Lewis v. Woodland

140 N.E.2d 322, 101 Ohio App. 442, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 359, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 547
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 7, 1955
Docket4876
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 140 N.E.2d 322 (Lewis v. Woodland) 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
Lewis v. Woodland, 140 N.E.2d 322, 101 Ohio App. 442, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 359, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 547 (Ohio Ct. App. 1955).

Opinions

Fess, J.

This is an appeal on questions of law from a judgment entered upon a verdict in favor of plaintiff against defendants in the sum of $1,500.

In her petition, plaintiff alleges that about 8:30 in the evening of April 13, 1952, she entered the motor vehicle of the defendant.Jones; that defendant Woodland.was seated in the rear seat of the vehicle; and that defendants formulated a plan to frighten and startle plaintiff by suddenly exhibiting to her a certain life-like rubber lizard. It is alleged that, after entering the automobile, as plaintiff was seating herself in the rear seat, defendant Woodland placed the lizard in plaintiff’s lap *444 and “as a further part of said plan defendant Jones, to whom the lizard belonged, then suddenly called plaintiff’s attention to the said lizard in her lap. ” It is alleged further that, upon discovery of the lizard in her lap, plaintiff was frightened to such an éxtent that she jumped up and down “causing her to break her back and injure herself.” Plaintiff claims further that the acts of the defendants were done intentionally as a part of a preconceived plan to frighten plaintiff and cause her to move and react suddenly and violently; and that they were done with no regard for a sudden and violent reaction by plaintiff and without regard to the particular serious consequences to plaintiff which were likely to occur. Judgment for the sum of $15,000 is prayed.

Review of the record discloses that the allegations of the petition are supported by substantial, although disputed, evidence.

In their answer, defendants allege that the defendant Jones, for the accommodation of plaintiff, while driving her husband’s automobile in company with defendant Woodland, stopped at plaintiff’s house for the sole purpose of picking up plaintiff to take her to church services at the Shiloh Baptist Church (of which defendant Jones’ husband was pastor); and that such transportation was furnished free, without any cost or obligation on the part of the plaintiff. The answer alleges further that, before defendants stopped at plaintiff’s house, two infant children had been in the vehicle and had left a small toy rubber lizard in it. These allegations are denied in the reply.

It appears from the evidence that the injury to plaintiff occurred while she was attempting to close the door of the car after entering it. As to whether defendant Jones, as the driver, had started the journey before the injury, the evidence is in dispute. Section 4515.02, Revised Code, provides that the operator of a motor vehicle shall not be liable for damage arising from injuries to a guest resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle while such guest is being transported without payment therefor, in or upon said motor vehicle, unless, etc. The injury to plaintiff herein occurred as she was about to be transported without payment and had no relationship to the operation of the vehicle. The guest statute, therefore, does not apply.

*445 During the course of the examination of plaintiff’s attending physician, some confusion arose with respect to his testimony concerning the causal relationship between the fracture of plaintiff’s back and the incident of April 13. In response to an inquiry on the part of the court, the physician gave a rather inconclusive answer as to causal connection. Thereafter, several questions were directed by plaintiff’s counsel to such physician, seeking a more definite opinion as to the connection, to which objections were sustained. In our opinion, the physician should have been permitted to answer at least one of such subsequent questions. However, even from the somewhat inconclusive answer of the physician to the first question, it may be inferred that the physician intended to say there was such a causal connection. Furthermore, since the evidence was undisputed that plaintiff had suffered no injury to her back prior to April 13, there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury upon this phase of the case.

That part of the hospital record reporting the X-ray diagnosis recites:

“Examination of the lumbar spine with a cone down view of the first lumbar vertebra show a compression fracture of this vertebra. The superior vertebral plate of this vertebra show definite breaks in continuing which I believe established this as a recent fracture.”

Error is assigned to the admission of the record expressing the opinion that the fracture disclosed was of recent origin.

The purpose underlying the enactment of Section 2317.40, Revised Code, as applied to hospital records, was to avoid the necessity and thereby the expense, inconvenience and sometimes the impossibility of calling as witnesses the attendant nurses and physicians who collaborated to make such record of a patient. Those portions of hospital records made in the regular course of business and pertaining to the business of hospitalization and recording observable acts, transactions, occurrences or events incident to the treatment of a patient are admissible as evidence of the facts therein recorded, so far as such records are helpful to an understanding of the medical or surgical aspects of the case. Cf. Weis v. Weis, 147 Ohio St., 416, 72 N. E. (2d), 245, 169 A. L. R., 668. Such a record may properly in- *446 elude ease history, diagnosis by one qualified to make it, condition and treatment of the patient covering such items as temperature, pulse, respiration, symptoms, food and medicines, analysis of the tissues or fluids of the body and the behaviour and complaints of the patient. Weis v. Weis, supra. Examples of various types of acts, conditions or events disclosed in hospital records which are admissible are enumerated in the Weis case. See, also, annotations in 75 A. L. R., 378, and 120 A. L. R., 1124. In the light of the purpose in the enactment of Section 2317.40, Revised Code, to permit the introduction of records of observable acts and events such as those incident to the treatment of a patient, the introduction as a part of such records of “hearsay upon hearsay” or opinion evidence is improper. Cf. New York Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 147 F. (2d), 297. The admission of that portion of the hospital record stating the opinion of the roentgenologist as to the recent origin of the fracture was error prejudicial to the defendants. Cf. Carson v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 156 Ohio St., 104, 100 N. E. (2d), 197, 28 A. L. R. (2d), 344.

It is the contention of the defendants that plaintiff undertook to prove a conspiracy between the defendants to injure the plaintiff. With this contention we disagree. The petition sets forth a plan or concert of action on the part of the defendants to frighten plaintiff. The fact that a practical joke is the cause of an injury to a person does not excuse the perpetrator from liability in damages for the injuries sustained (52 American Jurisprudence, 436, Section 90), or, as it is stated, one who plays dangerous practical jokes on others takes the risk that his victims may not appreciate the humor of his conduct and may not take it in good part (Restatement of the Law of Torts, 30, Section 13 e). See 9 A. L. R., 364.

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Bluebook (online)
140 N.E.2d 322, 101 Ohio App. 442, 1 Ohio Op. 2d 359, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-woodland-ohioctapp-1955.