Castro Mesa v. Supermercado de Descuentos

99 P.R. 826
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Castro Mesa v. Supermercado de Descuentos. Read the opinion of the Court — 99 P.R. Dec. 851
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided April 27, 1971·No. No. R-69-107·Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice Ramírez Bages

delivered the opinion of the Court.

We must determine whether a lessor, co-owner of metal pushcarts used by the public in a shopping center and who bound itself to inspect them and to maintain them in good working condition, as well as its lessee, is liable for the damages sustained by a girl and her parents when the girl fell from a defective pushcart while the girl accompanied her father in a shopping visit to the lessee’s supermarket.

The facts of the case, according to the trial court, were the following:

1. — The codefendant, Bargain Town of Puerto Rico, Inc. (hereinafter called Bargain Town), owner of an ample com[828]*828mercial building in Bayamón, leased part of the same to appellant for the establishment and operation of a supermarket by the latter. The pertinent contract has two clauses by virtue of which appellant bound itself to (a) indemnify the lessor and save it harmless from liability of any loss, cost, obligation, damage or expense caused by the acts or omission of the lessee or of any of its employees or guests (this clause is called the hold harmless clause); and (b) to maintain in effect at its own expense an insurance of public liability under which the lessor, and those through which it claims, are designated as insured, which shall adequately protect and indemnify them those reasonable sums which the lessor, from time to time, shall specify, but never less than the sum of $200,000 for the injury or death of a person in an accident and not less than $25,000 for damages to the property and which shall cover the liability and expenses which issue from any claims for damages or undue death as a result of any act or omission of lessee.

2. — The evidence shows that the pushcarts used by the clients who visit the aforementioned shopping center to carry their groceries are owned, on equal parts, by appellant and Bargain Town, but the latter assumed the obligation to inspect them and keep them well repaired and to collect from appellant 50% of the cost of said inspection and maintenance. Appellant’s director testified that when a defect is discovered in any of the pushcarts “the pushcart is taken to a pier property of Bargain Town where they are supposed to repair the pushcart.” David Pantojas Rosado, Assistant of the Manager of Bargain Town, testified that Cruz, Head of the Maintenance Department of said enterprise was the one responsible for inspecting and sending the pushcarts to the maintenance shop of Bargain Town. The trial court concluded, however, that although Bargain Town assumed the responsibility of repairing the pushcarts used for the groceries, the evidence does not show that it assumed the responsibility of inspecting [829]*829them in the business premises to make sure they were in good condition.

3. — On March 26, 1966, at about noon, Alfredo Castro Mesa visited the commercial premises property of Bargain Town for the purpose of making some purchases. That day he was accompanied by his small daughters, Gladys, who was by that time 6 or 7 years old, and Marissa, approximately 3 years old. Upon entering the building he took one of the above-described pushcarts from the sidewalk outside the establishment, and after visiting the department of automobile parts, he entered the section occupied by appellant, Super-mercado de Descuentos, for the purpose of buying groceries.

The little girl, Marissa, was sitting in the pushcart together with the articles bought. At a given moment and for the purpose of acquiring some carbonated drinks, her father left the pushcart alone and the latter turned over and Marissa as well as the groceries fell to the floor. The pushcart turned over, no abrupt movement from the girl intervened and ' nobody made it lose its balance.

The pushcart was a four-wheeled pushcart and at the time of the accident it was verified that one of the front wheels was missing.

4. — As a result of the fall, the girl suffered a blow on the right side of the head, a superficial laceration of one-fourth of an inch on the right chéek and a blow on the right side of her back. Momentarily she lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. Upon arrival to said institution the girl was pale and nervous. She had already regained consciousness. For some days the girl was nervous and complaining of headaches. The blows did not cause injuries of a permanent character and at the present time the girl has completely recovered.

The girl’s father, Alfredo Castro Mesa, Was horrified when he saw the girl was unconscious. At the date of the trial he still was upset when he remembered the details of the [830]*830accident. The girl’s mother was also nervous and worried by the blows received by her daughter.

Appellees incurred medical and medicine expenses amounting to the sum of $84.25.

The parents of the injured girl sued appellant and Bargain Town by themselves and on her behalf, for the damages sustained, in the manner set forth, by the girl, and by her parents, plus the medical expenses. Appellant filed third-party complaint against Bargain Town, alleging that the accident was due to the latter’s fault for the pushcarts were under its custody and control. Bargain Town alleged in its answer that the accident was due to appellant’s exclusive negligence. In its answer to the complaint, appellant denied the facts of the claim and alleged that the accident was due to appellees’ negligence.

Bargain Town did not bring any action against appellant under the hold harmless clause and the insurance clause previously mentioned but instead filed before us a memorandum in support of the judgment rendered in this case by the trial court and rebutting appellant’s assignments in regard to the latter’s liability and the effect of the aforementioned hold harmless clause.

The trial court, in the light of the facts set forth, dismissed the third-party complaint and concluded that the accident was due to appellant’s fault, or of Bargain Town or of both, by permitting the defective condition of the pushcart in question; that appellant bound itself to save Bargain Town harmless from liability in accidents as the one under our attention, and by virtue thereof, it is bound to “indemnify Bargain Town for any amount it pays” to appellees. It estimated the damages of the girl in $2,000, her father’s in $1,500, and her mother’s in $500 plus $84.25 for medical expenses, costs, and $200 for attorney’s fees. However, it limited its judgment to ordering appellant and Bargain Town [831]*831to pay the above-mentioned sums and specified costs to appel-lees.

Feeling aggrieved, appellant filed this petition for review. Since Bargain Town did not do it, appellees proceeded to execute the judgment against the former and to those effects they attached the amount of $4,604.25 from the same, which was deposited with the marshal of the trial court. On May 27, 1970, the trial court, at appellees’ request, ordered said marshal to issue a check for said amount in favor of appellees and their counsel in execution of the aforesaid judgment.

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

Castro Mesa v. Supermercado de Descuentos, 99 P.R. 826 (prsupreme 1971).

99 P.R. 826 (Castro Mesa v. Supermercado de Descuentos) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.