Faust v. Buchanan, No. 45760

• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: EBERHARDT; JORDAN, P.J. and PANNELL; JORDAN, P.J., and PANNELL
• Citation: 179 S.E.2d 294,123 Ga.App. 15
• Parties: Madison FAUST v. Joseph C. BUCHANAN, Administrator
• Decision Date: 10 November 1970
• Docket Number: No. 2,No. 45760

Page 294

179 S.E.2d 294 123 Ga.App. 15 Madison FAUST
v.
Joseph C. BUCHANAN, Administrator. No. 45760. Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2. Nov. 10, 1970.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 25, 1970.
Certiorari Denied Jan. 11, 1971.

[123 Ga.App. 16]

Page 295

Beauchamp, Engram & Greenholtz, B. Sam Engram, Jr., Albany, for appellant.

Smith & Hargrove, William E. Smith, Americus, for appellee.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

[123 Ga.App. 15] EBERHARDT, Judge.

Madison Faust brought suit against Joseph C. Buchanan as the administrator of the estate of B. P. Buchanan to recover damages for injury to his motorized mechancial cotton picker which occurred when the deceased drove his automobile into the rear of the picker while it was being moved on the highway by plaintiff's servant, and defendant counterclaimed for the funeral expenses and damage to the automobile of the deceased. Plaintiff's evidence indicated from Pine Mountain to his farm in Terrell from Pine Ountain to his farm in Terrell County by a servant who was experienced in operating it, that the collision occurred about 7 p.m. or shortly thereafter at a place on the highway which was for at least a mile straight and level, that it was on the right side of the road, traveling at about 11 miles per hour and had all lights on-which included two headlights on the front, two red lights which either flashed or remained red, and one white light on the rear, and that these were visible for a distance of a quarter to half a mile. Plaintiff was out in his pick-up truck looking for the picker, seeking to ascertain whether the driver wished to take it on to the farm or to park it at an appropriate place and go home for the night. He came upon it within a very few minutes after the collision, and was the first person on the scene. He found the driver lying in the road, unconscious and with a broken arm. The Buchanan car had hit the picker squarely in the rear, severely damaging it, and had then gone off into the ditch on the left side of the road. Mr. Buchanan was in the car and apparently dead. His car had been severely damaged also.

Defendant's evidence indicated that the red lights on the rear of the picker were not on, but that the white light was. The trial court refused to direct a verdict against the counterclaim, surmising that the single white light shining from the rear may have confused Mr. Buchanan, leading him to believe that he was meeting a vehicle

Page 296

of some sort with only one light, and that this may have been the cause of the collision.

The jury returned a verdict for defendant on his counterclaim, and for the defendant on the main action, and plaintiff appeals, [123 Ga.App. 16] urging that the verdict is without evidence to support it and that the court erred in denying a request to charge on following too closely. Held:

1. While the verdict may have been strongly against the weight of the evidence, and the trial court might have granted a new trial on that ground, this court must, on appeal, construe the evidence in support of the verdict, Young Men's Christian Ass'n v. Bailey, 112 Ga.App. 684, 690, 146 S.E.2d 324; Whatley v. Henry, 65 Ga.App. 668, 682, 16 S.E.2d 214, and if there is any evidence to support the verdict an affirmance results. Middleton...