Maryland Casualty Co. v. Allen

22 S.W.2d 329
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 2, 1929
DocketNo. 1907.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 22 S.W.2d 329 (Maryland Casualty Co. v. Allen) 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
Maryland Casualty Co. v. Allen, 22 S.W.2d 329 (Tex. Ct. App. 1929).

Opinion

WALKER, J.

This is a compensation case by the appellees, the widow and surviving children of Blewett Allen, against appellant as the insurer of his employer, Beaumont Coca Cola Bottling Company. Answering special issues, the jury found that on or about the 7th day of May, 1927, while in the course of his employment, Allen sustained personal injuries to a blood vessel of the brain which resulted in his death. On this verdict judgment was entered in appellees’ favor against appellant for the statutory compensation. All of appellant's propositions of error relate to the ruling of the trial court on two hypothetical questions admitted over its objections addressed to and answered by appellees’ medical expert, Dr. A. A. Bailey, as follows:

Question No. 1: “Doctor, I’ll ask you this question: A man about 41 or 42 years of age, and has been employed, working regularly fox-several months — was placed in a position that required him to exert himself by lifting on a heavy piece of machinery, say in the forenoon, about' ten or eleven o’clock and in the afternoon he was required to lift again on the same machine, weighing about probably three to four hundred pounds, or maybe as much as 1,200 pounds, lifting with three other men upon this machinery, and if this man while lifting upon that machinery would fall over and die within a few moments what would you say was the cause of his death?” to which the witness answered: “That’s a pretty long question to answer at one time, I would say that if .the man was lifting a heavy weight and he fell while lifting the weight, without any other apparent cause, it would be in my opinion caused by the strain or lift.”

Question No. 2: “Doctor, in a case where four men were required to lift an object that weighed from 300 to 1200 pounds, and while lifting upon that machine or that instrument one of these paxffies fell and died within a few moments, would you say that the strain or exertion that he ixlaced himself to in lifting upon that object would be such as would be calculated to produce a ruptured blood vessel in his body that would cause his death or not?” to which the witness answered: “I can’t just exactly answer that yes or no; I would say that if he was lifting and this occurred as a result of that lifting,' it ^was the lifting that caused it, there being no" other reason for it, and don’t — but just to say all of those — these are x-elative — a man’s tendencies to a rupture of a blood vessel has a great many relative questions in it, what the condition of the man would be, and thousands of men do lift heavy *330 weights, but they don’t all have ruptured blood vessels, nor any great part of them, but ruptured blood vessels do occur, tbe way I understand it.”

After tbe two foregoing questions bad been asked and answered, over appellant’s objections, tbe following additional question was asked Dr. Bailey by appellees and answered by bim without objection:

“Now, doctor, there is testimony admitted here that Blewett Allen was about 41 or 42 years of age; that be was working for tbe Beaumont Coca Cola Bottling Works; bad been working for tbe Beaumont Coca Cola Company about eight or nine months; that he bad worked regularly for tbe company during that time; that is bad not laid off on account of sickness during that time. There is further evidence that on tbe morning of May 7th, 1927, Blewett Allen in connection with several other employees, three or four in number, lifted upon an object there, a syrup machine ; one of the witnesses says in his opinion it weighs three or four hundred pounds and another witness, a mechanic, testifies that it weighed probably 1200 pounds. That was lifted out in the forenoon about ten or eleven o’clock. There is further testimony here that in the afternoon Blewett Allen and two other employees were undertaking to lift the same object back into place. Now at that time Blewett Allen fell and died on his way to the hospital, within a few moments. Under that state of facts, doctor, would you say in your opinion Blewett Allen died from natural causes or as a result of an injury or a strain that he had in lifting on that machine? A. Well, I would have to say that it was due to the strain; that is the most likely thing that I could see. I would naturally attribute it to the only thing in evidence; if I saw a man shot down or I saw him fall and there was some shooting done, and I didn’t know anything more about it, I would just say he was shot. Under those circumstances I would attribute his death as a result of straining and lifting.”

Appellant objected to the first two questions on the ground that (1) there was no basis in the evidence for the recited premises of fact (a) that the machinery which Allen was help1-ing lift weighed! “from three or four hundred to twelve hundred pounds,” and (b) that he “fell while lifting upon this machine at that time and died soon after”; (2) the premises of fact assumed in the questions were contradictory, confusing, indefinite, and uncertain.

Appellant asserts that the third question, and the answer thereto, was a nullity and of no force and effect, since, as it asserts, it was not based upon an assumption of fact but merely upon a recitation of the testimony, and appellant says further that this question was not, in substance nor effect, the same as questions 1 and 2, and that the answer carried to the jury an entirely different statement of fact.

Opinion.

We think all of appellant’s contentions must be denied/ Hypothetical question No. 3, received without objection, was sufficient to form the basis of an expert answer. We think, construed as a whole, the question was not a mere recitation of testimony, as such, but was an assumption by the questioner that the facts recited in the question were true. The statement made in the first part of the question, “There is testimony admitted,” was reduced to an assumption of fact by the closing statement, directly submitting the question to the witness, summarizing the effect of the testimony as “under that state of facts.” It is clear from the answer of the witness that he assumed as true the recited testimony and based his answer on that assumption. Railway Company v. Compton, 75 Tex. 667, 669, 13 S. W. 667, is very much in point against appellant’s proposition. In that case the hypothetical question was prefaced with this statement: “It is claimed in the case at bar,” etc. Judge 'Gaines, writing the opinion, treated the question as assuming the facts, saying: “The facts assumed in the question,” etc. We also think this question' and answer are, in substance, a restatement of the other questions and their answers, and, if errot was eommittéd in their reception, it was rendered harmless by the admission of question 3 without objection. It is the rule that the admission of improper evidence ⅛ harmless where the same evidence is subsequently received without objection. Texas & Southwestern Digest, Appeal & Error, 1052(2).

But the court did not err in its rulings on questions 1 and 2. The premise of fact that the machinery weighed from 300 or'400 to 1200 pounds has support in the evidence. The bill of exception recites:

“Some of the plaintiff’s witnesses had testified that the machinery was lifted out in one piece and weighed twelve hundred pounds, while other of plaintiff’s witnesses had testified that the machinery was somewhat dismantled and taken out piece-meal and put back the same way and that the heaviest piece thereof, weighed three or four hundred pounds as well as the witness knew.”

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22 S.W.2d 329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maryland-casualty-co-v-allen-texapp-1929.