Mount Olivet Baptist Church v. George

378 S.W.2d 549, 1964 Mo. LEXIS 789
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 13, 1964
DocketNo. 50280
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 378 S.W.2d 549 (Mount Olivet Baptist Church v. George) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mount Olivet Baptist Church v. George, 378 S.W.2d 549, 1964 Mo. LEXIS 789 (Mo. 1964).

Opinion

ELMO B. HUNTER, Special Judge.

This is an appeal by the plaintiffs in two actions brought in the Circuit Court of Jackson County and consolidated for trial and appeal. Each suit was for damages sustained by the particular plaintiff in the destruction by fire of his property. The Mount Olivet Baptist Church, plaintiff in cause No. 122,838 sued for damages in the sum of $20,000 for the total destruction of its church building located near Third and State Street in Kansas City, Kansas; and plaintiff George Parkins in cause No. 122,-839 sued for $32,500 for the total destruction of his machine shop building located on the corner next to the church building.

At the close of plaintiffs’ evidence all four of the defendants orally and separately moved for a directed verdict on the ground, among others, that no submissible case had been made. The trial judge sustained the [551]*551motions, advised the jury thereof, and entered judgment for all defendants accordingly.

The principal question on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in sustaining the motions for directed verdict. It is our duty to review the pertinent evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs and to give them the benefit of every inference reasonably deducible therefrom. With that duty in mind we proceed to summarize the evidence on the submissibility issue, and later determine which of it properly applies to each particular defendant and whether it is sufficient to make a submissible case.

On October 17, 19SS, approximately 3:30 in the morning, defendant Russell Robert George, while acting within the scope of his employment with defendant Colonial Petroleum Company, a corporation, was driving a tractor-trailer unit, some 45 feet in length and loaded with 5,000 gallons of gasoline, south on Third Street in Kansas City, Kansas, at approximately 20 miles per hour. This tractor-trailer was owned by defendants R. L. Trimm and Thomas McWilliams, partners, who had leased it to Colonial Petroleum Company. Defendant Aetna Casualty and Surety Company was the liability insurance carrier.

It was the intention of defendant George to make a right-hand turn onto State Street and to proceed west thereon. State Street runs east and west, and Third Street runs north and south. At this point Third Street is approximately 52 feet wide and State Street is 58 feet wide. Both Third Street and State Street have street lighting at the intersection, and the area was "well lighted.” Third Street is approximately level as one headed in a southerly direction approaches the intersection with State Street, but State Street, proceeding west from the intersection, has a steep incline of approximately 30 degrees.

As he approached, and was approximately 10 to 15 feet north of the intersection, George looked into the rear-view mirrors on each side of his vehicle to see if any traffic was following him and saw no traffic behind him. George then turned the corner and started up State Street when he heard an impact of some sort. A Pontiac automobile which he had not seen prior to the impact had struck the trailer portion approximately half way back on the right-hand side. George then turned his head to look through the rear window and discovered the trailer was on fire. He continued up State Street approximately 50 more feet, crossing over its center line and stopped somewhat on the south side of State Street. He applied his air brakes immediately and jumped out, and then the truck rolled back down the hill some 114 feet coming to rest on the west side of Third Street, the gasoline aflame. These flames spread to and destroyed plaintiffs’ mentioned property, which according to some of the evidence was valued at $13,584 (Mount Olivet building) and $2,824 (Parkins building) plus $2,865.75 as the value of the Mount Olivet building’s contents destroyed by the fire.

The only witness presented at the trial was James Toura, a police officer who arrived at the scene after the accident, but while the two buildings and the tractor-trailer were still burning. Nearly all of plaintiffs’ evidence came from alleged admissions against interest made by defendant George to Officer Toura at the scene of the accident and alleged admissions against interest contained in defendant George’s answers to interrogatories and in his deposition, to which admissions all of the other defendants timely and successfully objected as not being binding upon them. Some evidence came from pictures taken after the accident.

We first consider whether a submissible case was made against defendants Trimm and McWilliams. Plaintiffs’ counsel in his opening statement admitted to the jury and stipulated with these defendants’ attorney that these two defendants who are partners in the ownership of the tractor-trailer, had leased it to defendant Colonial Petroleum Company and that defendant [552]*552George was actually an employee of the Colonial Petroleum Company and was operating the truck at the time in question as its employee for and on its behalf. Yet plaintiff now contends the trial court erred in directing a verdict for defendants Trimm and McWilliams “since these defendants admit ownership of the vehicle driven by George * * * (and) such ownership raises a presumption of employment and that George was acting in the course thereof” citing O’Malley v. Heman Construction Company, 255 Mo. 386, 164 S.W. 565; Fleischman v. Polar Wave Ice & Fuel Co., 148 Mo.App. 117, 127 S.W. 660 and Stevens v. Missouri Pac. Ry. Co., Mo., 355 S.W.2d 122. However, in none of the cited cases was there an admission or stipulation by the pertinent party that the owned vehicle had been leased or given over to another person whose employee or agent was operating it in the scope of his employment and for the benefit of that latter person. Whatever presumption or inference concerning whether the driver was the vehicle owner’s servant might otherwise obtain, no presumption or inference of employment of a driver by the owner and that the driver was acting in the course of such employment can be permitted to be drawn from mere ownership of the vehicle in question in the face of an admission or stipulation to the contrary. It is plaintiffs’ tacit concession that unless George was an employee of defendants Trimm and McWilliams at the time in question no submissible case was made against them. Under the facts before us there is no permissible inference or presumption of the nature plaintiff wishes to assert, and the trial court did not err in directing a verdict and entering judgment for defendants Trimm and McWilliams.

Plaintiffs next contend the trial court erred in directing a verdict for defendant Colonial Petroleum Company for the reason that company admitted it was George’s employer and, as such, is liable for George’s negligence. The difficulty with this contention is that to make out any semblance of a submissible case against George, plaintiffs found it necessary to introduce as admissions against interest George’s answers to interrogatories and George’s answers contained in his deposition, to all of which tire defendants, including Colonial Petroleum Company, timely objected as not being binding on them. These objections were sustained by the trial court which instructed the jury that the particular evidence could not be considered as applying to any defendant other than George. See, Shelton v. Wolf Cheese Co., 338 Mo. 1129, 93 S.W.2d 947; Roush v.

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Bluebook (online)
378 S.W.2d 549, 1964 Mo. LEXIS 789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mount-olivet-baptist-church-v-george-mo-1964.