Davis v. Klaiber

• Decision Date: 17 February 1956
• Docket Number: No. 12532.,12532.
• Citation: 229 F.2d 883
• Parties: Myrtle G. DAVIS, Appellant, v. John W. KLAIBER, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

229 F.2d 883 (1956)

Myrtle G. DAVIS, Appellant, v. John W. KLAIBER, Appellee.

No. 12532.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

February 17, 1956.

Gerald P. Openlander, Toledo, Ohio, Richard B. Swartzbaugh, Toledo, Ohio, on brief, for appellant.

Wayne E. Stichter, Toledo, Ohio, John R. Eastman, Eastman, Stichter & Smith, Toledo, Ohio, on brief, for appellee.

Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, and McALLISTER and MILLER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant filed this action in the Court of Common Pleas, Lucas County, Ohio, seeking damages of the appellee in the amount of $125,000.00 by reason of injuries suffered by her in an automobile accident which occurred while she was riding as a passenger and guest in a Cadillac automobile, owned and being operated at the time by the appellee. Following removal to the U. S. District Court, and the filing of an answer the case was tried to a jury. At the close of appellant's case the Court sustained appellee's motion for a directed verdict and entered judgment in his favor, from which this appeal was taken.

The case involves the application of the so-called "Guest Statute" in effect in Ohio. Gen.Code Ohio, § 6308-6, Section 4515.02, Revised Code of Ohio. It provides: "The owner, operator or person responsible for the operation of a motor vehicle shall not be liable for loss or damage arising from injuries to or death of a guest while being transported without payment therefor in or upon said motor vehicle, resulting from the operation thereof, unless such injuries or death are caused by the wilful or wanton misconduct of such operator, owner or person responsible for the operation of said motor vehicle." The complaint alleged that while the appellant was riding as a passenger and guest in the automobile being operated by the appellee on a public highway "said automobile left said highway at a point where said highway makes a 45 degree left turn and collided with a utility pole as a result of the wilful and wanton misconduct of defendant * * *," causing the injuries thereafter set out and complained of. The appellee's answer denied that he was guilty of any wilful or wanton misconduct.

The appellant testified about the facts pertaining to the accident as follows: The appellee, whom the appellant had met and with whom she had had dinner about a year previously, had invited her to have dinner with him and was driving from the Press Club in down-town Toledo to an inn in Maumee, Ohio, on the outskirts of Toledo, for that purpose. The...