Roberts v. Davis

422 S.W.2d 890
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976)
DecidedJanuary 26, 1968
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 422 S.W.2d 890 (Roberts v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976) primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Davis, 422 S.W.2d 890 (Ky. 1968).

Opinion

STEINFELD, Judge.

Appellant, John Roberts, administrator of the estate of William Roberts sued Hobart Davis, Goldie Davis and Lowell Davis to recover damages for the wrongful death of William Roberts. Plaintiff and defendants moved for summary judgment. The motion of plaintiff was overruled but the motion of the defendants was sustained and the complaint was dismissed. This appeal is from that judgment. We reverse.

Hobart and Goldie Davis are the parents of Lowell Davis who was 21 years of age and fully emancipated. He and his wife lived in a trailer on the farm of his parents where his occupation was principally share cropping tobacco. On occasions Lowell’s father would give him money, but this money was neither a fixed amount nor was it given at any regular intervals. Lowell drove his father to work for which he was compensated.

On August 2, 1964, Hobart purchased 1,000 bales of hay from neighbors, Mrs. Virgie Beech and her brother, George Skir-ven. The affidavits of Goldie and Hobart state that Hobart asked his son Lowell to haul the hay from the Beech farm to that of his parents for which they agreed to pay Lowell $25.00. There is some conflict in the record as to the accuracy of this statement.

To move the hay Lowell was permitted to use his father’s 1955 Ford “pick up” truck on which the only special equipment was a frame that extended out from the bed so that additional bales could be carried. Lowell’s two younger brothers helped with the loading and hauling. William Roberts, a normal person of 17 years of age, who previously had helped Lowell haul tobacco, was engaged by Lowell to assist. Clem Roberts, a younger brother of William, also helped.

For four days the truck }yas loaded with hay and made numerous trips from the Beech farm to the Davis place with Lowell driving and William lying on his stomach on top of the hay. Finally the last 25 or 30 bales were loaded onto the truck. As he had before, Lowell mounted the bed of the truck and the other boys, including William, passed the hay up to him. Lowell arranged the bales and secured them with ropes. When the loading was completed Lowell took the driver’s position and his two brothers entered the cab with him. William climbed on top of the hay as he had done previously. The record is not clear as to what Clem did. The truck left the Beech farm and proceeded along a straight paved road at approximately 20 miles per hour. After it had traveled about 1/2 mile Lowell heard some bales fall from the truck. He stopped immediately, saw that approximately ½ of the bales had fallen and that William had fallen with them. William sustained the injuries from which he subsequently died. There were no known witnesses to the accident. William’s position immediately before the hay fell is unknown.

The Administrator says Lowell was negligent as a matter of law in operating the truck with William on top and that the evidence will show, if he is permitted to intro *893 duce it, that Lowell was negligent in stacking the hay and tying the ropes which held it.

He asserts that William was riding as a gratuitous licensee and that Lowell owed William the duty to refrain from willfully or wantonly causing him injury. He cites Kentucky and West Virginia Power Company v. Stacy, 291 Ky. 325, 164 S.W.2d 537, 170 A.L.R. 1 (1942); Scuddy Coal Company, Inc. v. Couch, Ky., 274 S.W.2d 388 (1955) and Whalen v. Van Natta, Ky., 382 S.W.2d 205 (1964).

Appellant contends that the trial court erroneously sustained the motion for summary judgment made by the appellees, when it should have overruled that motion and granted to the appellant summary judgment, after which it should have directed the jury to assess the damages.

The appellees say that there was no evidence to indicate that Lowell misused the truck, since the proof revealed that this was the customary way the appellees had transported hay for the past several years. They contend that “the real test of negligence, as it applies to the use of instru-mentalities, methods and so on, is the ordinary usage and custom of mankind.” Ellis v. L. & N. R. R. Co., Ky., 251 S.W.2d 577 (1952). We hold that whether Lowell exercised the proper degree of care in using the truck is a question of fact for the jury.

Appellees stress the point that there was no denial that the road was straight, the truck was traveling at a reasonable speed and that the hay was tied when it left the farm. They say that these undisputed facts can lead only to the one inference, that Lowell was not negligent as a matter of law and that any other conclusion would have to be based upon mere speculation. Klingenfus v. Dunaway, Ky., 402 S.W.2d 844 (1966). They contend- that their motion for summary judgment was properly sustained. CR 56.03. Local Indus. Finance Co. v. McDougale, Ky., 404 S.W.2d 789 (1966); American Insurance Co. v. Horton, Ky., 401 S.W.2d 758 (1966). The falling of the hay in the absence of an explanation as to what caused it to fall created a rebuttable inference of negligence. In Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Frick, 256 Ky. 317, 76 S.W.2d 13 (1934) the plaintiff was struck by a lump of coal which fell from the train.

“Negligence may be inferred from circumstantial evidence of an accident, which, in the usual and ordinary course of things, would not happen with proper care, and in such cases the burden is cast on defendant to explain the accident or show freedom from negligence * * * [Njegligence will not be presumed, but must be proved as any other fact, yet it may be proved by circumstantial evidence or by showing facts from which negligence will be inferable, and all facts must be considered.”

In Batts v. Joseph Newman, Inc., et al., 3 N.J. 503, 71 A.2d 121 (1950) a tank fell from a truck injuring Batts. Newman contended that the trial court committed error by refusing to grant its motions for non-suit and directed verdict. It argued that there was no negligence on its part. The court stated:

“The fact the tank fell into the street is eloquent evidence and, together with other proven facts, indicates it was not securely attached to the truck and that adequate precautions were not taken to prevent such an occurrence. There being evidence from which the negligence of [appellant] might reasonably be inferred, a jury question was presented and the motions for non-suit and for a directed verdict on this ground were properly denied.”

George Skirven deposed that when he was at the farm the bales were tied down “real good”. They did not fall. A reasonable inference could be drawn that the load on which William was riding was improperly tied, or it would not have fallen. This was a question for the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
422 S.W.2d 890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-davis-kyctapphigh-1968.