Cadore v. Karp

• Decision Date: 04 January 1957
• Citation: 91 So.2d 806
• Parties: Mildred Louise CADORE, widow of Thorndyke A. Cadore, deceased, now Mildred Louise Stahovec, Appellant, v. Sadie KARP, as Administratrix of the estate of Sam Karp, deceased, and Lloyd M. Stauffer, Appellees.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 806

91 So.2d 806

Mildred Louise CADORE, widow of Thorndyke A. Cadore, deceased, now Mildred Louise Stahovec, Appellant, v. Sadie KARP, as Administratrix of the estate of Sam Karp, deceased, and Lloyd M. Stauffer, Appellees.

Supreme Court of Florida, Special Division B.

Jan. 4, 1957.

Ross Williams and Dixie H. Chastain, Miami, for appellant.

Dixon DeJarnette Bradford & Williams and Blackwell, Walker & Gray, Miami, for appellees.

ROBERTS, Justice.

The trial judge directed a verdict for the defendant at the close of plaintiff's case in an action for wrongful death, and plaintiff has appealed.

Since the death of plaintiff's decedent was the result of injuries received while a guest in an automobile being operated by defendant's decedent, the plaintiff was required to prove gross negligence in order to recover. Sec. 320.59, Fla.Stat. 1955, F.S.A.; Brailsford v. Campbell, Fla. 1956, 89 So.2d 241. The principal issue here is whether plaintiff's evidence was sufficient to take the case to the jury under the rule of Moore v. Dietrich, 133 Fla. 809, 183 So. 2, that '[a] verdict for the defendant should never be directed by the court unless it is clear that there is no evidence whatever adduced that would in law support a verdict for the plaintiff. If the evidence is conflicting, or will admit of different reasonable inferences, and if there is evidence tending to prove the issue, it should be submitted to the jury as a question of fact to be defermined by them, and not taken from the jury and passed upon by the court as a question of law.'

There was no real conflict in the evidence, although different reasonable inferences could perhaps be drawn therefrom. The defendant's decedent, Mr. Karp, was driving an Oldsmobile '98', two years old, en route to Key West from Miami, at about 5 p. m. on a clear day. He was accompanied by the plaintiff's decedent, Mr. Cadore, who was sitting in the front seat, and two other persons who were seated in the rear seat. One of the persons in the rear was the owner of the car, one Stauffer, who was also named as a party defendant in the instant suit. Both Cadore and Karp were instantly killed in the accident. Mr. Stauffer was asleep at the time it occurred and could shed little light on the circumstances surrounding it. The other passenger did not testify for reasons not shown by the record. The accident occurred on the Torch Key Viaduct bridge when the Karp car, travelling in a southerly direction, collided with a Ford being driven by one Berg in a northerly direction. The bridge is 22 feet wide, 779 feet long, and has a slightly higher elevation at the center than at each end. The point of impact of the collision was 66 feet from the south end of the bridge; and, according to the skid marks, the Karp car had skidded 130 feet before it collided with the left front of the Berg car. It then caromed off and hit the guard rail on its right (the west guard rail) head-on, and ended up diagonablly across the bridge.

Mr. Berg testified that he first saw the Karp car when it was entering the bridge on the north, about 300 yards away. He thought it was travelling about 70 or 75 m. p. h. Berg said he was travelling about 35 m. p. h.; that he heard the noise made by the brakes being applied on the Karp car and felt that it was 'out of control', that he pulled to the right of the highway and applied his brakes and had come almost to a dead stop when the Karp car hit him. The Berg car made two distinct skid marks: one 39 feet and one 31 feet in length. The Berg car was a total wreck, as was the Karp car. Berg and his wife and a passenger were seriously injured. As noted, Cadore and Karp were killed and Mr. Stauffer, the owner of the Karp car, was also seriously injured. There was evidence that the traffic was heavy on the day in question, and that, at the particular time of the accident, there were at least two other cars on the bridge proceeding in a southerly direction and the Berg...