Sutton v. Moreland

242 N.W. 75, 214 Iowa 337
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedApril 5, 1932
DocketNo. 41084.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 242 N.W. 75 (Sutton v. Moreland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sutton v. Moreland, 242 N.W. 75, 214 Iowa 337 (iowa 1932).

Opinion

Albert, J.

-The injured party in this action claiming damages was Frank S. Sutton, who was a minor at the time of the accident. The action was instituted by his father as his next friend, but before the case was disposed of, the son became of age and was substituted as the real plaintiff, and we will refer to him as plaintiff in this opinion.

State Primary road No. 117 is a paved highway running east and west and passing through the towns of Wyoming and Anamosa, the latter being the westerly of the two. At a point on this road about five or six miles west of Wyoming, another primary road, known as No. 38, runs south through the town of Olin in the same county. The north end of No. 38, however, is at the point where it reaches primary road No. 117. No. 38 is a graveled road, and about three or four hundred feet south of the pavement on No. 117, No. 38 forks, one fork running northeast and the other northwest, to make the connection with primary No. 117. The distance on primary between the point where these forks connect with 117 is about 350 feet.

*339 Oil August 6, 1930, the town of Wyoming was celebrating a “Diamond Jubilee,” and about ten o’clock of that night, the plaintiff and four others were riding in a Ford touring car to Wyoming to attend such celebration. The ear was owned and driven by one Albert Wink, and plaintiff was riding on the right side of the back seat. They were traveling east on No. 117 when their car collided with a.car owned and driven by the defendant, G-. C. Moreland. The collision occurred near the point where the east fork of No. 38 joins with primary No. 117. The defendant, Moreland, was coming from the east on the north side of the road on his way to his home at Olin, some miles south of No. 117. In changing his direction, he crossed the path of the car in which the plaintiff was riding, which was then traveling in an easterly direction on the south side of the road, and the car in which plaintiff was riding struck Moreland’s car.

There is the usual dispute in the testimony as to whether the defendant gave a signal, or under the law, was bound to give a signal, of his change of direction, and whether there was negligence on the part of Moreland which was the proximate cause of the injury, and other incidental questions growing out of such a situation. These were all questions for the jury, and in so far as the contentions of the appellant are concerned, aret not here for review.

I. The first complaint urged on the part of the appellant is that his (defendant’s) theory of the case was that when he reached the point in controversy he believed, as a reasonably prudent man, that while he saw the car in which plaintiff was riding, he had sufficient time to cross in front of it and avoid the collision.

Of course, every intelligent lawyer in a case has a theory of his case, and the theory thus entertained by him, if it is made-known to the court, should warrant the court in instructing on that theory if the theory is legally correct. Passing the question as to whether or not appellant’s theory was correct, — and assuming it was,- — if he desired such theory to be submitted by the court in the instructions, he should have requested the court so to do; but not having called his theory to the court’s attention by a requested instruction, he is not in a position to complain because no such instruction was given. Under the issues as made. by the pleadings, so far as this question is concerned, the court *340 covered the issues thus made, and that was all that was required of him, in the absence of a request by the plaintiff for further instructions.

II. The next question urged on our attention is instruction No. 12 which reads as follows:

“If you find from the evidence that at the time and place of the accident, the plaintiff was riding in' what is called the ‘Wink car’ as an invited guest of the owner and driver of said car, and that he, the plaintiff, neither had nor assumed any right to direct or control the driver of said car, and did not in any manner control the management, operation or course of said car or its driver, then, although you may believe that the driver of the Wink car was guilty of contributory negligence at the time of the accident, his negligence can not be imputed to the plaintiff.”

The complaint lodged against this instruction is that there was no evidence in the case showing that the plaintiff was the “invited guest” of the owner and driver of the car. We do not think the defendant is in a position to complain as to this instruction. The purpose of the same was to protect the defendant from liability on account of the negligence of the driver of the car; in other words, it told the jury that the negligence of the driver of the car could not be imputed to the plaintiff. We do not think prejudicial error occurred from the giving of this instruction.

III. Complaint is also lodged against instructions Nos. 5 and 6. These instructions deal with the question of which car had the right-of-way at this intersection, and the only complaint against them is that they told the jury that a failure to observe the law as to the right-of-way at this intersection was negligence, and no such ground of negligence was pleaded by the plaintiff.

We turn therefore to the plaintiff’s petition, as amended, and find, among other allegations, the following:

“That at said time and place, defendant, in a careless, reckless and negligent manner, suddenly drove his car across the left side of the road going west on primary road 38, directly in front of the car in which plaintiff was riding, without warning or indicating in any manner that he was going to do so. That *341 said negligent operation of defendant’s car caused a collision between the car plaintiff was riding in and defendant’s car, with such force and violence that plaintiff, Frank S. Sutton, was severely and seriously injured as hereinafter set out, * * * and that defendant was then and there negligent, careless and reckless in the following particulars:
“(1) * * *
“(2) In suddenly turning said automobile directly in front of the car in which plaintiff was riding, without warning or alarm.
“ (3) In turning his car from the right side of the highway across the left side of the highway in front of the ear in which plaintiff was riding so that said collision occurred. ’ ’

By way of amendment he alleges:

“That the defendant was traveling on the right side of the highway, going west, at a rate of speed of approximately thirty-five miles per hour, and without indicating that he was going to cross the left-hand side of the highway and enter the ‘Y’ leading to highway No. 38, and without slacking his speed, defendant drove his car suddenly and without warning of any kind, directly in front of plaintiff’s car, which was driving on the right-hand side of highway No. 117, traveling east. That the defendant failed to continue on the right-hand side of the highway until the car in which plaintiff was riding had passed, so as to avoid an accident, or stop his car entirely.”

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242 N.W. 75, 214 Iowa 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sutton-v-moreland-iowa-1932.