Roberts v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Company

276 S.W.2d 575, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2102
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 11, 1953
Docket4964
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 276 S.W.2d 575 (Roberts v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Company, 276 S.W.2d 575, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2102 (Tex. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

FRASER, Justice.

This is a damage suit. L. M. Roberts, a feme sole, brought suit against the Dallas Railway & Terminal Company for injuries sustained while she was a passenger on one of appellee’s buses. The case was tried before a jury in the 44th District Court of Dallas County, Texas, which resulted in a verdict for appellee. The motions of appellant to set aside the verdict and for a new trial were overruled on February 6, 1953. On February 6, 1953, appellant filed notice of appeal.

The jury exonerated the bus driver of all negligence, and found that he was acting under an emergency,. and found, that plaintiff did not receive any bodily injury.

Appellant complains of the action of the trial court in admitting records of the City-County Department of Public Welfare and parts of same, and records and parts of records of the State Department of Public Welfare. Appellant has treated all twelve points together in her argument in her brief.

Appellant’s first point of error asserts that the records of the City-County Department of Public Welfare were hearsay, and immaterial and irrelevant and therefore inadmissible and their result was prejudicial.

Appellant’s second, third, fourth, and fifth points of error assert that certain specific parts of .the records of the City-County Department of Public Welfare were inadmissible and their admission was prejudicial to appellant. These items were notes and reports of case workers as to their conversations with and impressions of appellant, and statements of third parties about appellant. Some of these are herein reproduced:

“Miss Roberts had been to Parkland Clinic and expressed her many resentments to the doctors there and because they did not have separate floors for the negro and white patients.”
“Miss Roberts also resents the attitude of the members of the Methodist Church, even though she is a member also. She states that she no longer attends services in any Methodist Church because the people going there are to hypocritical and make her feel unwanted and ill at ease. She has gotten a great deal of satisfaction out of attending services at a nearby Nazarine Church.”
“Mrs. Holland said she could not accept the agency’s system of payment and furthermore she did not want Miss Roberts in the house as she and other roomers there were afraid of her. Other roomers claim they have missed things from their rooms, jam, preserves, soap, etc. She also says Miss Roberts’ actions are very mysterious. *577 She takes out bundles and boxes at night and brings in ‘all sorts of junk’.”
“Miss Roberts stated that her chief difficulty was that she was too good and people were always trying to swindle her out of something. She stated that she did not know why this was unless she just looks as if it could be done because all through her life that is what has happened to her.”

Appellant’s sixth point is in effect the same as points 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Her seventh point objects generally to the admission of the records of the State Department of Public Welfare for the same reasons as set forth in point one.

In points eight, nine and ten appellant assigns error in admitting specific portions of these records as being hearsay, and prejudicial as well as not relevant. They are here set out:

“Miss Roberts has been using apple crates for chairs. She is really a collector for junk. A junk dealer across the street gave her a lot of stuff she was going to have hauled away. Miss Roberts had this moved into her back yard. This consists of old cook stoves, old refrigerators, pieces of tin, wire and cardboard boxes. She told the worker the fire inspector had told her that she had to get this cleaned up, that it is a fire hazard.”
“Mrs. Lillian May, 639 West 9th St. (WI-0960), called regarding Miss Luster Roberts. Mrs. May explained that she is a friend of Mrs. Nevada Webster, 1101 Walter Drive (WI-1018), who is distantly related to Miss Roberts.
“Mrs. May said she wanted to tell us Miss Roberts is ill and needs someone to take care of her, as she cannot get out of bed to do anything for herself. She doesn’t think anyone would go to Miss Roberts’ home to give her care and that she should be put in a hospital. In fact, Mrs. May said the doctor who had examined her for her lawyer thought so too.
“When we questioned further in an effort to understand why a lawyer had sent Miss Roberts to a doctor, we were told that Miss Roberts has filed a suit against the Dallas Street Railway Company, for an injury she claims to have had nearly two years ago. The lawyer is Mr. Guy Carter and the physician, Dr. Frank Altick (DI-3939). There seems to be some question as to the professional responsibility on the part of both the lawyer and the doctor, as Mrs. May told us that Mr. Carter claims to have given Miss Roberts instruction for filing suit, but has not been retained for further service, while Dr. Altick said he was asked to examine Miss Roberts to determine the nature and extent of the alleged injury and not requested to give treatment.”
“The worker then asked if she didn’t feel that she needed to go to Parkland for a physical check-up. She said that she would not go to Parkland Hospital ; in fact, she wouldn’t take a dog to Parkland.”

We feel that appellant’s points 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 are well taken. The most casual reading of the matters set forth above as excerpts from case workers’ notes will illustrate that this evidence, both as individual items and from a cumulative point of view, was most prejudicial, and created an impression most unfavorable regarding appellant; picturing her as a petulant and difficult eccentric, as well as a petty thief. Indeed, one case worker went so far as to question the professional responsibility of her doctor and attorney. This was all read to the jury and was certainly of a highly prejudicial nature. We do not see the relevancy of this type of evidence, especially where the issues are the negligence of appellee and the injuries alleged by appellant. The suggestion that her lawyer and doctor were not responsible people would certainly be highly prejudi *578 cial. This unhappy' woman was not on trial, nor were her habits and eccentricities, nor her choice of doctor or lawyer.

Appellee insists that these parts of the said record were admissible as bearing on her earning power, financial situation, and- the condition of her health. Those portions of these records reflecting these specific matters might conceivably be admissible, but the matters here complained of and set out go far beyond that, and in addition to being irrelevant and prejudicial are hearsay and double hearsay, in some instances. Appellee insists that these matters come under the exception to the hearsay rule regarding public records of an official nature. We do not find that these items -measure up to the requirements of such exception.

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Bluebook (online)
276 S.W.2d 575, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-dallas-railway-terminal-company-texapp-1953.