Peters v. Densmore

144 N.E.2d 235, 75 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 751
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 8, 1955
DocketNo. 559
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 N.E.2d 235 (Peters v. Densmore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peters v. Densmore, 144 N.E.2d 235, 75 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 751 (Ohio Ct. App. 1955).

Opinion

OPINION

By PHILLIPS, PJ.

Plaintiff, a passenger on a Central Greyhound Lines bus enroute to Painesville, Lake County, Ohio, alleged in his petition filed in the court of common pleas that he was injured as the result of defendant’s negligence in operating an automobile from a secondary street into collision with the bus, in violation of a stop sign situated on the secondary street for the protection of traffic moving over and along the main highway on which the bus was being operated about 12:07 A. M. on the morning of October 21, 1952.

By answer defendant admitted liability but specifically denied by answer and opening statement in the trial court, and by argument here, that the plaintiff sustained any of the injuries which he claimed to have sustained as the result of the collision of defendant’s automobile with such Greyhound bus.

The jury returned a verdict for the defendant, upon which the trial judge subsequently duly entered judgment, and from which the plaintiff appealed to this court on questions of law.

By his first assigned ground of error plaintiff maintains that “the court committed prejudicial error in failing to direct a verdict for the [308]*308plaintiff upon the pleadings and opening statement, and to instruct the jury to determine only the amount of damages, if any, due the plaintiff for his injuries, pain, suffering and other expenses.”

In support of this assigned ground of error plaintiff argues by brief:—

“It is our contention that even though plaintiff’s counsel, through oversight, failed to request that the court direct a verdict for the plaintiff on the pleadings and opening statements, that taking into consideration the clear-cut admission of negligence on the part of the defendant, the lower court had a duty upon its own motion and initiative to direct a verdict for the plaintiff and to instruct the jury to render a verdict in whatever money amount they felt would compensate him.”

We have considered the evidence of plaintiff’s injuries, which revealed that he was suffering from an “irritation of the covering of the muscles” and injuries to the neck and lumbar regions, and the conflicting evidence as to the cause of such injuries, and reach the conclusion that the evidence presented a question for the determination of the jury as to whether plaintiff sustained the burden of proof imposed upon him to prove to the jury by the preponderating weight of the evidence that his claimed injuries resulted from the collision of defendant’s automobile with the Greyhound bus in which he was riding, which burden we conclude he failed to carry.

The trial judge did not err to plaintiff’s prejudice in the respects urged in his first assigned ground of error.

By his second assigned ground of error plaintiff charges that “the court erred and committed error prejudicial to the plaintiff by submitting two forms of verdict to the jury for their consideration in their deliberations.”

Supporting this assignment of error plaintiff cites the case of Haines v. Cleveland Railway Company, et al, 141 Oh St 523, and argues in support of his contention that:—

“Having failed to direct a verdict for the plaintiff upon the pleadings and opening statement under the admitted liability so clearly admitted by the defendant, the court at the very least had a duty to submit but one form of verdict to the jury at the close of all the evidence, and that should have been a plaintiff’s verdict form. We submit that the court committed prejudicial error in giving to the jury two forms of verdict, one for the plaintiff and one for the defendant.”

The cited case of Haines v. Cleveland Railway Company, supra, in which the Chief Justice and two judges of the Supreme Court dissented, is distinguished from the case under consideration by the fact that in that case defendant admitted injury to the plaintiff as well as liability, while in the case under consideration defendant admitted liability but denied that plaintiff’s injuries resulted from such collision.

Under the facts in the case we review we conclude that the trial judge could do nothing but submit two forms of verdict to the jury for the reason, as stated by defendant’s counsel by brief, “that the mere fact that liability is admitted does not, in itself, mean that the plaintiff was injured or is entitled to recover,” as no implication can be drawn from the testimony of defendant’s medical witness Duncan that the injuries [309]*309of which plaintiff complained resulted, or might have resulted, from the collision of defendant’s automobile with the Greyhound bus in which plaintiff was riding.

The trial judge can not be charged with the error claimed in plaintiff’s second assigned ground of error.

In his third and fourth assigned grounds of error plaintiff contends that:—

“3. The court erred in admission of improper evidence offered by the defendant over the objection of the plaintiff, to which plaintiff took his objection and exception.
“4. The verdict of the jury appears to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice.”

Plaintiff states by brief that these two assigned grounds of error are argued together:—

“* * * inasmuch as they each have a direct bearing upon the other as the introduction of certain inadmissible evidence helped to create an abundance of passion and prejudice, against this plaintiff.
“One of the most glaring examples of prejudicial error committed by the trial court was its admission of a written statement admittedly signed by the plaintiff on November 12, 1952, some three to four weeks after the happening of the collision and the resultant injuries.”

This statement was admitted over plaintiff’s objection. In it he stated “I was involved in an accident and as far as I know I was not injured.”

Asked why he had signed the statement he said “I thought that pain would leave, I didn’t want to make an issue of the matter.”

With reference to this statement plaintiff contends:—

“* * * that a signed written statement of this sort in order to be admissible into evidence must be an admission against interest, not self-serving or a statement of mere conclusions, and before such statement might be admitted for impeachment purposes, there must be some inconsistent or contradictory testimony or answers on the part of the plaintiff. A search of the record will show that nowhere did the plaintiff deny making and signing the written statement, and nowhere was there any contradictory or inconsistent testimony concerning the signing of said written statement.”

In the plaintiff cited case of Babbitt v. Say, Admr., 120 Oh St 177, upon which plaintiff relies to support his contention of prejudicial error in the admission of such statement, the supreme court held that:—

“* * * it is not prejudicial error to refuse admission of such written statement in connection with the cross-examination of such witness, there being no denials that would show contradiction and thus lessen the credit of the witness.”

As to whether the bill of exceptions reveals contradictory or inconsistent testimony concerning such statement plaintiff testified as outlined by defendant’s brief that:—

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
144 N.E.2d 235, 75 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peters-v-densmore-ohioctapp-1955.