Jones v. Sommers

215 N.E.2d 871, 140 Ind. App. 459, 1966 Ind. App. LEXIS 437
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 1966
DocketNo. 20,224
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 215 N.E.2d 871 (Jones v. Sommers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Sommers, 215 N.E.2d 871, 140 Ind. App. 459, 1966 Ind. App. LEXIS 437 (Ind. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

Carson, J.

— This action comes to us on appeal from the Hendricks Circuit Court. The action was brought by the appellees John and Beulah Sommers and John and Mollie Dove against the appellant Bennie Jones and the appellee Raymond Carmichael.

The issues were formed by the plaintiff’s second amended complaint in two paragraphs. The first paragraph being on the theory of bailment and second paragraph sounding in tort and alleging in substance that the property of the plaintiffs below was destroyed by fire caused by the negligence of the defendants below.

To both paragraphs of the plaintiff’s complain the defendants filed two paragraphs of answer the first being in denial under Rule 1-3 and the second being an affirmative answer that the defendants were without fault or negligence and further that the plaintiffs had not demanded return of the property. The plaintiff below filed a reply in denial under Rule 1-3 to the second paragraph of the defendant’s answers. Trial was had by jury and at the conclusion of all the evidence the court directed the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant appellee Raymond Carmichael on both paragraphs of the complaint and to return a verdict in favor of Bennie Jones against the plaintiff John and Beulah Sommers as to paragraph 1 of the second amended complaint.

Upon the issues thus remaining on paragraph 1 of the second amended complaint and the defendant’s affirmative answer thereto in two paragraphs and plaintiff’s reply to such answer the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff appellees John and Mollie Dove against the defendant-appellant Bennie Jones in the sum of $4,462.00 and returned answer to the interrogatories submitted to the court.

The appellant filed a motion for judgment on the interroga[462]*462tories which was overruled. Consistent judgment was rendered on the verdict of the jury and the appellant filed a motion for new trial specifying 24 grounds which are in substance as follows:

Specification 1. That the verdict of the jury is contrary to law.

Specification 2. That the verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence.

Specification 3. That the court erred in overruling defendant-appellant’s motion to strike parts of answers to interrogatories.

Specification 4. That the court erred in overruling defendant-appellant’s motion for continuance.

Specification 5. That the court erred in giving the court’s preliminary instruction number two.

Specification 6. That the court erred in refusing to advise the jury to disregard a statement of attorney for the plaintiff at the opening of the cause.

Specification 7 and 8. That the court erred in overruling defendant-appellant’s motion to strike certain testimony of the plaintiff John Dove.

Specification 9. That the court erred in admitting evidence over the objection of the defendant-appellant given by Clarence Craig.

Specifications 10., 11., 12., 13., 14., 15., 16., 17., and 18. That the court erred in refusing to give defendant-appellant’s instructions number 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Specification 19., 20., 21. and 22. That the court erred in giving on its own motion over the objection of the defendant-appellant instructions 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Specification 23. That the court erred in overruling the motion of the defendant appellant for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence.

[463]*463Specification 24. That the court erred in overruling defendant’s motion for judgment on the jury’s answers to the interrogatories.

The sole assignment of error is the overruling of the motion for new trial.

In the argument portion of appellant’s brief he has joined argument under proposition number 1, specifications 1, 2, 23 and 24 of the motion for new trial; under proposition number 2, specifications 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 of the motion for new trial and under proposition 3, specifications 10, 11, 14 and 15.

The other specifications of error in the motion for new trial not being presented in the argument portion of the appellant’s brief the same are deemed waived.

For the purpose of this opinion we are going to group the various specifications of the appellant’s motion.

Specifications 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are predicated upon a theory of the case urged by the defendant-appellant with which we cannot agree. The defendant-appellant insists that he was taken by surprise when the element of insurance was injected into the trial. The evidence offered, which was contained in the plaintiff’s answers to defendant’s interrogatories as to the testimony of certain witnesses on behalf of the plaintiff, and in counsel’s opening statement, alluded to the fact that the defendant-appellant was supposed to furnish insurance as part of the services connected with the performance of the bailment agreement. The defendant-appellant claims that the first notice he had of this was at the time of the trial of the action. The record does not sustain this position. In the plaintiff’s complaint, under grammatical paragraph three of legal paragraph number 1, we find the following language:

“It was orally agreed between the plaintiffs and the defendants that the plaintiffs should pay $101.50 for the defendant’s services with the understanding that the defendants were to furnish both license plates and assurance of safe transportation and that said sum was to be paid by the plaintiffs to the defendants upon re-delivery of the [464]*464trailer and its said contents to the plaintiffs at said address in the city of Waukegan, Illinois.”

As we have previously pointed out, to this paragraph of complaint the defendant-appellants filed answer in denial. We think that this language definitely put the question of insurance at issue in the case. In this connection we call attention to various decisions where the word “assurance” or “assured” has been defined. In the case of Armour & Co. et al. v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co. et al. 41 R. I. 361, 103 A. 1031, we find the following statement at page 1033:

“The act also declares that said grade crossings are to be ‘eliminated and altered’ in order that the safety of the public may be ‘assured’, i.e., made certain and put beyond doubt.”

Also in the case of Colonial Trust Co. v. Elmer C. Breuer, Inc. 60 A. 2d 126, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania said:

“This case, as argued, calls for an interpretation of the phrase ‘assured clear distance ahead.’ . . .”
“The question arises, then, as to the meaning of this latter phrase, that is to say, whether the word ‘assured’ is to be interpreted in an objective or a subjective sense.”
“To ‘assure’ means to render safe, to make secure, but it also means ‘to give confidence to’; ‘to make (one) sure or certain;’ ‘to put (a person) beyond doubt’ (Webster’s New International Dictionary, 2nd Ed.) ; ‘to cause to feel certain;’ ‘give confidence to;’ ‘convince’ (Funk & Wagnalls’ New Standard Dictionary).”

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Bluebook (online)
215 N.E.2d 871, 140 Ind. App. 459, 1966 Ind. App. LEXIS 437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-sommers-indctapp-1966.