Patton v. Minneapolis Street Railway Co.

77 N.W.2d 433, 247 Minn. 368, 58 A.L.R. 2d 921, 1956 Minn. LEXIS 582
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMay 25, 1956
Docket36,728
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 77 N.W.2d 433 (Patton v. Minneapolis Street Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patton v. Minneapolis Street Railway Co., 77 N.W.2d 433, 247 Minn. 368, 58 A.L.R. 2d 921, 1956 Minn. LEXIS 582 (Mich. 1956).

Opinions

Dell, Chief Justice.

Action for injuries sustained by plaintiff! when he was run over by a bus of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company in which he had been a passenger and from which he had alighted just prior to the accident. The jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor for $52,500. This is an appeal from an order of the trial court denying defendant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial.

The action has been tried twice before. In the first trial there was a special verdict in which the jury, in answer to an interrogatory, found that plaintiff sustained damages as a result of the accident in the amount of $52,500. The special verdict was set aside by the trial court because of its error in submitting the “last clear chance” doctrine and because of doubts that there was sufficient evidence to support the theory of “discovered peril.” In the second trial, the jury disagreed and was discharged. Subsequently, defendant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the disagreement was denied and the case set down for retrial.

In the appeal here the following questions are presented: (1) Is the evidence sufficient to support a finding of negligence on the part of defendant; (2) did the evidence establish as a matter of law that plaintiff had assumed the risk of his actions or that he was guilty of contributory negligence; (3) did the court err in its instructions; and (J) was there prejudicial error in its conduct of the trial or in the final argument of plaintiff’s counsel?

The facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff are as follows: On April 1, 1951, at about 11:30 p. m., at the intersection of Laurel Avenue and North Lyndale Avenue in the city of Minneapolis, plaintiff alighted from a Minneapolis Street Railway Company bus [370]*370■which had been traveling south on Lyndale Avenue and was about to turn west therefrom onto Laurel Avenue. The bus stop at this intersection is on the west side of Lyndale just north of Laurel.

Plaintiff testified that after he alighted from the bus he observed a snowbank three or four feet in height at its high point covering the west curb of Lyndale and extending on a slope three or four feet into the street for some distance northerly along the west curb; that he then noticed the bus was “nosed in” toward the west side of Lyndale with its front end almost up to the edge of the snowbank; that he turned to face the bus and commenced shuffling toward the rear looking in that direction as he moved; that, after he had. moved a foot or two toward the rear, the bus commenced to move preparatory to turning the corner; that he then began pounding on the glass on the side of the bus but that it kept moving and pushed against him until he lost his footing and went under it; that he then saw its right rear dual wheels moving toward his head and that he grabbed something and pulled himself partially out from under them but that they ran over his body; that he lost consciousness but recovered momentarily and again lapsed into unconsciousness; that there had been nothing to obscure him from the driver’s view after he alighted from the bus and was standing in the street; and that it was only about five seconds after the bus stopped before it again commenced to move.

While it is true that an adult passenger on a bus or streetcar ceases to be such after he alights therefrom,1 the carrier’s duty of exercising for him the degree of care required of it for its passengers continues thereafter until he has had reasonable opportunity of getting beyond danger from the vehicle’s operation or movement,2 and this duty encompasses the carrier’s obligation of exercising reasonable care in selecting a reasonably safe place for the purpose of [371]*371discharging him,3 although it is not otherwise responsible for the condition of streets, sidewalks, or boulevard surfaces.4

With these principles in mind and after a thorough examination of the record, we are of the opinion that here there is sufficient evidence to create fact issues as to defendant’s negligence,5 as to plaintiff’s contributory negligence or assumption of risk, and as to the issue of proximate cause in relation thereto.6 A great portion of defendant’s argument on appeal relates to discrepancies or inconsistencies in the testimony of plaintiff at the three trials herein with the claim that they are such as to require that all his testimony be disregarded. They relate principally to his testimony relative to his position when he first alighted from the bus; his knowledge of the conditions there present; the number of steps he thereafter took toward the rear of the bus; and other like questions. After a careful consideration thereof, it is our view that such discrepancies were of a minor nature and at the most merely presented issues as to his credibility which properly were left to the jury for determination.7

We have examined the instructions of the trial court and do not find material error therein. Insofar as they relate to defendant’s duties to plaintiff after he had alighted from the bus, they conformed to the legal principles hereinbefore expressed. Likewise, as to the principles governing superseding intervening cause and the instructions with reference thereto, we are of the opinion that the evidence justified the instructions on this issue and that those given fairly expressed the applicable law thereon.8 Since there was no [372]*372evidence that plaintiff at the time of the accident was under the influence of intoxicants, the court properly refused defendant’s request that the jury be instructed that: “A man who has been drinking is required to exercise the same degree of care for his own safety and that of others as he would had he not been drinking.”9

The contention that plaintiff’s counsel was guilty of misconduct during the trial prior to the final argument is not supported by the record. Moreover, it appears that defendant’s counsel was of the same opinion,at the time of the trial for in his closing argument to the jury he stated:

“* * * I also think that I would be unmindful and not appreciative were I to pass and not make the remark at the outset of my argument as to the fair and courteous manner of counsel on the other side of this case. Partisan, yes, that is their duty. Zealous, yes, that is their duty. But courteous, and at all times fair, even in their zealousness.” (Italics supplied.)

Defendant’s claim that it is entitled to a new trial because of misconduct of plaintiff’s counsel in his final argument to the jury is not supported by the record either. One of the alleged acts of misconduct deals with the following: Dr. John Edward Twomey was called as a witness for the plaintiff. He was one of the doctors who cared for the plaintiff upon admittance to the hospital on April 1, 1951. On June 30 an “off-service record” of the hospital was signed by him. Dr. Twomey testified that an off-service record is a brief summary regarding the injury and care that a patient receives in order that resident doctors coming on service may “get a bird’s eye view of the case.” On this off-service record Dr. Twomey had written “There was an odor of alcohol to his breath.” Counsel for the plaintiff, in examining the doctor, developed that Dr. Twomey had made previous hospital notes and that there was no entry concerning “an odor of alcohol” on them.

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Bluebook (online)
77 N.W.2d 433, 247 Minn. 368, 58 A.L.R. 2d 921, 1956 Minn. LEXIS 582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patton-v-minneapolis-street-railway-co-minn-1956.