Teche Lines, Inc. v. Boyette

111 F.2d 579, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 3695
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMay 10, 1940
Docket9399
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 111 F.2d 579 (Teche Lines, Inc. v. Boyette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teche Lines, Inc. v. Boyette, 111 F.2d 579, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 3695 (5th Cir. 1940).

Opinions

HOLMES, Circuit Judge.

The appellee secured a jury verdict in an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by her while a passenger on a bus owned and operated by appellant The latter argues that it should have been granted the peremptory instruction requested, because (1) there was no negligence shown and (2) the verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

[580]*580The accident complained of occurred in Mississippi, about 2 o’clock in the afternoon of a clear day, on a concrete highway between Jackson and Wesson. Appellee testified that she was sitting in the bus on its right front seat; that the bus was trav-elling over 60 miles an hour at'all times; that, at the time of the accident, the driver had increased the speed to 70 or 75 miles per hour in order to reach a bridge in advance of a car approaching from the opposite direction. She was apprehensive of the danger, and braced herself, but the bus successfully cleared the bridge; whereupon the driver turned to the passenger behind him and made a remark “sounding like, ‘well, we beat ’em.’ ” As he turned, he pulled the bus to the left and into the middle or left side of the road, where it collided head-on with a small automobile approaching from the other direction. The right front of the bus struck the right front of the little car, and the impact was so severe that appellee was thrown 90 feet through the air.

It was appellee’s theory that the little car pulled to its left in an effort to avoid the bus, whereas appellant’s testimony was that the bus was on the right side and the little car pulled over so suddenly that the accident was caused thereby, and could not have been avoided by the driver of the bus. Appellant introduced, as witnesses, six passengers on the bus who contradicted the appellee as to the speed at which the bus was being operated and the side of the road on which it was travelling. Two witnesses testified that the bus was equipped with a governor limiting its speed to 50 miles per hour, and one of them stated that the bus could be stopped within 30 feet, at 30 miles per hour, Mid within 65 to 70 feet, at 60 miles per honr. Several testified that the accident occurred just as the bus came off the bridge. This testimony was corroborated in part by two witnesses who observed the accident from a distance of a quarter of a mile. The physical facts, which are undisputed, show that two black marks, apparently caused by the application of the brakes of the bus, ran down the highway from the bridge a distance of 150 feet, then angled across the road, at which point a deposit of mud, dust, glass, and debris was found. The bus finally stopped off the left side of the road 280 feet from the bridge, and the small car stopped 202^ feet from the bridge on the opposite side.

With the evidence in this state of conflict, appellant argues that .the uncorroborated testimony of the appellee cannot stand alone against the overwhelming evidence of ten disinterested witnesses, and that her testimony was therefore unbelievable. We cannot agrée. Appellee’s general reputation for truth and veracity was not impeached; her seat in the bus afforded her the best view of the happenings; her testimony of the excessive speed was corroborated by the distance she was hurled through the air, by the distance the bus traveled with the brakes locked, and by the condition of the two wrecked vehicles. Her testimony of the position of the bus at the time of impact was strengthened by the location of the debris, the course of the black brake-marks, the fact that the right front of each vehicle was the point of collision,' and in that the bus was found off the left side of the highway. The testimony of the appellee was in harmony with the physical facts, consistent with the undisputed facts, and reasonable. Pullman Co. v. Griffith, 5 Cir., 109 F.2d 612, Jan., 1940; Faulkner v. Middleton, Miss., 190 So. 910; Goodyear Yellow Pine Co. v. Anderson, 171 Miss. 530, 157 So. 700; Cox v. Tucker, 133 Miss. 378, 97 So. 721; 5 Corpus Juris Secundum, Appeal and Error, § 1648.

The contention that the verdict is excessive is a matter exclusively within the discretion of the trial court, which this court lacks jurisdiction to review. Swift & Co. v. Ellinor, 5 Cir., 101 F.2d 131; Atlantic Greyhound Corp. v. Crenshaw, 5 Cir., 99 F.2d 449; Kansas City Southern Ry. Co. v. Pinson, 5 Cir., 61 F.2d 1001; Southern Ry. Co. v. Montgomery, 5 Cir., 46 F.2d 990; Louisiana Oil Refining Co. v. Reed, 5 Cir., 38 F.2d 159.

Finally, it is urged that the lower court erred in denying motions for a new trial sought on the ground of after-discovered evidence. Some several weeks after judgment was entered in this case, two attorneys of counsel for the appellant observed the appellee when she was a witness in a law suit. They made affidavits stating that she appeared to be entirely well; that' they did not notice any impairment of sight, hearing, or movement; that she seemed cheerful, alert, and composed; and that, from her appearance, she gave no evidence of suffering any pain or disability or of ever having been in a wreck. The evidence adduced at the trial on the question of [581]*581damages consisted of the testimony of a nurse, two physicians, and a household companion. This testimony revealed painful and permanent injuries that involved her sight, hearing, and motivation. No adverse proof was offered by appellant.

Three other witnesses, claimed to be undiscovered until after the trial, were offered. The testimony of one involved a repetition of testimony adduced at the trial, and the other two had been witnesses for the bus company in a former trial arising out of the identical collision. They were present in court during the trial of this case, but did not testify.

A motion for a new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. A ruling thereon cannot be disturbed by an appellate court unless it constitutes a manifest abuse of discretion. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Banion, 10 Cir., 106 F.2d 561; Zahn v. Hudspeth, 10 Cir., 102 F.2d 759; Streckfus Steamers v. Shuttleworth, 4 Cir., 86 F.2d 327; National Box Co. v. Wroten, 5 Cir., 66 F.2d 86. The trial court acted within its discretion in refusing to accept the opinions of appellant’s attorneys concerning the nature and effect of the injuries sustained, which were formed from a belated and remote observation and were in contradiction of the conclusions reached by competent physicians after detailed examinations and repeated treatments.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 F.2d 579, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 3695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teche-lines-inc-v-boyette-ca5-1940.