City of Houston v. Cambeilh

333 S.W.2d 192, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2043
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 25, 1960
Docket13173
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 333 S.W.2d 192 (City of Houston v. Cambeilh) 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
City of Houston v. Cambeilh, 333 S.W.2d 192, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2043 (Tex. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

BELL, Chief Justice.

Appellee recovered judgment against appellant for $9,355 as damages resulting from injuries received by his wife, Mercedes Cambeilh, when she stepped in a hole in the crosswalk at the intersection of Main and McKinney Streets on September 28, 1953.

Since appellant attacks the verdict of the jury as being without support in the evidence and also as being contrary to the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence, we must give a rather full summary of the evidence.

Mrs. Cambeilh testified that about 4:30 in the afternoon of September 28, 1953, she left Foley’s where she had been to return a record and proceeded north along the sidewalk on the west side of Main Street. She stopped at the Lamar Drug Store and then proceeded on north, window shopping as she walked. Foley’s is in the second block south on the west side of Main Street from the intersection where the accident occurred. Between 4:30 and 5:00 o’clock when she reached the intersection of McKinney and Main Street on the west side of Main Street she stopped momentarily to al *195 low the traffic light to change. When it changed, she proceeded across McKinney in the right-hand portion of the crosswalk. (We might say here that the store of Rolle, Jewett & Beck was located at the southwest of this intersection and Woolworth’s store is located at the northwest comer, so that Mrs. Cambeilh was proceeding from the Rolle corner to the Woolworth corner.) There were quite a few people crossing on the crosswalk in front of her, going the way she was, and meeting her. A lot of people always cross there. So many people get off work at 4 and 4:30 in the afternoon that quite a few people were using the crosswalk when she was crossing. There were people all around her in the walk and she didn’t look down at the street. When she got about 4 feet, possibly 3½ feet from the north curb line of McKinney, she felt her foot go down and she fell in the street. She stepped in a hole. She couldn’t get up and 2 men picked her up and began taking her toward Woolworth’s. When they reached the curb she looked back at the hole where she had fallen, though she didn’t turn around. She was taken into Woolworth’s, where she waited until an ambulance came and took her to the hospital. As she was taken out of the store on a stretcher, she again looked at the hole where she had fallen. The hole was jagged. As she was being carried to the curb, she looked back and said she had stepped in a hole and pointed to the hole. Just then a man walked up behind her and said he stumbled in that same hole and almost fell. When she was being taken to the ambulance she pointed the hole out to the officer there. She did not know the name of the officer. She further described the hole as jagged, oblong or egg-shaped. It was from 7 to 9 inches long and 3 to 5 inches wide. It was not of uniform depth but was from 2 to 3 inches on one side down to about S inches on the other. In the claim filed with the City, which was in evidence, she described it as being about 3 inches deep and approximately 9 inches long and 7 inches wide. This was the only hole she saw.

A Mrs. Moore was in Woolworth’s when Mrs. Cambeilh was brought in and she remained there until after the ambulance left. After the ambulance took Mrs. Cam-beilh away, Mrs. Moore went out to look at the walkway. She saw a hole in the walkway a few feet from the north curb. It was the only hole she saw. She said it was a good big hole, but could not give its dimensions. She did not measure it and said she could not tell the approximate size. That night she called the Mayor to notify him of the presence of the hole, but he was not home, and she told his wife.

Mr. Cambeilh testified he went to the crosswalk where his wife had fallen the next day, that is, September 29. He inspected the crosswalk on McKinney on the west side of Main Street. About 3 or 3½ or 4 feet from the north curb line of McKinney he found a hole. It was somewhat oblong in shape and jagged. It was from 4 to 5½ to 6 inches deep. It was not the same in depth throughout its area. It was 9 or 10 inches long and about 8 or 8½ inches wide. There were several cracks in the street, but just one hole. He did not actually measure the hole.

Mrs. Zweig testified by deposition. She was employed at Woolworth’s September 28. The counter where she worked was just inside the door through which she could look and see the walkway across McKinney between Woolworth’s and Rolle’s. She went to work at Woolworth’s August 8, 1953. She was there when Mrs. Cam-beilh was brought into the store. From the counter where Mrs. Zweig worked she could see the crosswalk but to see the hole she would have to go near the door. A hole was in the crosswalk before September 28. It had been there for from 4 to 6 weeks. She could not give its dimensions. She stated she had seen a couple of people stumble in the hole prior to September 28. The edges on the hole were ridged. She could not give the width or depth. The hole was big enough for someone to turn their ankle. The hole was about a foot from the curb line near Woolworth’s. She *196 had no way of knowing whether the hole she saw was the one Mrs. Cambeilh fell over.

The above was introduced by the plaintiff before he rested his case. The following evidence was introduced by plaintiff in rebuttal.

Mrs. Thompson, the wife of a U. S. Customs officer, a friend of a cousin of Mrs. Cambeilh, but who did not know Mr. or Mrs. Cambeilh before the accident, testified she went to the crosswalk on McKinney between Rolle’s and Woolworth’s the first week in October, 1953. She saw a hole that was from 8 to 11 inches long. It was from 7 to 8 inches wide and about 3 inches deep. It was big enough for her to try to put her foot in it. She was with Mrs. Niland. The hole was at the Woolworth corner. It was a jagged hole. About 2 weeks later the hole was still there. The hole was about 3 feet or so from the north curb and about 3 or 4 inches or a foot to the right of the center of the crosswalk going toward Foley’s (south). She had heard the hole was in the lane between Woolworth’s and Foley’s on McKinney. She went down there and looked around and this was the only hole that was there. The witness said the hole shown in the defendant’s Exhibits 3 and 7 didn’t look as deep as the hole she saw, though it was similar in shape.

Mrs. Niland, a cousin of Mrs. Cambeilh, said she went the first week in October, 1953 with Mrs. Thompson. She went to the crosswalk and saw a hole. She put one of her feet and part of the other in the hole. It was 3 or 4 feet from the Woolworth (north) curb. It was in the crosswalk a little bit off center. The hole was about 11 inches long and about 8 inches wide. It was kind of broken — ragged like — and oval in shape. It was 3 or 4 inches deep. Later they repaired the hole. They repaired it twice. It was repaired 2 or 3 months later. The first time they just repaired the hole. The next time they repaired a whole section. It was repaired between December 1 and Christmas. In December when they were repairing it, there were 3 or 4 men working and they had to move to let her by. This was the first time they repaired it. About 6 months later they repaired a whole big section. When they first repaired it there were 4 men and they had a little wagon. The hole was just a little to the right of the center of the crosswalk going toward Foley’s. The witness was shown defendant’s Exhibit 3 and marked X where she saw the repairs being made.

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

Related

Roberts v. City of Grapevine
923 S.W.2d 169 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
State v. Hamman
377 S.W.2d 727 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1964)
City of Houston v. Watson
376 S.W.2d 23 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1964)
City of Beaumont v. Henderson
349 S.W.2d 301 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1961)
Leonhart v. Gilbreath
347 S.W.2d 369 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
333 S.W.2d 192, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2043, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-houston-v-cambeilh-texapp-1960.