State v. Wells

146 Ohio St. (N.S.) 131
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 26, 1943
DocketNo. 30398
StatusPublished

This text of 146 Ohio St. (N.S.) 131 (State v. Wells) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio 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. Wells, 146 Ohio St. (N.S.) 131 (Ohio 1943).

Opinions

Matthias, J.

The Court of Appeals based its decision solely upon the construction of the provisions of Section 6307-20, General Code, and directed the dismissal of the defendant upon the single ground that a charge of manslaughter in the second degree under the provisions of Section 6307-18, General Code, may not be predicated upon a violation of the provisions of Section 6307-20, General Code, if the person killed was the occupant of the defendant’s automobile.

Section 6307-20, General Code, provides as follows :

“No person shall operate a vehicle, trackless trolley [134]*134or streetcar without due regard for the safety and rights of pedestrians and drivers and occupants of all other vehicles, trackless trolleys and streetcars, and so as to endanger the life, limb or property of any person while in the lawful use of the streets or highways.”

Section 6307-18, General Code, provides in part as follows:

“Whoever shall unlawfully and unintentionally kill another while engaged in the violation of any law of this state applying to the use or regulation of traffic, shall be guilty of manslaughter in the second degree.”

It is to be observed that Section 6307-20, General Code, is a “law of this state applying to the use or regulation of traffic.” It prescribes and establishes a standard of operation in addition to and aside from other statutory provisions prescribing limitations of speed. Failure to observe such regulation of traffic constitutes a violation punishable as specified in Section 6307-107, General Code.

The conclusion of the Court of Appeals, that the regulation prescribed by Section 6307-20, General Code, can have no application where-the person killed was an occupant of the automobile of the driver, is based upon the ground that the “doctrine of ejusdem generis should apply to the interpretation of the words ‘and so as to endanger the life, limb or property of any person while in the lawful use of the streets or highways.’ ”

In general terms, that doctrine may be stated as follows: “Where general words follow specific words in an enumeration describing the legal subject, the general words are construed to embrace only objects similar in nature to those objects enumerated by the preceding specific words.” 2 Sutherland Statutory Construction (3 Ed.), 395, Section 4909.

It is more fully stated in 37 Ohio Jurisprudence, 779, Section 450, as follows: •

[135]*135“Where, in a statute, general words follow a designation of particular subjects or classes of persons, the meaning of the general words will ordinarily be construed as restricted by the particular designation and as including only things or persons of the same kind, class, or nature as those specifically enumerated, unless there is a clear manifestation of a contrary purpose.”

However, the application of that rule of statutory construction is not unlimited. There must be certain other conditions present to justify its application. As stated in 2 Sutherland Statutory Construction (3 Ed.), 400, Section 4910:

“The doctrine applies when the following conditions exist: (1) the statute contains an enumeration by specific words; (2) the members of the enumeration constitute a class; (3) the class is not exhausted by the enumeration; (4) a general term follows the enumeration; and (5) there is not clearly manifested an intent that the general term be given a broader meaning than the doctrine requires.”

Assuming that the first four conditions are present, is there no clearly manifested intention on the part of the Legislature that the general term be given a broader moaning than the doctrine requires?

It is said in 37 Ohio Jurisprudence, 780, Section 451:

• “The doctrine of ejtisclem generis is but a rule of construction to aid in ascertaining the meaning of the legislation involved. It is not to be employed in any case to subvert a meaning clearly expressed or to defeat the plain intent of the General Assembly, and it does not warrant a court in confining the operation of a statute within limits narrower than those intended by the lawmakers.”

In Sutherland Statutory Construction, supra, at page 407, we find the following:

“A final qualification on the doctrine is that the [136]*136general words .are not restricted in meaning to objects ejusdem generis if there is a clear manifestation of a contrary intent. In the words of the United States Supreme Court, ‘while the rule is a well-established and useful one, it is, like other canons of statutory construction,- only an aid to the ascertainment of the true meaning of the statute. It is neither final nor exclusive. To ascertain the meaning of the words of a statute, they may be submitted to the test of all appropriate canons of statutory construction, of which the rule of ejusdem generis is only one. If, upon a consideration of the context and the objects sought to be attained and of the act as a whole, it adequately appears that the general words were not used in the restricted sense suggested by the rule, we must give effect to the conclusion afforded by the wider view in order that the will of the Legislature shall not fail.’ [Helvering v. Stockholms Enskilda Bank; 293 U. S., 84, 88-89, 79 L. Ed., 211, 55 S. Ct., 50 (1934).]
“The intent that the general words have their full and natural meaning, regardless of their connection with a series of specific words, may be found'in the context of the statute as a whole, by a consideration of its purpose. Likewise, the rule of ejusdem generis will not be applied if it results in a construction inconsistent with the statute’s legislative-history, other controlling rules of construction, or statutes in pari materia.” See Woodioorth v. State, 26 Ohio St., 196; State v. Johnson, 64 Ohio St., 270, 60 N. E., 219.
Section 6307-20, General Code, is a part of the Uniform Traffic Act which became effective September 6, 1941. Section 6307-2, General Code, also a part of that act, which is clearly in pari materia with Section 6307-20, General Code, defines the word “person” as “every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.”

[137]*137An application of the rule of ej-usdem generis, which would in effect redefine the word “person” so as to limit it to “ pedestrians and drivers and occupants of all other vehicles, trackless trolleys and streetcars,” is unwarranted. The very evident purpose of the Uniform Traffic Act is to regulate all traffic on the highways and to require such operation of vehicles as will not endanger any person, wherever he may be, in the lawful use of the highway. “Any person” means every person, and the courts should not by construction insert an exception where there is none in the statute. The word “and” is a word of addition and therefore indicates a clear intent and purpose to extend and broaden the effect and operation of the provision which immediately precedes that word. “Any person” means all persons. If there had been a purpose of any limitation or exception, it seems obvious that the word such

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United States v. George
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Helvering v. Stockholms Enskilda Bank
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132 Tenn. 603 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1915)

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Bluebook (online)
146 Ohio St. (N.S.) 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wells-ohio-1943.