Mower v. McCARTHY

245 P.2d 224, 122 Utah 1, 1952 Utah LEXIS 176
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJune 5, 1952
Docket7478
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 245 P.2d 224 (Mower v. McCARTHY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mower v. McCARTHY, 245 P.2d 224, 122 Utah 1, 1952 Utah LEXIS 176 (Utah 1952).

Opinions

WADE, Justice.

The defendant, The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company, appeals from an interlocutory order directing it to produce and permit plaintiff to inspect and copy a transcript of the testimony of witnesses taken by it while investigating a derailment accident by which plaintiff’s decedent was killed. Because of the importance of the question and once the inspection and copying was made a reversal on appeal would not restore the parties to their present status, we granted the appeal. It involves a construction of the discovery provisions of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, especially Rules 26, 30 and 34. Hereafter, the term “Rule” or “Rules” unless expressly otherwise stated refer to the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure.

The accident occurred on February 26, 1944, about three miles west of Soldiers Summit, Utah, while decedent was operating the derailed locomotive as engineer. On March 4, 1944, the investigation was held by the operations department of defendant in the due course of its business without participation therein by either its claims or legal department. It was in the form of oral questions and answers which were stenographically recorded and transcribed. The testimony falls into three classifications: (1) [5]*5The testimony of the four surviving train crew members; (2) The testimony of other of defendant’s employees who examined or inspected the equipment or facilities of defendant involved in the accident shortly before or after it occurred; and (3) The opinions and conclusions of supervisory employees of defendant in the nature of expert testimony.

About March 11, 1944, plaintiff employed the law firm of Rawlins, Wallace, Black and Roberts to handle this claim. Soon thereafter Mr. Black notified the defendant of such employment and both he and an investigator interviewed the four surviving crew members. The record shows nothing on what was disclosed by these interviews except that later that firm commenced this action on December 24, 1946; that firm withdrew on April 22, 1948, after plaintiff contrary to their advice refused to accept a small offer of settlement from the defendant, thereby indicating they considered the evidence they had obtained not sufficient to justify a trial. Later plaintiff, appearing through attorneys Brown and King associated with the above mentioned firm, amended her complaint after Mr. King had interviewed the three still surviving- train crew members. King testified that two of them were hostile and uncooperative but the third was friendly and cooperative but all their memories were very hazy and they lacked information on vital details bearing on the cause of the accident so that he could not discover sufficient proof of its cause, mentioning many acts and details which he could not prove one way or the other.

The dissenting opinion suggests that under Art. VIII, Sec. 9, Constitution of Utah, providing that “in cases of law the appeal shall be on questions of law alone,” we are powerless to review this appeal without findings of fact. Neither side requested such findings and neither raised the question here. There are cases which hold that such findings are required under Sec. 104-26-3, U. C. A. 1943, which provides that “the facts found [6]*6and the conclusions of law must be separately stated,” but they do not rely on the above constitutional provision. Although the constitution provides for a review of the facts in equity cases, findings of fact are required in equity as well as law cases and many of the cases referred to involve equitable issues. In re Thompson’s Estate, 72 Utah 17, 35, 269 P. 103; In re Raleigh’s Estate, 48 Utah 128, 141, 158 P. 705. In reviewing a case of this kind where issues of fact are involved and there are no findings of fact, we do not review the facts but assume that the trier of the facts found them in accord with its decision, and we affirm the decision if from the evidence it would be reasonable to find facts to support it. See Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 49(a). This is the same procedure which is followed where a jury returns a general verdict without disclosing its findings on the facts, and in administrative agency cases where findings of fact are not required, but we cannot review the facts. Even under the above statute, findings of fact are not required for a review of a decision on a motion involving issues of fact which does not constitute a final judgment. In re Gibbs, 4 Utah 97, 6 P. 525; Wright v. Union P. R. Co., 22 Utah 338, 62 P. 317. So it is clear that the above constitutional provision does not prohibit this review.

Rule 52(a) which superseded Sec. 104-26-3, expressly provides that in this kind of a motion findings of fact are unnecessary. In every case involving disputed issues of fact, findings of such facts are helpful to the reviewing court and should be made where requested and findings which meet the approval of the trier of the facts are proposed. Findings on such issues are common although not required in jury cases, by special verdicts and answers to interrogatories, and in cases tried before administrative agencies. Rule 49(a) and (b).

So in reviewing this decision we assume that the trial court found the facts in accord with its decision in all cases where under the evidence it could reasonably so find. All of [7]*7the facts herein stated could reasonably have been found from the evidence. There is very little conflict in the evidence. The dispute involves questions of law, and inferences which should be drawn from undisputed evidentiary facts, such as whether this transcript was prepared in anticipation of litigation and whether a denial of such production will cause plaintiff unfair prejudice, undue hardship or injustice in preparing her case. Plaintiff claims that if inspection is denied she has no source of learning the information which it contains and that without that information she cannot prove what caused the accident. Defendant does not claim that such information is otherwise available to plaintiff, or that this transcript does not disclose the cause of the accident, or that plaintiff has failed to use diligence in the discovery of such evidence, but seems to argue that plaintiff’s case is so weak that she should be satisfied to drop it without inspecting this transcript and that she is acting in bad faith in pressing for such discovery. If plaintiff’s case is as weak as defendants seem to claim, then no harm could be done in making this disclosure. When Mr. Black interviewed the surviving train crew members and advised plaintiff to settle, our law made no provision for such a discovery which was first provided for by Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, not effective until the first of the year 1950.

The Rules should “be liberally construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action,” Rule 1 (a). One of the principal means of obtaining these ends is discovery. See Alexander Holzoff’s Instruments of Discovery under Federal Rules of Procedure, 41 Michigan Law Review 205, where he says:

“* * * a disclosure may be obtained in respect to all pertinent information in the possession of any party to a litigation. An exception is, of course, made for privileged matter. It is one of the basic theories of the new procedure that every party to a law suit is under a duty to reveal to any other party all pertinent data in his control. * * *”

[8]*8Rule 26 provides:

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Bluebook (online)
245 P.2d 224, 122 Utah 1, 1952 Utah LEXIS 176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mower-v-mccarthy-utah-1952.