Lusinger v. Philpott

392 S.W.2d 217
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 9, 1965
DocketNo. 11312
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 392 S.W.2d 217 (Lusinger v. Philpott) 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
Lusinger v. Philpott, 392 S.W.2d 217 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinions

ARCHER, Chief Justice.

This suit arose over an automobile-motor scooter collision. Based on the jury verdict, the court entered judgment for defendant, Linda Philpott, from which verdict and judgment the plaintiffs, Wesley R. Lusinger and Curtis Scott Lusinger, bring this appeal.

The appeal is based on two points and are:

“First Point: The court erred in admitting testimony of witness Guy Burrow on his direct examination, to the effect that an alleged witness, Joe Bible, had stated to him after the accident that he had seen the accident and that ‘ * * * the girl came up to the intersection there, stopped or slowed down, he wasn’t sure, proceeded to cross the intersection, and he did make that statement: “Before the motor scooter reached the crest of the hill, they was going too fast” * *. That’s all he would say,’ over the objection that such statement was hearsay testimony.”
Second Point: The trial court erred in admitting, as part of the res gestae, witness Guy Burrow’s testimony that Joe Bible told him, ‘ * * * the girl came up to the intersection there, stopped or slowed down, he wasn’t sure, proceeded to cross the intersection, and he did make that statement: “Before the motor scooter reached the crest of the hill, they was going too fast” * * *. That’s all he would say,’ over plaintiffs’ objection that defendant had not shown that such evidence was an exception to the hearsay rule.”

This automobile-motor scooter accident occurred on November 10, 1963, in Marble Falls, Texas at the intersection of Broadway and Avenue I in the late afternoon.

Avenue I is a paved street 20 feet wide and runs north to south through the main business district of Marble Falls and Broadway is a gravel street running east to west and intersects Avenue I at approximately [219]*219198 feet from the crest of a hill south of Broadway.

All defendants except Linda Philpott were dismissed from the case on motion of plaintiff.

Scott Lusinger was a passenger on the motor scooter which was being operated by Dayton Houy on Avenue I. The day was clear and the streets were dry.

Linda Philpott was called by the plaintiff under the adverse witness rule and testified that she was 17 years old, in the 12th grade, resided with her parents in Marble Falls, had a driver’s license, and was driving an automobile belonging to Marble Falls Auto Repair and Motor Company, having permission to do so; that she had been to a church meeting and at S o’clock p. m. she left the church on Broadway intending to go to Highway 281, and had traveled about 3 or 4 blocks before she got to Avenue I and was traveling at about 20 miles per hour as she approached Avenue I. She looked to the right to see if there was any oncoming traffic twice and saw none, and did not blow her horn or completely stop on entering Avenue I, but slowed to about 5 miles per hour and saw the scooter just immediately before the wreck a distance of 5 or 6 feet, and applied her brakes.

The witness identified a picture and a drawing of the intersection as constructed, and placed her car in position on the diagram, and stated that the motor scooter struck her automobile above the right front wheel.

Dayton Houy testified that he was 16 years old, lived with his parents in Marble Falls and attended high school; that he was the owner of the motor scooter and visited Scott Lusinger, and they concluded to ride around; that he had been operating motor scooters about 2 years. The witness further testified as to the accident and described the streets and area, that as he topped a hill looking north down Avenue I toward Broadway he could see 25 or 30 yards; that he saw the automobile at a distance of 15 to 20 yards off Avenue I on the dirt street going west to east, and thought the car was going to stop, and the next time he saw it it was right in front of him and he was about to hit it; that he did not have time to apply his brakes, but hit the car and was thrown off the scooter into the windshield, and detailed his injuries which were extensive; that he had visited Scott Lusinger who was also injured with broken legs, arm and foot injuries.

The witness Houy testified that the automobile was going between ten, twenty, twenty-five miles somewhere around there; that he did not see the car stop.

Curtis Scott Lusinger testified that he lived with his parents and was 16 years old and was a sophomore in school, and worked at his father’s grocery store and did other duties around the house.

This witness described the trip on the motor scooter and that they were traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour just before the occurrence of the accident; that he did not see the car driven by Linda Philpott before the actual collision, and described the injuries he received which we do not recite in full since the points of error are directed to other phases of the trial proceedings and not to the extent of the injuries.

Point No. 2 is directed to the admission of testimony of Guy Burrow, called by the defendant. Mr. Burrow testified that he was a deputy sheriff of Burnet County, that on November 10, 1963 he investigated an accident between an automobile driven by Linda Philpott and a motor scooter operated by Dayton Houy and Scott Lusinger as a passenger; that he knew Dayton and had seen him in both scooters and automobiles and had warned him about speeding. This was admitted in impeachment of Dayton Houy who had testified that he had not been warned or been stopped.

Mr. Burrow on re-direct examination testified that he arrived at the scene about [220]*220five or ten minutes after the accident happened, as follows:

“Q OK. Now, immediately thereafter, did anyone present themselves to you as a witness to this accident?
A Someone. Of course, there was a lot of people around. Someone came up and said that Mr. Joe Bible had seen the accident.
Q And I’ll ask you if Mr. Bible, right then and within a few minutes after you arrived — within a few minutes after the accident happened — volunteered anything to you as to how fast the motor scooter was going at the time of the accident?
MR. FIELDS: Wait a minute, Your Honor. I object to Counsel going into something he knows is objectionable and not admissible for this jury to consider.
MR. ALLISON: We offer it, Your Honor, as part of the res gestae, having been shown to have occurred within ten or fifteen minutes of the occurrence of the event, having been shown to be, at least in part, a voluntary witness presenting himself, and I have just now asked him if the man said anything to him about how fast the scooter was going.
MR. FIELDS: Your Honor, it was hearsay, rankest kind of hearsay, and the man is right there in Marble Falls now and can be brought on, put on that witness stand—
MR. ALLISON: But he’s just out of the hospital, Your Honor, and can hardly answer. Counsel knows that, he talked to him yesterday.
MR. FIELDS: But I’m not trying to put on anything he’s not here testifying to, Your Honor.
MR.

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392 S.W.2d 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lusinger-v-philpott-texapp-1965.