Rogers v. Bouchard

449 S.W.2d 431, 60 Tenn. App. 555, 1969 Tenn. App. LEXIS 333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 29, 1969
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 449 S.W.2d 431 (Rogers v. Bouchard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. Bouchard, 449 S.W.2d 431, 60 Tenn. App. 555, 1969 Tenn. App. LEXIS 333 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

PURYEAR, J.

The defendant-in-error was the plaintiff in the trial Court and the plaintiff-in-error was the defendant therein, so we will refer to the parties here as plaintiff and defendant as they were designated in the trial Court. The ease before us on this appeal is one of two consolidated cases which arose out of an automobile accident occurring on U.S. Highway 41-A north,of Clarks-ville, Tennessee, in the night time on June 1, 1966.

The plaintiff, Jane C. Bouchard, is the wife of Raymond E. Bouchard, Jr., who was a Lieutenant in the United States Army stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, at the time of accident. Both the husband and the wife were injured in the accident, but it is only the wife’s case which is before us on this appeal.

Plaintiff sued for damages for personal injuries and her declaration contains three counts. Because it is especially pertinent to one of the questions raised on this appeal we quote the following allegation contained in the plaintiff ’ s declaration:

“Plaintiff specifically charges that the Defendant, in the operation of his vehicle on the occasion of this accident, drove the same at a high, dangerous and unlawful rate of speed, without maintaining the proper lookout ahead, without maintaining proper control over his vehicle so as to be able to stop the same or to avoid a collision with the vehicle of the Plaintiff, without maintaining proper lights on said vehicle or failing to drive the vehicle at the time with proper lighting equipment(Emphasis supplied.) (Tec. Rec. pp. 3, 4)

To the declaration and all of the allegations thereof, the defendant, Thomas J. Rogers, filed a general issue plea of not guilty and the two cases, that is, the one on [558]*558appeal here and also tlie husband’s case, -were consolidated and tried together before the Circuit Judge, Honorable Thomas Boyers, III, and a jury.

Defendant’s counsel moved for a directed verdict at the conclusion of plaintiff’s proof and again at conclusion of all the proof, which motion was overruled.

The trial resulted in a jury verdict for the defendant in the husband’s case and a jury verdict in favor of the wife in her case, wherein the jury awarded $15,000.00 for personal injuries and $379.00 for the use and benefit of the United States of America for the value of medical care furnished by the government to plaintiff as the dependent of a member of the United States Army.

Judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiff, Jane C. Bouchard, for $15,000.00 for her personal injuries and also $379.00 for the value of medical expenses claimed by the United States of America, the latter amount of $379.00 being awarded for the use and benefit of the United States of America.

Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and the defendant has prayed and perfected his appeal in error to this Court. The husband did not appeal from the judgment rendered against him.

Defendant has filed six assignments of error as follows:

Error No-. 1
“There was no evidence to support the verdict and the Trial Court erred in overruling the defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth grounds, that there was no evidence to support the verdict, the verdict is contrary [559]*559to the evidence, the evidence preponderates against the verdict and in favor of the defendant, the verdict is the result of passion, prejudice or unaccountable caprice and sympathy, and the verdict is inconsistent with the verdict in the consolidated case of Raymond E. Bouchard, Jr. vs. Thomas J. Rogers.
Error No. 2
The Trial Court erred in overruling the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict made at the conclusion of the plaintiff’s evidence (R. 245, 246), and renewed at the conclusion of all the evidence (R. 366), and in overruling the defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the Fifth ground to this effect.
Error No•. 3
The Trial Court erred in refusing to charge the jury the defendant’s following special request and in overruling the Seventh ground of the motion for a new trial in this respect:
‘A person riding in an automobile as a passenger or guest cannot rely upon the care and vigilance of the driver to the extent of relieving himself or herself from the exercise of reasonable precaution for his or her own safety and has a duty to see any danger which can reasonably be seen and to warn the driver. If an adult, while riding in a ear driven by another, sees, or ought by due diligence to see, that the driver is not taking proper precaution, it is the duty of the passenger to demonstrate, or give him warning of danger, and a failure to do so is negligence. A person riding in an automobile must exercise due care for his or her own safety, and this obligation is a continuing personal one.’
[560]*560 Error No. 4
The Trial Court erred in refusing to charge the jury the defendant’s following special request and in overruling the Eighth ground of the motion for a new trial in this respect:
‘A person is required to see what is plainly visible, and what he or she could or should have seen in the exercise of ordinary care. ‘ Ordinary prudence requires every person who is in full enjoyment of his or her faculties, of hearing and seeing, before attempting a dangerous act or 'operation, to exercise them for the purpose of discovering and avoiding the peril. A duty rests upon everyone to exercise his or her intelligence to its fullest extent and to make such use of external senses in the interest of his or her own safety as is reasonable under the circumstances. A person must exercise reasonable care to observe the conduct of another person, so far as such conduct affects his own safety at the time. He is bound to look, and listen, where such precautions are reasonably required to prevent injury to himself or herself.’
Error No. 5
The Trial Court erred in refusing to charge the jury the defendant’s following special request and in overruling the Ninth ground of the motion for a new trial in this respect :
‘While ordinarily the negligence of a husband who is driving a vehicle in which his wife is riding as a passenger cannot be imputed to his wife, the marriage relationship does not preclude the negligence of one spouse from being imputed to the other, and the wife if not to be absolved of her husband’s negligence in [561]*561driving the vehicle if it appears that she had any joint part in directing its movement; or had any grounds for suspecting incompetency or anticipating negligence on her husband’s part.’
Error No. 6
The Trial Court erred in placing undue emphasis upon the right of the plaintiff to recover damages in his statements to the jury when they requested additional instructions, (R. 390, 391, 392), as this was prejudicial to the defendant and influenced the jury in awarding a verdict for the plaintiff, which was inconsistent with the verdict in the consolidated case of Raymond E. Bouchard, Jr. vs. Thomas J.

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Bluebook (online)
449 S.W.2d 431, 60 Tenn. App. 555, 1969 Tenn. App. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-bouchard-tennctapp-1969.