Truck Insurance Exchange v. Michling

358 S.W.2d 697, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2542
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 1, 1962
DocketNo. 3710
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 358 S.W.2d 697 (Truck Insurance Exchange v. Michling) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Truck Insurance Exchange v. Michling, 358 S.W.2d 697, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2542 (Tex. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

WALTER, Justice.

Judgment was rendered for Martha Michling, widow of Hugo Michling, and their children against Truck Insurance Exchange for death benefits under Texas Workmen’s Compensation Act.

[698]*698The insurance company has appealed contending- the court erred (1) in permitting the widow to relate statements of the deceased about a blow on his head which he claimed was received while working for Buckaloo Excavating Company (2) in holding there was some evidence that the deceased sustained a personal injury while working in the course of his employment for Buckaloo Excavating Company (3) in failing to grant a new trial because the jury’s findings were against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. It also contends the court erred in overruling its objection to appellees’ argument to the jury and in failing to submit a requested special issue.

Appellees’ case was primarily based on the testimony of Mrs. Michling about matters related to her by her husband. Appel-lee contends her testimony is admissible under the res gestae rule. The cause of deceased’s death is not questioned. Our principal question is whether or not Mrs. Michling’s testimony was admissible, and if admissible, does it have probative force in establishing the fact that her deceased husband, Hugo Michling, sustained an accidental injury on April 12, 1958, in the course of his employment for Buckaloo Excavating Company.

A fair summary of Mrs. Michling’s testimony is as follows: Hugo Michling had been working for Buckaloo Excavating Company for about nine years prior to his death, driving a truck and operating a bulldozer. Most of his work was cleaning locations and digging pits for oil companies. He traveled to his work in a pickup furnished by Buckaloo. He worked seven days a week. He started to work sometimes at 3:00 or 4:00 o’clock in the morning but usually started about 6:30 or 7:00. At the time of his alleged accidental injury he was working at Fashing, Texas, about thirty miles from his home. When he left home to go to work on the morning of April 12, 1958, he was apparently in good physical condition. He was the only Buckaloo employee working on the job on this occasion and was cutting down a hill with a bulldozer. It would take him about 45 minutes to drive from the place where he worked to his home. Her husband returned home about 3:30 that afternoon. She noticed him when he got out of the car and testified “he sort of stumbled and caught himself and walked on up to the house and he said his head was hurting him terribly.” When she got him in the house she gave him some aspirin. He was batting his eyes and very pale. “He said he had hit his head on the bulldozer, the iron bar across the seat. It slipped off a hill and he hit his head.” “He said his head hurt so bad that he couldn’t do any thing else. He had to put the bulldozer up and come home.” Hugo Michling died at the hospital on May 11, 1958.

We agree with appellees’ contention that this testimony is admissible under the res gestae rule. “The question of the admission of evidence, as a part of the res gestae, is one of law, and must be determined in the first instance by the trial court.” “The admission of particular evidence under the res gestae rule rests largely in the discretion of the trial court. * * * (1) To bring a declaration within the res gestae rule, such declaration must be connected with, and arise out of, the transaction which is the subject-matter of the inquiry. The proffered statement may be separated from the act or transaction by a more or less appreciable period of time, but it must stand in immediate causal relation to it. It must be either a part of the transaction or made under such circumstances as to raise a reasonable presumption that it is a spontaneous utterance of thought created by, or arising out of, the transaction itself. 17 Tex.Jur. 618, § 259, and authorities cited in notes. (2) Again, to come within the rule the statement must not only be a spontaneous utterance of thought, created by or springing out of the transaction itself, but must be such as to exclude the idea of premeditation. The facts attending the statement must lead to the reasonable conclusion that the statement offered in evidence was made under such circumstances that reason and reflec[699]*699tion are not dominant, but that the statement was made from impulse. 17 Tex.Jur. 620, § 261, and authorities cited in notes. (3) The authorities above cited show that, while time is an important element in determining the question of spontaneity, it is not controlling, and is perhaps secondary to the condition of the declarant at the time the statement is made. Two important elements in reference to the admission of the statement are: (a) Was the declarant suffering great pain at the time the statement was made? And (b) did death from the injury follow soon after making the statement? Western Union Tel. Co. v. Brown (Tex.Civ.App.) 297 S.W. 267; International Travelers’ Ass’n v. Griffing, supra [Tex.Civ.App., 264 S.W. 263].” Texas Employers Ins. Ass’n v. Shifflette, Tex.Civ. App., 91 S.W.2d 787 (Writ Dis.). In the case of Atkinson v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., Tex.Civ.App., 235 S.W.2d 509 at p. 511 (Writ Ref. N.R.E.), the court was considering a statement of an alleged injured employee who had departed for his work about 1:00 a. m. and returned home about 4:00 o’clock in the morning and was violently ill. The injured employee’s wife testified that her husband had vomited in the automobile he was driving and complained about his legs hurting him and about pains in his chest. She further testified that her husband stated that he had gone into a freezer unit at the plant and stayed for ten or fifteen minutes, “that he had inhaled a lot of gas and that was why he was sick.” This last statement was admitted in evidence as res gestae declaration over objection. In holding that said statement was admissible the court said: “There is a preliminary question raised as to the admissibility of the declaration of deceased that he had inhaled ammonia gas. It is said in the briefs that the trial court admitted the statement on authority of Texas Employers Ins. Ass’n v. Wade, Tex.Civ.App., 197 S.W.2d 203. We think that the Wade case supports the trial judge’s ruling. The opinion in the cited case and the opinion in Texas Employers Ins. Ass’n v. Shifflette, Tex.Civ.App., 91 S.W.2d 787, contain discussions of the res gestae rule as applied to situations similar to that involved here. These discussions need not be repeated. It is sufficient to say that the evidence shows that the declarant, whose death took place within two months, was in extreme physical and mental distress at the time the statement was made. Atkinson’s declaration could properly be considered as an undesigned circumstance which was part of an occurrence related to his consequential death. The matter was one addressed to the discretion of the trial court and that court did not exceed its authority in admitting the statement. It follows that, in passing upon the point at issue, the declaration cannot be disregarded as having no probative force.”

In the case of Worley v. International Travelers Assur. Co., Tex.Civ.App., 110 S.W.2d 1202

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Related

Truck Insurance Exchange v. Michling
364 S.W.2d 172 (Texas Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
358 S.W.2d 697, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/truck-insurance-exchange-v-michling-texapp-1962.