State v. Trimming

406 P.2d 118, 89 Idaho 440, 1965 Ida. LEXIS 387
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1965
Docket9578
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 406 P.2d 118 (State v. Trimming) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Trimming, 406 P.2d 118, 89 Idaho 440, 1965 Ida. LEXIS 387 (Idaho 1965).

Opinions

SMITH, Justice.

Appellant has appealed from a judgment of conviction of driving an automobile on a public highway at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent. The appeal is designed to test whether, under I.C. § 49-701, driving a motor vehicle on a public highway in excess of the posted speed limit, in and of itself, constitutes a crime, particularly in the absence of any showing of conditions as to render the speed unreasonable and imprudent.

The complaint filed in the justice’s court of the Justice of the Peace, Elmore Pre[443]*443cinct in Elmore County, charged that on January 29, 1964, appellant drove his motor vehicle on a certain public highway in Elmore County, “at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing on said highway, to-wit: at a speed of 75 miles per hour, which speed was 15 miles per hour greater than the prima facie limit of 60 miles per hour as established and posted on said highway.”

Appellant was charged with having violated the provision of I.C. § 49-701, which reads:

“Basic rule and prima facie limits.—
(a) No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. In every event speed shall be so controlled as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle, or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care.
“(b) Where no special hazard exists that required lower speed for compliance with paragraph (a) of this section the speed of any vehicle not in excess of the limits specified in this section or established as hereinafter authorized shall be lawful, but any speed in excess of the limits specified in this section or established as hereinafter authorized shall be prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable or prudent and that it is unlawful:
“1. Thirty-five miles per hour in any urban district;
“2. Sixty miles per hour in other locations during the day time; *

Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charged offense; stood trial, and, from a judgment of conviction imposing a fine, appealed to the district court.

In the district court appellant and respondent stipulated the evidence, based upon the evidence adduced in the justice’s court, as follows:

That U. S. Highway running westerly from Hammett to a point 4 miles west of Mountain Home, has an oiled surface and is divided in traffic lanes by a painted white stripe as the place where the charged offense occurred;
That on January 29, 1964, at 1:30 p. m., appellant operated a described automobile on such designated portion of the highway, traveling westerly, in his right-hand lane of traffic, at a speed of 75 miles per hour, for a distance of one-half mile; that at the time and place the highway was posted as a 60-mile speed zone, “as fixed” by the statute, I.C. sec. 49-701.
[444]*444That appellant was arrested and cited for driving the vehicle at the speed of 75 miles per hour, and in excess of the posted speed limit. The stipulation then recites:
“That there are no circumstances other than the rate of speed at which defendant’s vehicle was' being driven which would constitute a violation of law.”

There is no conflict in the evidence.

The cause was submitted to the district court sitting without a jury upon the evidence as so stipulated. The trial court found that appellant was driving a motor vehicle at the designated place upon the highway at a speed of 75 miles an hour for a distance of one-half mile, and that the highway at the time and place was posted as a 60-mile an hour speed zone, and then found that “under the facts set forth in said stipulation, that said driving of the Defendant at said speed on said highway constituted driving at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent, and that driving at said speed was unlawful.” Appellant has appealed from the resulting judgment of conviction and imposition of a fine.

Appellant’s specifications of error raise the issues:

Whether the trial court erred in finding appellant guilty of driving a motor vehicle unlawfully, i. e., at a speed “greater than was reasonable and prudent,” and
Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the court’s finding that appellant’s driving at a speed of 75 miles per hour for a distance of one-half mile was “greater than was reasonable and prudent.”

Appellant contends that the proof fails to establish a violation of any of the pro-, hibitory provisions of the substantive law; that there was no evidence of unreasonable and imprudent driving; and that the court in effect found appellant guilty of imprudent and unreasonable driving when the evidence shows that no circumstances existed other than speed.

The evidence so stipulated by the parties must be taken and considered as the undisputed proof in this cause.

Stipulations are the agreements, of, and may be relied upon as, undisputed proof. Koron v. Myers, 87 Idaho 567, 394 P.2d 634 (1964); Copco Steel & Eng. Co. v. The Prins Willem Van Oranje, 159 F.Supp. 79 (E.D.Mich.1957); Grand v. Griesinger,. 160 Cal.App.2d 397, 325 P.2d 475 (1958); Brown v. Keaton, 232 Ark. 12, 334 S.W.2d 676 (1960); 83 C.J.S. Stipulations § 12. “As a general rule, stipulations of parties- or counsel made in pending proceedings are conclusive as to all matters properly contained or included therein,” Koron v. [445]*445Myers, supra. See also Big Lost River Irrigation District v. Zollinger, 83 Idaho 401, 363 P.2d 706 (1961); Arnett v. Throop, 75 Idaho 331, 272 P.2d 308 (1954); 83 C.J.S. Stipulations § 13. Admissions in open court by a prosecuting attorney, or by the counsel for the accused, are conclusive. State v. Whiteaker, 118 Or. 656, 247 P. 1077 (1926); Bell v. State (1944), 147 Tex.Cr.R. 330, 179 S.W.2d 550; State v. Smith (Mo.App. 1918) 201 S.W. 942. Admissions by the prosecuting attorney of material facts are to be construed in favor of the accused. Sinclair v. State, 161 Miss. 142, 132 So. 581, 74 A.L.R. 241 (1931); State v. Cochran, 230 N.C. 523, 53 S.E.2d 663 (1949); 23 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 904.

Essentially appellant’s specifications of error raise the issue of insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the court’s finding that appellant drove at a speed greater than was reasonable and prudent.

The conduct, which I.C. § 49-701 renders unlawful, is the driving of a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the hazards actual and potential then existing.

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State v. Trimming
406 P.2d 118 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
406 P.2d 118, 89 Idaho 440, 1965 Ida. LEXIS 387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-trimming-idaho-1965.