Morgan v. Reneer

264 N.E.2d 71, 148 Ind. App. 90, 1970 Ind. App. LEXIS 333
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 30, 1970
DocketNo. 1069A182
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 264 N.E.2d 71 (Morgan v. Reneer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morgan v. Reneer, 264 N.E.2d 71, 148 Ind. App. 90, 1970 Ind. App. LEXIS 333 (Ind. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

This matter is before us on the Motion of the Appellee Robert E. Hunt to Dismiss the Appeal or in the Alternative to Affirm the Judgment Below as to him.

This appeal is from the Vanderburgh Circuit Court, wherein Judy Reneer, by her father and next friend, brought an action against the appellant Gary L. Morgan and the appellee Robert E. Hunt for damages for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident. Trial was had to a jury, which returned a verdict for the plaintiff, Judy Reneer, against the defendant, Gary L. Morgan, and for the defendant-appellee, Robert E. Hunt. Judgment was entered accordingly.

The motion of the appellee Robert E. Hunt to dismiss appeal or affirm the judgment as to him reads in pertinent parts as follows:

“5. That the jury returned a verdict in favor of this petitioner, Robert E. Hunt, Appellee-defendant and that no verdict was returned against this petitioner.
“6. That no motion for new trial was filed by Judy Reneer, Appellee-plaintiff below, and no motion for new trial was filed by Appellant-defendant below, as against this petitioner Appellee-defendant below.
“7. That this Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt, is not a co-party to the judgment rendered against Appellant-defendant, Gary L. Morgan.
“8. That this Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt, is neither a proper nor a necessary party to this appeal.
“9. That Appellant-defendant, Gary L. Morgan, cannot complain that no verdict was rendered against this Appelleedefendant, Robert E. Hunt, who was sued as a joint tortfeasor.
[93]*93“10. That this Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt, has no interest in the judgment appealed from.
“11. That the entire cause and all issues as between Appellee-plaintiff, Judy Reneer, and Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt, were disposed of in the trial Court.
“12. That the judgment was final as to Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt.
“13. That there were no issues between Appellant-defendant, Gary L. Morgan, and Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt, which could result in a judgment for or against each other.
“14. That Appellant’s brief raises no question or questions as to this Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt. Appellant’s brief raises only the questions of the evidence bearing upon the alleged wilful and wanton misconduct of Appellant-defendant, Gary L. Morgan, and the asserted error of the trial Court in refusing to give Appellant Morgan’s various motions for directed verdicts and to withdraw issues as to Appellant-defendant, Gary L. Morgan, and asserts no error as to Appellee-defendant, Robert E. Hunt.”

In the case of Carita Merriman v. Marion H. Kraft and Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (1968), 143 Ind. App. 256, 239 N. E. 2d 609, this Court, in considering a motion to dismiss premised on the same basis as the one now before us, stated:

“We believe the rule of law, applicable to this motion, is succinctly stated in the case of Smith v. Graves (1915), 59 Ind. App. 55, 58, 59, 108 N. E. 168; followed by this court as late as 1963 in Weiand v. Russow (1963), 134 Ind. App. 625, 190 N. E. 2d 567; as being:
‘When several persons are defendants and the jury finds for part and against part of such defendants, on appeal by the defendants against whom judgment was rendered, the defendants who obtained a verdict and judgment in their favor are neither necessary nor proper parties to the appeal. Town of Windfall City v. First Nat. Bank (1909), 172 Ind. 679-686, 87 N. E. 984, 89 N. E. 311; Southern R. Co. v. Elliott (1908), 170 Ind. 273-276, 82 N. E. 1051; Hubbard v. Burnet-Lewis Lumber Co. (1912), 51 Ind. App. 97-99, 98 N. E. 1011.’
“Based upon the preceding authorities and the reasoning in City of Indianapolis v. Bates (1963), 134 Ind. App. 343, [94]*94188 N. E. 2d 114, we conclude that the appellee, Firestone Tire and Rubber, is neither a necessary nor proper party to this appeal.”

We have examined the motion for new trial filed herein and none of its specifications predicate error on the conduct of the appellee Robert E. Hunt. We are therefore of the opinion that the appellant herein will not be prejudiced by the sustaining of the appellee Robert E. Hunt’s said motion.

The Motion of the Appellee Robert E. Hunt is therefore sustained and this appeal is dismissed as to him.

Note. — Reported in 259 N. E. 2d 438.

Lowdermilk, C.J.

This is an action brought under the guest statute by plaintiff-appellee by her next friend against defendant-appellee Robert E. Hunt and defendant-appellant Gary L. Morgan for damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff-appellee as the result of a collision of an automobile in which plaintiff-appellee was a guest passenger and which was driven by the defendant-appellant Gary L. Morgan, which car collided head-on with an automobile operated by defendant-appellee Hunt, as Hunt approached the crest of a levee and at a time after appellant Morgan had crossed over the levee and was proceeding down the other side. Trial was by jury, which returned a verdict for appellee in the amount of $65,000 against appellant Morgan, and which returned its verdict for the defendant-appellee Robert E. Hunt. Robert E. Hunt is not a party to this appeal.

At the conclusion of plaintiff-appellee’s evidence the defendant-appellant filed written motion for an instruction directing a verdict for the appellant, which motion was by the court overruled. Appellant then filed his written motion for instructions numbered A-l to A-5, both inclusive, withdrawing from the jury’s consideration each of the acts of wanton and reckless conduct alleged in rhetorical paragraph 9 of appellee’s third amended complaint. The court overruled the motion of [95]*95appellant and refused to give instructions numbered A-l to A-5.

Appellant introduced his evidence, after which he filed his motion for a directed verdict, together with tendered Instruction No. B, which motion was overruled by the court. Appellant then filed written motion for Instructions B-l to B-4, both inclusive, withdrawing from the jury’s consideration the acts of wanton misconduct alleged in paragraph 9 of appellee’s third amended complaint, which motion was by the court overruled and the tendered instructions refused.

Appellant timely filed his motion for a new trial, the grounds of which are as follows:

1. The verdict of the jury is not sustained by sufficient evidence;
2. The verdict of the jury is contrary to law;
3. Errors of law occurring at the trial, each separately and severally,

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Schwing v. McKibbin
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Morgan v. Reneer
264 N.E.2d 71 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1970)

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Bluebook (online)
264 N.E.2d 71, 148 Ind. App. 90, 1970 Ind. App. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morgan-v-reneer-indctapp-1970.