Holley v. Taylor ex rel. Taylor

381 S.W.2d 510, 53 Tenn. App. 151, 1964 Tenn. App. LEXIS 93
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedApril 27, 1964
StatusPublished

This text of 381 S.W.2d 510 (Holley v. Taylor ex rel. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holley v. Taylor ex rel. Taylor, 381 S.W.2d 510, 53 Tenn. App. 151, 1964 Tenn. App. LEXIS 93 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

BEJACH, J.

This cause involves an appeal in error by Willlie Hugh Holley and Eleanor R. Holley, his wife, from judgments against them and Eugene Chaney and [153]*153Roxie Aim Ch.an.ey, Ms wife, in. the Circnit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, for $5,000 in favor of Norma Faye Taylor and $3,500 in favor of John A. Taylor. Although the judgment in the lower conrt was against both the Holleys and the Chaneys, the Chaneys did not perfect an appeal. It thus results that the cause in the Court of Appeals involves only the suits of Norma Faye Taylor, suing by next friend, and that of John A. Taylor, her father, against Willie Hugh Holley and Eleanor R. Holley. Mr. John B. Thomason of Memphis, Tennessee, who represented Eugene Chaney and Roxie Ann Chaney in the lower court, did, however, apply to this court for permission to file a brief, as amicus curiae, and argue the case, in an effort to obtain affirmance of the judgment against Willie Hugh Holley and Eleanor R. Holley. Such permission was granted, and Mr. Thomason did file a brief and did orally argue the cause.

The order in this Court granting permission to Mr. Thomason to file a brief and appear as amicus curiae was entered pursuant to a motion of Eugene Chaney and Roxie Ann Chaney made for that purpose, which motion was approved by counsel for both the Holleys and the Taylors. It contained, however, the following recital:

‘ ‘ Counsel for the Taylors has approved tMs motion. Counsel for the Holleys has also approved this motion but without waiving and expressly reserving his right to challenge the standing of the proponents Chaneys in this Court and their right to be heard in opposition to the assignments of error and brief of the said Holleys.”

After the brief of Mr. Thomason was filed in tMs Court, a motion was filed to strike same, which motion was [154]*154argued at the hearing, and which motion we will dispose of before considering* the cause on its merits.

Having consented to the motion for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae made by Mr. Thomason on behalf of Eugene Chaney and Boxie Ann Chaney, we think the motion of Willie Hugh Holley and Eleanor B. Holley to strike the brief of the amicus curiae came too late. The reservation of the ‘ ‘ right to challenge the standing of the proponents Chaney in this Court and their right to be heard in opposition to the Assignments of Error and Brief of the said Holleys”, can not, in our opinion, authorize the undoing of what they had already done, viz., agree that Mr. Thomason, as attorney for the Chaneys, might file a brief in this cause and be heard in oral argument. That issue is, in any event, a theoretical one, because the brief filed by Mr. Thomason as amicus curiae adds little, if anything, to the brief filed on behalf of Norma Faye Taylor and John A. Taylor by their counsel, Mr. Irving M. Strauch; and, in his oral argument at the hearing, Mr. Thomason merely adopted the argument previously made by Mr. Strauch. The motion to strike the brief of the amicus curiae is therefore denied.

On the merits of this case, the sole question presented in this Court is whether or not the trial judge should have granted, on authority of Wagner v. Niven, 46 Tenn. App. 581, 332 S.W.(2d) 511, the motion for a directed verdict made by Willie Hugh Holley and Eleanor B. Holley at the conclusion of the proof. Appellants’ one Assignment of Error presents that issue-.

The two suits involved in these consolidated causes resulted from an automobile collision which occurred Sunday morning, October 29, 1961 at about 9:30 A.M. on Halls Boad near Humphrey Boad in Shelby County, Ten[155]*155nessee. At that time, Norma Faye Taylor, now Norma Faye Taylor Ray, then 16 years of age, was riding on the front seat of a Ford automobile driven by her sister, Eleanor R. Holley, then 19 years of age, when same collided with a Chevrolet automobile driven by Roxie Ann Chaney, wife of Eugene Chaney. The collision occurred at or near the crest of a hill. The Holley car was headed south, and the Chaney car was headed north. After the collision, the two cars came to rest in the center of the road, with the Holley car facing east, and the Chaney car facing west, about two feet apart. Oil and debris in the road also indicated that the collision had occurred at or very near the center of the road. S. M. Blankenship, a deputy sheriff, who investigated the accident, testified that he measured skid marks made by the Chaney car, which extended 14 feet, and were in the center of the road. Each of the drivers, Mrs. Holley and Roxie Ann Chaney, testified that the other was driving on the wrong-side of the road.

The evidence, taken as a whole, is amply sufficient to sustain the verdict against both pairs of defendants, and no complaint is made as to the amount of the verdicts. Counsel for defendants, "Willie Hugh Holley and Eleanor R. Holley, rests their appeal entirely on the contention that the testimony of the plaintiff, Norma Faye Taylor, negatived all allegations of negligence made in her declaration, and, consequently, that, on authority of Wagner v. Niven, 46 Tenn.App. 581, 332 S.W.(2d) 511, the trial judge should have granted the motion for directed verdict made by the Holleys at the conclusion of the proof. Plaintiffs’ declarations, which are substantially the same in each of the two cases, allege that Eleanor R. Holley, the driver of the Ford automobile, “was negligent in that she negligently, carelessly and illegally failed to [156]*156keep a proper lookout ahead, failed to keep her car under proper control, drove said car at a dangerous and high rate of speed under the circumstances, failed to yield the right of way, failed to keep her car on the proper side of the road, failed to apply her brakes when she saw or in the exercise of reasonable and ordinary care should have seen that a collision was imminent.” Said declarations also' allege violations of sections 59-815, 59-816, 59-821, 59-852, and 59-858, T.C.A.

We quote from the testimony of plaintiff, Norma Faye Taylor, as follows:

“On direct examination by Mr. Strauch
“Q Now, Norma Faye, I want to direct your attention to this Sunday morning, October 29, 1961, and if you will permit me, to the Saturday night prior to that. Where did you spend that Saturday night.
“A With my sister.
‘ ‘ Q Which one ?
“A Eleanor Holley.
‘ ‘ Q And is that this young lady here that we have sued in this case ?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q You spent the night with her, is that right?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q And you were going to church together the next morning?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q And about what time did you leave her house to go to church?
[157]*157“A About 9:30.
“Q And she was driving her 1957 Ford automobile that was owned by her husband, Mr. Holley, is that correct?
“A Yes, sir.
“Q Now, when you left the house, tell us. who was. driving the car.
“A My sister, Eleanor Holley.

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Related

Wagner Ex Rel. Wagner v. Niven
332 S.W.2d 511 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1959)
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267 S.W.2d 119 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1953)
McLemore v. Charleston & Memphis Railroad
111 Tenn. 639 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1902)
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146 Tenn. 135 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1921)

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Bluebook (online)
381 S.W.2d 510, 53 Tenn. App. 151, 1964 Tenn. App. LEXIS 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holley-v-taylor-ex-rel-taylor-tennctapp-1964.