Klarman v. Snyder

123 N.E.2d 65, 68 Ohio Law. Abs. 464, 1952 Ohio App. LEXIS 797
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 14, 1952
DocketNo. 4844
StatusPublished

This text of 123 N.E.2d 65 (Klarman v. Snyder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Klarman v. Snyder, 123 N.E.2d 65, 68 Ohio Law. Abs. 464, 1952 Ohio App. LEXIS 797 (Ohio Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

OPINION

By THE COURT.

Submitted on motion of the appellee seeking an order dismissing the appeal for the reason the same is not a final order.

The record reveals that a motion was filed to set aside the special verdict returned by the jury; that this motion was overruled on August 11, 1952, at which time judgment was rendered for defendant upon the verdict; that on August 12, 1952, a motion for a new trial was filed; that on August 29, 1952, notice of appeal was filed directed to the judgment of August 11, 1952; that on September 8, 1952, the motion for a new trial was overruled, and upon September 18, 1952, notice of appeal was filed to the order overruling the motion for a new trial.

This Court held that such an order was appealable in the case of Jolley v. Martin Brothers, 90 Oh Ap p, 415, and we are still of the same opinion. The appellee urges that plaintiff waived his motion for a new trial when the first notice of appeal was filed, citing Liberal Savings & Loan Co. v. Frankel Realty Co., 137 Oh St 489. This case is determinative, we think, of the fact that the first appeal was properly filed; that for the purpose of such appeal the party appealing waived his motion for a new trial, but it does not necessarily follow [465]*465that he waives it for all other purposes. It does not appear to us that the cited case is controlling in the instant case.

Decided March 10, 1953. Coughlin, Ogier & Lloyd, Russ Bothwell, Columbus, for plaintiff-appellant. Wright, Harlor, Purpus, Morris & Arnold, Earl F. Morris, of Counsel, Columbus, for defendant-appellee.

The motion is overruled.

HORNBECK, PJ, WISEMAN and MILLER, JJ, concur.

KLARMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SNYDER, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 4844.

[466]*466OPINION

By MILLER, J.

This is a law appeal from the judgment of the Common Pleas Court rendered upon a special verdict of the jury. The action was one for damages arising out of a collision between an automobile being operated by the plaintiff and a truck consisting of a tractor and trailer. Both vehicles were moving in an easterly direction on East Main Street and for such easterly traffic there were three lanes. This plaintiff was in the one to the right, nearest the curb, and the truck was in the center or the one to the immediate left of that of the plaintiff. The truck was approaching from the rear and in overtaking the plaintiff’s car the collision occurred.

The defendant was charged with the following acts of negligence:

1. In operating said truck at a greater speed than was reasonable and proper, to wit, at a greater speed than would permit him to stop within his assured clear distance ahead.

2. That the defendant failed to have control of said truck.

These acts of negligence were denied generally by the answer, which also alleged further that if the plaintiff suffered any injuries the same were caused solely by his own negligence and carelessness.

After the conclusion of all the testimony counsel for the plaintiff requested that the jury be instructed to return a special verdict, and submitted four narrative forms. Counsel for defendant submitted one question and answer form and objected to the submission to the jury of each of the forms submitted by plaintiff for the reason that each of them required the jury to find conclusions of law as well as facts and that such forms were therefore improper since they did not comply with the statute. The trial court pointed out that since each of plaintiff’s forms required the jury to find, for instance, as to negligence, that the submission of such form would require a charge sufficiently broad to enable the jury to understand the meaning of all terms used in the special verdict forms. However, upon the insistence of counsel for plaintiff the Court submitted plaintiff’s special forms to the jury. The Court also prepared and submitted four of his own narrative forms of special verdict to the jury over the objection of counsel for the plaintiff. After due deliberation the jury returned the following special verdict:

“Albert E. Klarman, the Plaintiff, was driving a Bexley police cruiser at the time of the collision here involved; the other motor vehicle — a tractor trailer outfit — was being operated by George Redman at that time and place for the defendant, Edmund J. Snyder.
[467]*467“The collision occurred in the driving lane which Defendant’s truck was proceeding in — that is, the middle lane of the three east-bound lanes on East Main Street; such collision occurred at that point while defendant’s tractor-trailer was proceeding east in a straight course at a speed of 20 to 30 miles per hour; such collision occurred after plaintiff, Klarman, had left the parked position at the south curb in front of the ambulance and had driven the cruiser from the parking lane into the path of defendant’s tractor-trailer without ascertaining that he could do so with safety to himself and other users of East Main Street.
“Should Plaintiff, Klarman, be entitled to recover damages from the Defendant, we find that his damages, directly resulting from said collision, are Nothing.”

Thereafter, the Court drew conclusions of law from the facts found by the jury in the special verdict and returned judgment for the defendant.

The plaintiff attacks the special verdict charging that the trial court should not have submitted his own forms of special verdict, that what was returned by the jury was not a special verdict and that judgment for the defendant should not have been entered thereon.

The plaintiff’s objection to the form is that it did not find on all of the issues making no findings as to proximate cause. We are of the opinion that the plaintiff’s objection to the Court’s preparing the special forms is not well taken. Not only may the trial court do so, but if he feels the situation warrants, it is his duty to do so. In 39 O. Jur., Section 407, pages 1136 and 1137, it is said:

“An Indiana line of authorities indicates that in that state the trial court has no duty to perform in preparing special verdicts. Under the practice prevailing in Ohio such cannot be said to be the rule. Good practice requires the court to submit sufficient forms to secure an adequate general verdict; a fortiori it should closely supervise the submission of the much more intricate form of special verdict.”

Plaintiff also claims error in that the special verdict did not find on all the issues, failing to find proximate cause.

Plaintiff’s petition charged defendant with only two acts of negligence, to wit, violation of assured clear distance ahead rule and failure to keep his vehicle under control. When the jury found that the speed of the defendant’s truck was twenty to thirty miles per hour, that the collision took place while the truck was proceeding in a straight course in the middle lane of the three east-bound lanes and that the collision occurred after the plaintiff had driven the cruiser from the parking lane into the path of the truck without ascertaining [468]

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Bluebook (online)
123 N.E.2d 65, 68 Ohio Law. Abs. 464, 1952 Ohio App. LEXIS 797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/klarman-v-snyder-ohioctapp-1952.