a verdict on the damage issue in the amount of $8,000.

Judgment was rendered upon the verdict of the jury that the plaintiff recover nothing. From that judgment the plaintiff perfected this appeal. As to appellee’s primary negligence, the jury found appellee was negligent in several matters. As to appellant’s contributory negligence, the jury found appellant was guilty of contributory negligence in several matters. However, this appeal deals only with the issues concerning discovered peril.

[566]*566The special issues and answers thereto concerning discovered peril as submitted were as follows:

“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 23
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the Plaintiff was in a position of peril at such a time that the Defendant, by the use of the means at hand and in safety to himself and his passengers and the automobile, could have avoided the collision in question?
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
“Answer: YES
“If you have answered the preceding Special Issue No. 23 ‘yes’, and only in that event, then answer the following:
“SPECIAL ISSUE No. 24
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the Defendant discovered this perilous position, if any, in which the Plaintiff was in and realized such perilous position, if any, of the Plaintiff in such time so that by the use of the means at hand and in safety to himself, the passengers in his automobile, and the automobile that he was driving, he could have avoided injury to the Plaintiff?
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
“Answer: YES
“If you have answered the preceding Special Issue No. _24_ ‘yes’, and only in that event, then answer the following:
“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 25
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the Defendant, after such discovery and realization, if any, of the perilous position, if any, of the Plaintiff, failed to use the means at hand consistent with the safety of himself, and the automobile that he was operating and the passengers in the car, to avoid injury to the Plaintiff?
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
“Answer: YES
“If you have answered the preceding Special Issue No. 25_ ‘yes’, and only in that event, then answer the following:
“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 26
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that such failure, if any, was negligence?
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
“Answer: NO
“If you have answered the preceding Special Issue No. 26 ‘yes’, and only in that event then answer the following:
“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 27
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that such negligence, if any, was a proximate cause of the injuries to the Plaintiff?
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
“Answer: _”

Appellant presents this appeal upon four points of error as follows:

“POINT 1
“THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO SET ASIDE THE JURY FINDING TO SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 26, BECAUSE A FINDING OF NO NEGLIGENCE IN APPELLEE FAILING TO USE THE MEANS AT HAND TO AVOID INJURY TO APPELLANT AT A TIME WHEN HE COULD DO SO WITH COMPLETE' SAFETY TO HIMSELF, TO OTHER PASSENGERS, AND TO HIS AUTOMOBILE, AND AFTER REALIZING THAT SHE WAS IN A PERILOUS POSITION, IS CLEARLY AGAINST THE GREAT WEIGHT AND PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE SO AS TO BE CLEARLY WRONG.
[567]*567“POINT 2
“THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO SET ASIDE THE JURY FINDING TO SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 26, BECAUSE A FINDING OF NO NEGLIGENCE IN APPELLEE FAILING TO USE THE MEANS AT HAND TO AVOID INJURY TO APPELLANT WHEN HE COULD HAVE DONE SO WITH COMPLETE SAFETY TO HIMSELF, TO OTHER PASSENGERS, AND TO HIS AUTOMOBILE, AFTER REALIZING THE PERILOUS POSITION OF APPELLANT, IS WHOLLY AND COMPLETELY INCONSISTENT WITH THE JURY FINDINGS IN RESPONSE TO SPECIAL ISSUES NOS. 23, 24, AND 25, AND WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE JURY VERDICT AS A WHOLE.
“POINT 3
“THE JURY FAILED TO ANSWER SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 27, WITH RESPECT TO WHETHER OR NOT THE NEGLIGENCE IN FAILING TO USE THE MEANS AT HAND TO AVOID INJURY TO APPELLANT WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF APPELLANT’S INJURY, DENIED APPELLANT THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND A SUBMISSION ON AN ISSUE CLEARLY RAISED BY THE EVIDENCE AND THE PLEADINGS.
“POINT 4
.“THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO ENTER JUDGMENT FOR APPELLANT BECAUSE THE JURY FINDINGS IN RESPONSE TO SPECIAL ISSUES NOS. 23, 24, AND 25 CONTAIN AFFIRMATIVE ANSWERS TO ALL OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERED PERIL.”

The appellant made no objections to the court’s charge. The appellee objected to the court’s charge as to Special Issues 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 because those issues omitted the requirement or element that the jury find that the defendant realized that the plaintiff probably would not extricate herself from a dangerous position or a perilous position, if any.

Since all four of appellant’s points of error are interrelated, we will discuss all of them together. In order for the appellant to bring this case within the doctrine of discovered peril, it was necessary for appellant to prove that the appellee actually discovered and realized appellant’s perilous position in time to have avoided the collision by the exercise of ordinary care in the use of all means at his command. In Texas & New Orleans Ry. Co. v. Hart, 163 Tex. 450, 356 S.W.2d 901 (1962) it is stated:

“On the other hand, the fact of timely realization of the danger may be established by circumstantial evidence. Creech v. Thompson, 156 Tex. 561, 297 S.W.2d 817 (1957).

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Bluebook (online)
416 S.W.2d 565, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boggs-v-king-texapp-1967.