Boone v. Spring Hollow Farms

334 P.2d 78, 167 Cal. App. 2d 174, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 2314
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 16, 1959
DocketCiv. No. 5793
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 334 P.2d 78 (Boone v. Spring Hollow Farms) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boone v. Spring Hollow Farms, 334 P.2d 78, 167 Cal. App. 2d 174, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 2314 (Cal. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

MUSSELL, Acting P. J.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff when a motorcycle which he was operating in a westerly direction on Second Street at or near its intersection with Campo Walk, in the city of Long Beach, collided with an automobile being driven by one of the defendants. A jury trial resulted in a verdict in favor of the defendants and against the plaintiff. Judgment was entered in accordance with the verdict. Plaintiff’s motion for a new trial was denied and he appeals from the judgment, claiming that irregularities occurred in the proceedings of the jury which denied appellant a fair trial as a matter of law; that the matters complained of consist of concealment of certain prejudices and attitudes on voir dire examination, reception of evidence outside of court and use of unauthorized sources of law; that the same acts constituted misconduct of jurors which denied appellant a fair trial. Insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict and judgment is not specified as a ground of appeal.

In support of his motion for a new trial and of his contention that irregularities occurred in the proceedings of the jury, appellant filed several affidavits. It is stated in the affidavit of Evelyn Sutherland that she was a juror at the trial; that during the deliberations in the jury room a cojuror, Mrs. Brock, stated to the group that she had gone to the intersection where the accident occurred three times during the trial; that the curve was very dangerous; that Mrs. Brock then read from a summary of the Vehicle Code which she had brought with her into the jury room. Matilda Smith, another juror, stated in her affidavit that Mrs. Brock stated that she had gone to the scene of the accident and had experimented with her car in making the turn, as the defendant had done, and that the defendant could not have done anything besides what he did; that Mrs. Brock read to the jury from a pamphlet which she said was the Vehicle Code of the State of California; that subsequent to the trial Mrs. Anderson, forewoman of the jury, stated to affiant that she was against [176]*176awarding substantial amounts as damages for pain and suffering because it made her insurance premiums go up.

The affidavit of Ida May Roberts states, in substance, that Mrs. Brock stated she had gone to the scene of the accident and experimented with her car and that Mrs. Brock read from a Vehicle Code summary. The affidavit of Juror Zelma Boss-hard was to the same effect as those of the other jurors concerning the statements made by Mrs. Brock. Zelma Bosshard further stated in her affidavit that Mrs. Anderson had stated to her that she did not believe in awarding much in damages because it would cause her insurance rates to be raised. Affidavits were also filed by Hazel L. Moody and Atha D. Merriman to the effect that Mrs. Anderson had stated in another case in which she was a juror that she was against large verdicts because they caused insurance rates to be high.

In a counteraffidavit filed by Juror Edith Anderson it was stated as follows:

“I was selected and sat as a juror in the trial of the above entitled matter.
“No questions were asked of me at the trial of this action during the time the jurors were being questioned by the lawyers as to whether I had any belief that a large judgment in favor of the plaintiff in this action might affect my insurance rates.
“I at no time stated to Zelma Bosshard that I ‘did not believe in awarding much in damages because it would cause my insurance rate to be raised. ’
“At no time did I state to Matilda Smith that I, ‘was against awarding substantial amounts as damages for pain and suffering because it made my insurance premiums go up.’ I have at all times stated to whoever asked me concerning my frame of mind concerning the award of damages in personal injury actions that I would at all times follow the Court’s instructions to the best of my ability and base any award for damages which I might make on the evidence before me and the instructions of the court. This has always been my frame of mind and still is my frame of mind concerning damages in accident eases. Had it been my decision to award damages in this ease, which it was not, I would have voted to award plaintiff a sum of money which would fair [sic] and adequately compensate him under the evidence in the case and under the Court’s instructions, whether that sum might be large or small, and without allowing anything to be taken [177]*177into consideration other than what I heard in Court and the Judge’s instructions.
“I have at all times had a fair and open mind concerning this or any accident case and there has at no time been any statement of mine on my part which would prevent me from returning a fair and impartial verdict based upon evidence and the law as given to me by the Court. My decision in this case was based upon evidence and the law as I saw it. ’ ’

In Kollert v. Cundiff, 50 Cal.2d 768, 773 [329 P.2d 897], it is held that it is the general rule in California that affidavits may not be used to impeach a verdict (citing many cases) and that

“An exception to the general rule is made by statute where ‘any one or more of the jurors have been induced to assent to any general or special verdict ... by a resort to the determination of chance. . . .’ (Code Civ. Proc., § 657, subd. 2.) Another exception, recognized by judicial decision, is that affidavits of jurors may be used to set aside a verdict where the bias or disqualification of a juror was concealed by false answers on voir dire. (E.g., Williams v. Bridges, 140 Cal.App. 537 [35 P.2d 407].)

“Subdivision 1 of section 657, which provides that a verdict may be vacated for ‘irregularity in the proceedings,’ does not refer to jurors’ affidavits and may not be regarded as permitting the use of such affidavits in situations where they would not otherwise be proper. (Cf. People v. Evans, 39 Cal.2d 242, 250 [246 P.2d 636] [rejecting a similar argument made with respect to Pen. Code, § 1181, subd. 2].) The statements to the contrary in Shipley v. Permanente Hospital, 127 Cal.App.2d 417, 424 [274 P.2d 53, 48 A.L.R.2d 964], are disapproved. ’ ’

In Watson v. Los Angeles Transit Lines, 157 Cal.App.2d 112, 116 [320 P.2d 890], it is said:

“A juror cannot impeach his own verdict, nor may a dissenting juror impeach the verdict of his fellow jurors, by affidavit except where the verdict was reached by lot or chance. (Code Civ. Proc., § 657, subd. 2; McWilliams v. Los Angeles Transit Lines, 100 Cal.App.2d 27, 29 [222 P.2d 953] ; Woods v. Pacific Greyhound Lines, 91 Cal.App.2d 572, 576 [205 P.2d 738].)

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Related

People v. Grinnell
257 Cal. App. 2d 653 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
334 P.2d 78, 167 Cal. App. 2d 174, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 2314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boone-v-spring-hollow-farms-calctapp-1959.