Webber v. Farmer

410 P.2d 807, 1966 Wyo. LEXIS 132
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 1966
Docket3437
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 410 P.2d 807 (Webber v. Farmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Webber v. Farmer, 410 P.2d 807, 1966 Wyo. LEXIS 132 (Wyo. 1966).

Opinions

Mr. Justice McINTYRE

delivered the opinion of the court.

Suit was brought by Landis Webber, a rancher, against James Farmer, a truck operator, for the killing of twelve head of plaintiff’s cattle on a county road west ■of 'Thermopolis, Wyoming, when a herd ■of cattile were run into by defendant in bis truck. Plaintiff also claimed personal injuries t-o his back caused by his horse being frightened and rearing. The defendant counterclaimed for damages to his truck.

Following trial to a jury, a verdict was •returned with a finding against plaintiff •on his cause of action and against defendant on his counterclaim. No damages were awarded to either party. Plaintiff-Webber, the owner of the cattle, has appealed.

The asserted grounds of appeal have to ■do with the admission of evidence; alleged misconduct on the part of counsel for ■defendant; the sufficiency of evidence for a finding of contributory negligence; and instructions to the jury. We will consider these grounds in the order in which they arc listed.

Admission of Evidence

The driver of the track topped the brow' of a hill and on the downslope ran into) the herd of cattle, which entirely blocked 1 the roadway. Much attention was given, to the distance at which the driver could í see the cattle after he topped the brow of1' the hill and before he hit the cattle.- Plaintiff-Webber performed an experiment with! a witness and took a picture' to' determine this distance. Defendant-Farmer with a; witness performed a similar experiment and took a similar picture.

Webber ¿Taints the camera for Farmer’s picture was not at the stipulated height of the eye level ®f a driver in Farmer’s truck; that the picture- therefore did not give- a true representation of the distance- in question ; and that the picture for thi'ff reason) should not have- been admitted into evidence.

Defendant-Farmer testified the picture-honestly and fairly showed the distance-that he could see when- he was first able- to- seethe cattle as he approached the scene- of the accident. And. of course, counsel' for Webber was free to) cross-examine Farmer as to his theory in: this regard and' make-whatever argument, he saw fit to make- to-the jury. However; Farmer was just: as; much entitled to present his theory, based', on his picture, as- Webber was to present his theory based on- his picture.

We accept the- general rule on: determination as to admissibility as stated'& 32 C.J.S. Evidence- §' 7M, pp. 1018-101'9> (1964), which is in substance this: Whether a photograph is sufficiently- verified as a-proper representation, is-a:preliminary question to be determined' by the- trial judge;- and the admission- or rejection of a photograph is a matter which-rests largely in the-discretion of the trial' j'udjge-.

Our court followed' this principle in Dr. Pepper Company v. Heiman, Wyo., 374 P.2d 206, 212. For other cases, to the same effect, see Mason v. Bon Marche Corporation, 64 Wash.2d 177, 390 F.2d 997, 998); and Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. Universal Surety [809]*809Company, 177 Neb. 60, 128 N.W.2d 361, 375.

As stated in both of the latter two cases, in the absence of a showing of an abuse of discretion, the trial court’s ruling will not be reversed on appeal. In the case at bar, we find no abuse of discretion.

Appellant further claims he was prejudiced because a highway patrolman was permitted to testify, over objection, as to what the standard braking distance of a truck with a weight of 70,000 pounds would be at a speed of 20 miles per hour, on a level hard-surfaced road. It is pointed out that the road here involved was a gravel road and defendant’s truck was traveling downgrade.

Based on the authority of Caperon v. Tuttle, 100 Utah 476, 116 P.2d 402, 404-405, 135 A.L.R. 1399, we can agree with appellant that the testimony of the patrolman concerning braking distances should not have been admitted. However, this evidence could serve no purpose except to prove defendant was not negligent. The jury, in denying defendant’s counterclaim, necessarily found defendant negligent, and plaintiff was therefore not prejudiced by the patrolman’s testimony.

Conduct of Counsel

Appellant complains that the trial court erred in permitting evidence and statements of counsel which compared the wealth of the respective parties in this action. For example, in his opening statement, counsel for the defendant said Mr. Farmer had not repaired his truck because he did not have the money to do so. Also, complaint is made because Farmer testified as to the number of acres of land owned by Webber and at one time referred to $60,-000 worth of cows blocking the road. An additional complaint is made against a closing-argument statement made by defendant’s attorney.

Plaintiff’s attorney immediately objected to the statement regarding Farmer not having the money to repair his truck and asked the court to instruct the jury to disregard it completely. The court did so. Also, plaintiff’s attorney requested an instruction by the court to the jury relative to the financial condition of the parties, and the court instructed:

“As you were verbally instructed heretofore, the financial status or condb tion of either party in this case has nothing whatever to do with the issues in this case and you should not consider or conjecture on this proposition.”

As near as we can tell, neither any request for correction by the court nor any request for instructions to the jury was made by plaintiff’s attorney, with respect to matters now complained of, without the request being complied with by the court. Counsel for appellant seems to agree no one of his objections is sufficiently serious to warrant reversal, but he suggests all added together rendered a prejudicial effect.

Complaints similar to those now made by appellant’s attorney were made in Ford Motor Company v. Arguello, Wyo., 382 P.2d 886, 892, and in Edwards v. Harris, Wyo., 397 P.2d 87, 95. We did not in those cases, and we do not in this case, condone questionable practices on the part of trial attorneys in alluding to matters or causing matters to be alluded to, before the jury, which ought not to be referred to in the presence of the jury.

We repeat again, however, the well-established rule which we followed in the Ford Motor Company case and in the Edwards case, that it is incumbent upon counsel to object to remarks of opposing counsel and to give the trial court an opportunity to instruct the jury to disregard the same or otherwise correct the record, before alleged prejudicial error concerning the remarks can be considered on appeal.

This simply means when an attorney chooses to let conduct which he considers questionable go without an attempted correction, taking his chances on a favorable decision by the jury with things as they are, he cannot be heard to complain after[810]

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Bluebook (online)
410 P.2d 807, 1966 Wyo. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/webber-v-farmer-wyo-1966.