Zimmerman v. Franzen

220 P.2d 344, 121 Colo. 574, 1950 Colo. LEXIS 350
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 8, 1950
Docket16282
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 220 P.2d 344 (Zimmerman v. Franzen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zimmerman v. Franzen, 220 P.2d 344, 121 Colo. 574, 1950 Colo. LEXIS 350 (Colo. 1950).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Alter

delivered the opinion of the court.

Henry M. Franzen brought an action against Madaline Zimmerman to recover judgment for damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained by him as a result of being struck by an automobile driven by her. Trial was had to a jury, resulting in a verdict and judgment in favor of plaintiff for $10,000, 'to reverse which defendant has sued out a writ of error.

In the complaint it is alleged that on December 5, 1947, on a public highway in the City and County of Denver, “defendant negligently and carelessly drove a motor vehicle against the plaintiff who was then and there unloading a delivery truck on said public highway.” It is further alleged that as a result plaintiff’s arms, back and legs were injured; that he has been unable to work; and that he incurred medical expenses, all to his damages in the sum of $25,000; further that plaintiff is informed and believes that the injuries sustained will be permanent.

Defendant in her answer denied generally the allega *576 tions of the complaint; for a first affirmative defense she alleged that the damages and injuries, if any, were sustained or proximately caused by plaintiffs own negligence; for a second affirmative defense it is alleged that plaintiff’s injuries and damages, if any, were caused by his contributory negligence; for a third affirmative defense it is stated that plaintiff’s injuries and damages, if any, were proximately caused by an unavoidable accident; and for a fourth affirmative defense, defendant charges that plaintiff’s injuries and damages, if any, were proximately caused by his assumption of risk.

Plaintiff replying to the second affirmative defense, pleaded the doctrine of last clear chance.

Plaintiff testified on direct examination that on December 5, 1947, and for about two and a half years prior thereto, he was employed by the Package Delivery Service Company as a helper on one of its trucks, the principal use of which was the delivery of rugs and other heavy merchandise. On the date last mentioned plaintiff was engaged in removing a rug weighing 260 pounds from the rear of the delivery truck, double parked, when defendant drove her automobile from- the curb immediately to the rear of the truck and struck defendant in the back, with such force that the rug was pushed into the truck again. On cross-examination plaintiff testified as follows:

“Q. May I ask you how wide that truck was? Just estimate. * * * A. I really don’t know how wide they are. I imagine about seven or eight feet, I don’t know. I never measured it. * * * Q. Mr. Franzen, with relation to the rear end of the Package Delivery truck, just where were you standing when this accident occurred? A. In the rear of the truck. Q. How far from the truck? A. Oh, probably a foot and a half, something like that. Q. As I understand it, you had a large Karastan 9 x 12 rug on your left shoulder when you were hit. A. Yes. * * * Q. Were you twisted around? A. No, I wasn’t. Just, you know, you have a different *577 position than when you try to lift a rug up. * * * Q. Now, you had this rug on your back. How much was sticking over the rear of your shoulder at the time of the accident? A. I couldn’t tell you because I was trying to balance it. * * * Q. Did your rug strike that automobile before it struck you? A. What do you mean? Q. Did your rug strike the side of that automobile before the door of the car struck you? A. No. I don’t think the car hit the—the rug hit the car at all. Just the minute I got hit with force I just shoved that rug back into the truck. That was nature. No more. Q. Well, the rug was on your shoulder, though, wasn’t it? A. I was trying to get it there. Q. Could you have any explanation to the jury as to why if the rug was sticking out further behind you, why the rug would not hit the door before the door hit your arm? A. No, I can’t. Everything went so quick that I didn’t know nothing. Q. Isn’t it entirely possible and reasonable, Mr. Franzen, that after you got this rug on your shoulder that you started backing up with the package into the door of that car? A. I wasn’t backed up yet. I didn’t have the rug out of the truck yet. I had it in back of the truck trying to get it on my shoulder. Q. And you contend you were only a half a foot back of the center of the rear of the truck when you were hit? A. I think it was something like that. * * * Q. You were in about the center of the truck unloading it [rug] ? A. Yes.”

Plaintiff further testified that at the time of the accident he declined hospitalization as being unnecessary and that the pain most noticeable was in his elbow, which he thought had been broken. Later in the evening he noticed pain in the lower part of his back and was sent to a doctor who prescribed the application of heat.

At the time of the trial, occurring on the 24th day of January, 1949, plaintiff testified that it was difficult for him to work, and he became overbalanced and fell. He *578 further testified that in June, 1948, his employer “laid him off” because he couldn’t do his work properly, and that he had not recovered subsequently so as to engage in any employment. He also testified that prior to the accident he had enjoyed excellent health and was able to perform heavy work without inconvenience and had been engaged in such work by an ammunition manufacturer and others where it was necessary for him to do heavy lifting.

Plaintiff’s attention was called to his deposition taken on October 11, 1948, in which he testified he was struck on the back of his left arm. He further testified that he was not knocked down and was not twisted by the blow, and, while he could not continue doing heavy work, he remained with his employer until June 14, 1948, except for a short time when he was “loaned” to another company engaged in the same general class of work. He worked steadily and lost no time by reason of the accident. He was interrogated about an accident in which he was involved on February 28, 1948, when he dropped a washing machine and received injuries, but replied that he remembered nothing about this incident. He further testified that he had no recollection of seeing a physician at about February 28, 1948, for treatment of injuries received in this accident. He stated that it was the door of defendant’s car which struck him while he was standing directly in the rear and about a foot and a half from the back of the delivery truck and engaged in putting the rug on his shoulder for the purpose of carrying it into a building and laying it, and that the blow was “just behind the elbow.” -

Plaintiff’s witness, Arthur Oldenettel, testified that on December 5, 1947, and for some time prior thereto, he and plaintiff, who was his helper, were engaged in delivering rugs and other heavy articles. At the time of the accident the truck had been driven northerly and was double parked on the easterly side of a public street. Witness had pulled out from other articles a rug *579 crated “in a small box” for delivery near where the truck was then double parked.

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Bluebook (online)
220 P.2d 344, 121 Colo. 574, 1950 Colo. LEXIS 350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zimmerman-v-franzen-colo-1950.