Black v. New Holland Baptist Church, 45582
| Decision Date | 23 September 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 45582,No. 2,45582,2 |
| Parties | J. E. BLACK v. NEW HOLLAND BAPTIST CHURCH et al |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
1. (a) Admissions or promises of an agent are not binding on the principal when not made within the scope of his agency.
(b) Evidence relative to the existence of liability insurance is irrelevant to any issue in a damage action, and should be excluded.
2. Direction of a verdict for the defendant was proper where, at the close of plaintiff's evidence, a case was not made out authorizing a recovery by the plaintiff.
New Holland Baptist Church, a corporation, owned a house which it had used for some time as a pastorium, but it became vacant when the church constructed a new pastorium and moved the pastor into it. The property was rezoned from residential to commercial and the church determined that the house should be sold and that no money should be spent on it.
G. W. Sheridan, looking for a place into which he might move his family, saw the vacant house, learned that the church owned it and approached Mr. Edgar Crowe, who was a deacon and chairman of the church properties committee, about renting it. At first Crowe informed him that the house was up for sale and that the church was not interested in renting it, but when he went back a second time they agreed that Sheridan might rent it for $55 per month on a month-to-month basis and that Sheridan would vacate the premises when requested so to do. Crowe testified that Sheridan was informed that the church would spend no money on the house and that he would have to make any needed repairs at his own expense. Sheridan testified that while there was nothing said about his being responsible for making repairs, Crowe did tell him that the church would spend no money on the house because of plans to sell it.
Sheridan moved in about the first of January, 1968 and Shortly thereafter paid the January rent, and paid each month's rent up to June. After moving in he discovered that the back porch roof leaked badly and that there was a leak over one of the bedrooms. When he was getting his heat and a water heater installed he discovered, in crawling under the house, that water stood on the ground 'about half way.' A telephone installer who came out to put in a telephone shortly after he moved in, fell through one of the steps to the front porch. The under side of the step showed that the plank was rotten. Sheridan replaced it, but saw nothing to indicate that any of the other steps might be defective. These matters were not reported to the church.
James E. Black, the plaintiff, was a friend of the family and had dates with Sheridan's daughter about twice a week from prior to the time they moved into the house until the first part of June when he was injured as he stepped on one of the steps to the front porch and fell, his foot and leg going through it. That step, too, appeared from the bottom to have been rotten, but from the top appeared to be safe for use.
Black sued the church to recover for his injuries. The church brought Sheridan in as a third party defendant, and the case came on for trial before a jury. After completion of the plaintiff's evidence a verdict was directed for the defendant church, and plaintiff appeals.
Greer, Sartain, Carey & Cromartie, John L. Cromartie, Jr., Gainesville, for appellant.
Norton, Cooper & Deal, W. L. Norton, Jr., J. Nathan Deal, Gainesville, for appellees.
1. (a) Error is enumerated on the exclusion of testimony as to admissions alleged to have been made by R. O. Pilgrim, who was treasurer of the church and a member of its board of deacons, (and who had died after making the alleged admissions) as to the condition of the house and the church's responsibility for Black's injuries.
Black's father testified, as did Ralph Vandiver, that Vandiver called Pilgrim on the telephone to ascertain what the church would do about his son's injuries. Vandiver asserted that Pilgrim stated over the telephone that the house 'was run down, had been a trouble to the church, and that they hadn't spent any money on it because they didn't know what they were going to do with it,' but that they had insurance and that the hospitalization and the like for the Black boy would be taken care of.
Black testified that he saw Pilgrim while at work on his job at a mill and discussed the matter of his son's injuries with him, and that Pilgrim then assured him that 'everything would be took (sic) care of-the bills and everything.
This evidence was excluded because (a) it did not appear that Pilgrim was an agent of the church having authority to handle its properties or to make admissions relative to the matter, and (b) as to the matter of insurance, the statement was in no wise a part of the res gestae and was wholly irrelevant to any issue in the case. We find no error in excluding the evidence. While there was testimony that Pilgrim was treasurer of the church, it was further revealed that his duties as treasurer were to receive monies coming in and to make disbursement thereof when approved by the congregation, the board of deacons or its finance committee. He was not in charge of any church property, was not a member of the properties committee, or the finance committee, nor was he a member of the board of trustees. The rentals collected from Sheridan were delivered to him, and it was his duty to keep records thereof and to deposit the money in the church account.
Whether or not the agency of Pilgrim was shown, 'The opinion of the defendant's agent that the plaintiffs' claim was just and ought to be paid, was not admissible as testimony for the plaintiffs.' East Tenn. Va. & Ga. R. Co. v. Johnson, 85 Ga. 497(3), 11 S.E. 809. And see Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Marshall, 93 Ga.App. 134, 137, 91 S.E.2d 96. Nor does it appear that he was authorized, in the performance of his duties as treasurer, or otherwise, to bind the church by the making of any admissions or of any promise or agreement as to the payment of the hospital or other bills. 'A corporation is not bound by a declaration of an agent made outside the scope of his agency.' Seaboard Air-Line R. v. Sikes, 4 Ga.App. 7(5), 60 S.E. 868. The statements attributed to him were clearly outside the scope of his duties as treasurer.
(b) It is well settled that it is improper to admit evidence relative to the existence of liability insurance in a damage action, since it is irrelevant and immaterial to any issue in the case. Hoard v. Maddox, 202 Ga. 274(4), 42 S.E.2d 744; Harper Warehouse, Inc. v. Henry Chanin Corp., 102 Ga.App. 489, 493, 116...
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