Marland Refining Co. v. Duffy

1923 OK 1039, 220 P. 846, 94 Okla. 16, 35 A.L.R. 52, 1923 Okla. LEXIS 433
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 27, 1923
Docket12349
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 1923 OK 1039 (Marland Refining Co. v. Duffy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marland Refining Co. v. Duffy, 1923 OK 1039, 220 P. 846, 94 Okla. 16, 35 A.L.R. 52, 1923 Okla. LEXIS 433 (Okla. 1923).

Opinion

Opinion by

THOMPSON, C.

This action originated in the district court of Kay county, Okla., by J. P. Duffy, defendant in error, plaintiff below, against the Marland Refining Company, a corporation, plaintiff in error, defendant below, for recovery of damages to an automobile owned by defendant in error.

The parties will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant, as they appeared in the lower court.

The petition of plaintiff alleges that he was the owner -of a Velie automobile model No. 38; wh;eh he had parked on the east side of the Arcade' Hotel, on First street, in Pon-ca City, Okla,, where' he was at the time ce- *17 siding and which was the proper, usual, and customary place for parking cars; that the defendant was operating a truck in the conduct of its business on the 8th day of August, 1918, and while plaintiff’s said automobile was standing motionless and unoccupied, the defendant, while running one of its auto trucks, in turning the corner into said First street at a rapid rate of speed, carelessly and negligently ran said auto truck into and against the rear end of plaintiff’s automobile, thereby, without fault or negligence on part of the plaintiff, damaging the plaintiff’s automobile, hending the front axle, smashing the entire rear part of the body, springing (he frame of the car, entirely smashing the gasoline tank, brackets, and tiro hanger, bending the rear spring and the cross spring, crushing and tearing the front and rear fender and smashing the hub cap and rear lamp to the damage of plaintiff in the sum of $940; that he was deprived of the use of the car for a period of 25 days, at the rate of $10 a day, thereby being damaged in the sum of $250: that he was in the brokerage bus-'ness and lost ten days from his business to his damage at the rate of $35 a day, or a total sum of $350; and prays judgment for the total sum of $1,540, with interest from the 16th day of September, 1918, at the rate of six per cent, per annum until paid.

Defendant answered, alleging a general de-uial; that the plaintiff had been operating his car without complying with the law¿*of the state of Oklahoma in procuring a license number and had no license number displayed on his car, as required by the statute, and none had, in fact, ever been issued to the plaintiff by the Commissioner of Highways of the state of Oklahoma; that he was not a manufacturer or dealer in automobiles at the time of the accident and for the purpose of evading the expense of buying a license for said automobile was operating the same on the roads, streets, and highways of the state, under the distinctive tag or license number used by dealers in automobiles, and that he had driven the same under said dealer’s license tag in excess of 3,500 miles, and that by the express violation of the laws of the state of Oklahoma the plaintiff was unlawfully upon the highways of the state of Oklahoma, where the alleged accident occurred, and thereby contributed to the injury of his said car, and that defendant owed no duty to plaintiff other than to refrain from wantonly and willfully injuring the plaintiff or his said automobile.

The answer further alleges that at the time of the accident the plaintiff had parked his automobile near' the curbing on the ea** side of the Arcade Hotel, which is located on the southwest corner of Grand "ave^''~ and First street, in Ponca City, Okla., east of the’ lot line on Grand avenue, so that said automobile was standing with the rear end on Grand avenue; that the truck of the defendant was coming from the east on Grand avenue and, under the city ordinance, was required to pass to the north and west of the center of the intersection of Grand avenue and First street; that, had the automobile of plaintiff been standing further south on First street, where it should have been, the truck of defendant would have been able to turn around the center of First street and pass on south on First. street without touching the automobile of P aintiff; and pleads the above facts as eontibutory negligence of plaintiff in parking his automobile; that the plaintiff had been in the habit of parking his automobile in front of the Arcade Hotel on First street for long periods of time and frequently all night, and that, on the •day of the accident, he had left his • automobile standing, as above stated, for several hours; that the employe, operating the truck of defendant at the time of the alleged accident, was driving the truck with due care and caution and at a slow rate of speed; that it was raining and the pavement was wet and slippery, and without fault and negligence on part of the said employe the truck hit the automobile of plaintiff in the rear near the left side, and that plaintiff’s automobile would not have been hit had it not been st-anding on the crossing, as above stated.

Plaintiff replied by way of general denial, and the cause proceeded to trial before a jury on the 16th day of November, 1920, resulting in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $940.

Motion for new trial was filed and overruled; exceptions reserved and judgment entered upon the verdict for $940, from which defendant appeals to this court.

The attorney for defendant, in his brief, sets up eight assignments of error, but pre-ents argument upon the assignment of error under three separate heads, which are as follows:

“First. That is that there was not sufficient evidence offered by the plaintiff to sustain the verdict and judgment.
“Second. That the court erred in giving Instruction No. six to the jury, over the objection of the defendant. •
“Instruction No. 6. You are instructed, that if you believe from the evidence that at the time of the alleged damages to the plaintiff’s automobile, the automobile was parked at a place where the nlaintiff had a right to park his car, and that the driver of thé «-mfendant’s' truck in turning from *18 Grand avenue into First street, on whibh plaintiff’s automobile was parked, saw, or by the exercise of reasonable care and. caution could have seen the plaintiff’s automobile in time to have stopped his truck, altered its course, or in some way avoided the accident; and if the jury further believe from the evidence that the driver of the truck did not do so, .but carelessly and negligently permitted the truck which he was driving to run against the plaintiff’s automobile and damage it; and if the jury further believe that the said truck driver was at the time, in the employ of the defendant, and pursuing its business, then the defendant is liable for such negligence; provided, the jury further believe from the evidence that the plaintiff was himself without fault or negligence which contributed to the injury.
“Third. Under the sixth assignment of error, that the court erred in ruling out competent and legal evidence offered by the plaintiff in error, and admitting incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial evidence on the part of the defendant in error.”

And, under the rule laid down by the decisions of this court, the other assignments of error will not be considered, except as to the question of the instructions asked for, as they relate to the general subject of inquiry here.

The first complaint made by attorney for defendant is as to the sufficiency of the evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
1923 OK 1039, 220 P. 846, 94 Okla. 16, 35 A.L.R. 52, 1923 Okla. LEXIS 433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marland-refining-co-v-duffy-okla-1923.