Caston v. Connell

146 So. 483, 1933 La. App. LEXIS 1426
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 7, 1933
StatusPublished

This text of 146 So. 483 (Caston v. Connell) 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
Caston v. Connell, 146 So. 483, 1933 La. App. LEXIS 1426 (La. Ct. App. 1933).

Opinion

PER OURIAM.

Mrs. Lewis Caston, plaintiff, prays for a rehearing herein, alleging for grounds that the opinion of this court in stating that, “Mr. Caston was not seen by any witness as he entered on the street, therefore none of the witnesses saw him cross the south side of the street,” is an error of fact. The testimony of Miss Inez Deering at the bottom of page 55 and the top of page 56 in the transcript of .the testimony is referred to as showing error in t¡hat respect.

The statement is the conclusion of this court, reached after our first examination of the record. We quote Miss Deering in order to show what she said. The quoted part is not all she said, but it shows the general, tenor of her answers on the subject:

“Q. Will you tell me where this old man was when you first noticed him? A. He had just stepped out into Government street.
“Q. Erom which side? A. The south side.
“Q. Do you recall from where he had stepped, from what part of the street. Was it near any street on the south side? A. It was not exactly from the corner, it was a little further down.
“Q. A little further which way? A. A little further west.
“Q. Was he opposite any street when he crossed? A. He was almost opposite Brice street. •
“Q. You say you saw him when he just stepped into the street?. A. He was in the street when I first saw him.
“Q. Who saw him first, you or yoiir aunt? A. I think I did.
“Q. What did he do? A. He was just walking across the street.
“Q. How far across did he go? A. He was about almost half way between the north rail and the south track on the north side of Government, near the railing on the north side.
“Q. Did your aunt continue to drive after she saw this old man? A. A little way. We saw him before we reached the comer, a good little ways.
“Q. What did your aunt do? A. She blew her horn and stopped.
“Q. Did she stop still?' A. Yes, a full stop.
“Q. About what point did you stop. Where was the front of her car when she stopped? A. It was before we reached the side-walk on Brice street.
“Q. What did this old gentleman do then, when you stopped and blew the horn? A. He looked up and realized that there was a car there and he stepped back.”

A blue print made by Mr. Mundinger shows that Government street, from the curbing to each side of the car track, is 17.5 feet. The street car track is 5.5 feet wide. Whether the above width takes into account the car tracks, the blue print is not clear, but the exact width, of the intervening space mentioned is not important. When Mrs. Fauver and Miss Deering speak of seeing Mr. Gaston south of the ear tracks or north of the car tracks, that is approximately the width of the space in which he must have been at the time.

We desire to admit that our statement in the opinion, that “Mr. Caston was not seen by any witness as he entered on the street, therefore none of the witnesses saw him cross the south side of the street” — overlooks the fact that Miss Deering does say, when first asked where he was when she first noticed him, that he had just stepped out into Government street (meaning on the south side). But her subsequent answers create the belief that when she first called her aunt’s attention to him, he was on the north side of the street, close at hand, and that the stopping by her aunt of her automobile, the sounding of her horn, and the jumping back and striking by Mr. Caston of the trailer passing behind him at that time, must be estimated in seconds. And it is certain that he was at that time on the north side of the street. Miss Deering after first answering as above quoted, was again asked:

“Q. You say you saw him when he just stepped into the street? A. He was in the street when I first saw him.
“Q. Who saw him first, you or your aunt? A. I think I did.” '

Her answers are to the effect that he was not only in the street, but that she herself was not sure which was the first to see him, and that if she was the first to see him, only a very short interval of time elapsed after she had seen him, before he was also seen by her aunt.

“Q. Did your aunt continue to drive after she saw this old man? A. A little way.. — We saw him before we reached the corner, a good little ways.”

In this answer she says that they both saw him before they reached the corner.

“Q. What did your aunt do? A. She blew the horn and stopped.”

The testimony of Mrs. Fauver has bearing on the place where Mr. Caston was when seen by Miss Deering.

“Q. Do you recall anything that happened when you approached Brice street? A. Yes. Before I got to Brice street there was a man walking across the street. My niece told me, ‘Look out Aunt Laura, there is a man coming *485 across.’ I slowed down and blew tbe hom. Just before he came across the street-car line I stopped.
“Q. How near to Brice street were you when you came to a full stop? A. I was right at the corner.
“Q. Did you notice this man when he stepped into the road-way of Government street, or not? A. I did not see him just as he stepped in, my niece saw him' first. I was looking ahead where I was driving.
“Q. Don’t tell what your niece saw. How far into the street had he gotten when you first saw him? A. Not very far, about half way, I should think, from the car line to the curb.
“Q. You mean half way from the south curb of the car line when you saw him? A. Yes, just about. I do not know exactly, but he was in the street.”

Although Mrs. Fauver testifies that when she first saw Mr. Caston he was on the south side of the car line, her further testimony and other testimony, makes it sure that when she slowed down to a full stop to avoid striking Mr. Caston and sounded her horn, he was right at the front end of her left front fender, and at that time it is certain that he was on the north side of the street. In fact when Miss Deering called out to her, “Look out Aunt Laura, there is a man coming across,” he was evidently at that time on the north side of the street and approaching so close to their automobile that Miss Deering saw danger in his approach. She called out to her aunt impulsively and her aunt immediately slowed down to a full stop and sounded her horn, and Mr. Caston, seemingly unaware of her presence, upon discovering that he was so near to being struck by her automobile, was so alarmed that he jumped back, all of which certainly took place on the north side of the street.

Therefore the testimony of Miss Deering at the outset that she saw Mr. Caston just as he stepped from the south curbing into Government street does not change our conclusion as to the responsibility of defendants for the death of Mr. Caston and it affords no reason for changing our opinion on that subject.

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Bluebook (online)
146 So. 483, 1933 La. App. LEXIS 1426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caston-v-connell-lactapp-1933.