County of Galveston v. Morgan

882 S.W.2d 485, 1994 WL 416417
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 11, 1994
DocketB14-93-00449-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 882 S.W.2d 485 (County of Galveston v. Morgan) 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
County of Galveston v. Morgan, 882 S.W.2d 485, 1994 WL 416417 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

SEARS, Justice.

Appellee, Ronnie Morgan, was injured when he fell from the raised bed of a dump truck positioned too close to a power line. He brought suit against Galveston County under the Texas Tort Claims Act. The jury found the County fifty percent negligent for the accident. The district court entered judgment for Appellees, their recovery limited by the provisions of the Texas Tort Claims Act. Appellant brings seven point of error. We affirm.

In March of 1987, Galveston County Road Department crews were helping repair road damage caused by Superior Oil Company. The gypsum used to resurface the road was provided by Mobil Mining and Minerals Company, in trucks selected by Mobil. Mobil hired Joe Brown Trucking to deliver the material. Joe Brown Trucking had a contract with Obaugh Trucking, Morgan’s employer, to provide the trucks and drivers. The truck used for this kind of work was a tractor-trailer rig with a dump bed over thirty-seven feet long. A hydraulic ram raised *488 the dump bed in stages, so that as the truck slowly moved forward, the gypsum fell from the bed and was spread out evenly on the road. Galveston County supervised the job and provided front and rear spotters who signaled the truck drivers when to move forward and when to stop. Spotters are necessary because a dump truck driver can not see what is above him. Part of the spotters job was to watch for overhead obstructions, such as power lines, and to stop the trailer from getting too close to such dangers.

A trailer operated by Ronnie English, Morgan’s co-worker, was approaching a hot 7200 volt power line. The County’s front spotter directed English to move his truck too close to the power line. The top of the bed was within twenty-two inches of the line. The unloading process stopped, and the rear spotter signaled for a bulldozer to move the pile of gypsum from behind the trailer. When a trailer gets too close to a power line, such that it can not be lowered without touching the wire, the procedure is to move the material from behind the trailer, back up the trailer, and then lower the bed. Morgan’s truck was the next in line, waiting to unload. He came over to see whether English’s truck could be safely lowered without backing up the trailer.

Morgan climbed the trailer to gauge the distance from the bed to the power line and determine whether the bed would strike the wire. He placed his feet on a metal bar, and held onto the tarped top edge of the trailer. He was about “the third rib in the trailer from the nose,” about six to eight feet below the top, when he was knocked to the ground. The next thing he recalled was waking up in the hospital. Morgan had received an electric shock. The plaintiffs and defendants presented conflicting testimony over the cause of Morgan’s injuries. The plaintiffs contended that Morgan was injured when the power line touched the truck, and the electricity “shocked” Morgan off the trailer. The defendants contended that the wire never touched the truck, and that Morgan negligently came in direct contact with the line.

The plaintiffs presented medical testimony that Morgan’s injuries were not consistent with someone who had come in direct contact with a power line, but were consistent with contact through insulating material. The electric shock caused entry and exit wounds on Morgan’s hand and feet which were consistent with the plaintiffs’ theory. Further, English testified that there was a mark on the truck, which was caused by the wire coming in direct contact with the trailer.

Joe Gonzales, a line foreman from HL & P, testified that the wire could not have touched the truck “due to the twenty-two inch” distance between the hot line and the trailer. He testified that Morgan had to touch the wire to receive the shock. Gonzales admitted, however, that coming in direct contact with a 7200 volt power line would do “pretty good damage” to an individual. However, the majority of Morgan’s injuries were suffered as a result of his fall from the truck, not from the shock. The jury found Morgan and the County equally negligent.

In its first and second points of error, Appellant contends that there is no evidence, or in the alternative factually insufficient evidence, to support a finding of proximate cause. Appellant makes two claims: first, that the evidence is insufficient to support a finding that the wire touched the truck or the truck touched the wire; and second, even if they did touch, it was not foreseeable that someone would climb the truck and be shocked.

In reviewing a no evidence point, this Court will consider only the evidence and inferences which support the jury’s finding, and will disregard all evidence to the contrary. Davis v. City of San Antonio, 752 S.W.2d 518, 522 (Tex.1988). In reviewing a factual insufficiency point, this Court must review the entire record, and will set aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that it is clearly wrong and unjust. Cain v. Bain, 709 S.W.2d 175, 176 (Tex.1986). This Court is not called upon to summarily disregard evidence or to substitute our opinion for that of the fact finders. Loftin v. Texas Brine Corp., 720 S.W.2d 804, 805 (Tex.1986). The jury, as fact finder, was the sole judge of each witness’ credibility and the weight to be *489 given his testimony. Winfield v. Renfro, 821 S.W.2d 640, 645 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, writ denied). The jury was free to believe or disbelieve all or any part of any witness’ testimony. Miller v. Kendall, 804 S.W.2d 933, 939 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, no writ).

Although Joe Gonzales testified that the wire could not have touched the truck, the jury was free to judge his credibility and believe or disbelieve his testimony. He was a foreman for HL & P, and not an accident reconstructionist. Even Mr. Gonzales admitted that direct contact with a power line would cause more severe injury to a person. The medical testimony did not support a finding of direct contact. Dr. Strickland testified that the entrance and exit wounds were consistent with “indirect contact.” The truck was “grounded” due to the lower end of the raised trailer bed being in contact with the pile of gypsum behind it. Dr. Oates testified that direct contact would have caused more serious injuries. In light of the conflicting testimony, the jury was free to conclude that the truck came in contact with the wire.

Appellant also complains that the accident was not foreseeable. Proximate cause consists of two elements: cause in fact and foreseeability. Travis County v. City of Mesquite, 830 S.W.2d 94, 98 (Tex.1992). “Cause in fact” means that without such negligence no harm would have resulted. El Chico Corp. v. Poole, 732 S.W.2d 306, 313 (Tex.1987).

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Bluebook (online)
882 S.W.2d 485, 1994 WL 416417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/county-of-galveston-v-morgan-texapp-1994.