Graf v. Marvin Engh Truck Co.
| Decision Date | 07 September 1962 |
| Citation | 207 Cal.App.2d 550,24 Cal.Rptr. 511 |
| Parties | Glenn P. GRAF, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. MARVIN ENGH TRUCK COMPANY et al., Defendants and Respondents. Civ. 6847. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
George E. Shibley, Long Beach, Margolis & McTernan and John T. McTernan, Los Angeles, for appellant.
Miller, Nisson, Kogler & Wenke, Santa Ana, for respondents.
Plaintiff-appellant Glenn P. Graf brought this action for personal injuries occasioned by a three-car collision against defendants-respondents Marvin L. Engh, individually, and doing business as Marvin Engh Truck Company, and against his driver, Orlo G. Enderson, and Jose F. Navejos.
Mr. Engh died before trial and his widow, Phyllis N. Engh, as administratrix, was substituted in his stead. Defendant Navejos cross-complained against plaintiff Graf and defendants Engh and Enderson.
The jury returned a verdict for Navejos against Engh and Enderson for $750. Navejos appealed, but apparently his appeal has been abandoned and it is not here involved. A jury trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiff Graf and against defendants Engh and Enderson for $1,000. A motion for new trial by plaintiff was made on the ground that the evidence was insufficient, in that the damages awaded were inadequate. The motion was denied. Plaintiff appealed on this ground alone.
The three drivers were the only eye-witnesses to the accident. It happened about 6:00 a. m. on November 24, 1958. There was a heavy fog and it was still dark. All vehicles were eastbound on Cerritos Street, east of Los Alamitos Boulevard, in Orange County. The Navejos car was leading. The car driven by Mr. Graf was following it. The Engh truck and trailer driven by Enderson was following the Graf vehicle. Navejos testified that he was traveling about 15 miles per hour and intended to enter his place of business by a driveway which was to his immediate right; that he put on his right-turn signal about 75 feet before he intended to turn. He said the Graf car struck his car twice and moved it about 20 feet. The lights on all cars were burning.
Graf testified that he first saw Navejos' car at the outer limit of his visibility, at right angles to the road, and it was standing still; that he slammed on his brakes and brought his car to a stop about one carlength from the Navejos car; that his car was struck in the rear by defendant Engh's truck after he had come to a complete stop, and the front of his car then collided with the rear bumper of the Navejos car.
According to Enderson, the truck driver, the fog became thicker as he approached the scene of the accident. He testified that he slowed down to 20 to 25 miles per hour; that he had 20 feet of visibility and then saw the lights on Graf's car and it was then standing still; that he immediately applied his brakes and turned to the right and his truck hit Graf's car and drove it about eight feet; that he was aware of the presence of the Navejos car just before the accident, but he was unable to state just where it was at the time.
Plaintiff claims that as a result of the collision he was thrown forward and then felt a second blow; that immediately after the accident he felt nervous and cold, but had no feeling of aches or pain; but that on driving home to Long Beach about 10:30 a. m., he developed a 'terrific headache,' pain in his shoulders and low back, with a swelling and pain in his stomach, and on arival in Long Beach he consulted with him family doctor (Dr. Jack Rabin). He testified that the doctor examined him and took X-rays and diagnosed his condition as flattening of the lordotic curve in the neck and a tilting of the cervical spine to the left; that the X-rays showed arthritic spurring in the low spine to the extent of a bridging of the intervertebral space at L-1 and D-12, and that this condition would make that part of the body more susceptible to injury resulting from sprain and would slow down the ability of the body to recuperate from sprain; that a gastro-intestinal study demonstrated blood in the stool and X-rays revealed an inflammation of the duodenum representing very early stages of a developing ulcer; that there was a sprain of the neck, the thoracic spine, the low back, and contusion of the right leg and thigh, with traumatic thrombophlebitis in the latter, sprain of the right shoulder, aggravation of the duodenal ulcer and aggravation of bronchial asthma; and said that all of these findings were, in his opinion, related to the rear-end automobile collision of the day before, and that the asthma and ulcer conditions were secondary results of the accident, having flared up because of the stress. Dr. Rabin prescribed cervical head halter traction with seven pounds of weight and stated that the purpose of this was to relieve pressures on the nerve roots of the neck and to overcome the pull of the spastic muscles. He also prescribed demerol for pain and an Ace wrap pressure bandage to prevent blood and fluid from pooling in the leg, thus to inhibit the inflammatory response and the clotting response. He prescribed bed rest on a stiff mattress for the law back condition, and for the ulcer plaintiff was placed on routine ulcer medication and diet. Graf was discharged from the hospital on December 9, 1958.
Graf claimed that in January 1959 he developed complications in the shoulders; that there was a persistent spasm in the cervical muscles, with pain extending into the left shoulder and upper arm; that Dr. Rabin, his first physician, obtained a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Harry Alban; that Graf saw Dr. Alban until the end of June 1959 and also saw Dr. Rabin every few days for treatment and observation. It was Dr. Rabin's opinion that Graf was disabled for work from November 24, 1958, the date of his injury, to June 29, 1959, the date of his release.
Medical bills shown totaled $1,083.50. Hospital bills were in the sum of $483.57, all of which the doctors claimed were reasonable and necessary.
At the time of the accident, plaintiff testified that he was working as a boilermaker-welder and received $230 per week, and that he was off work from November 24, 1958 until June 30, 1959.
Defendant's specialist in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Jerome E. Fuchs, testified that he examined plaintiff on February 15, 1960, and that plaintiff then complained of a pain in the low back, pain in his head and neck, pain in the left...
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Continental Dairy Equip. Co. v. Lawrence
...to great weight by this court (Torres v. City of Los Angeles, 58 Cal.2d 35, 22 Cal.Rptr. 866, 372 P.2d 906; Graf v. Marvin Engh Truck Co., 207 Cal.App.2d 550, 24 Cal.Rptr. 511; Sturges v. Charles L. Harney, Inc., 165 Cal.App.2d 306, 331 P.2d There appears to be some merit to appellant's con......
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Choi v. Lawrence, B191903 (Cal. App. 6/22/2007)
...Calhoun v. Hildebrandt (1964) 230 Cal.App.2d 70, 74; Horowitz v. Fitch, supra, 216 Cal.App.2d at p. 310; Graf v. Marvin Engh Truck Co. (1962) 207 Cal.App.2d 550, 554-555; Dimmick v. Alvarez (1961) 196 Cal.App.2d 211, 215-216; Wood v. Alves Service Transp., Inc. (1961) 191 Cal.App.2d 723, 73......
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Lutz v. Sortwell
...that rendered, but this does not require reversal, as conflicts in the evidence are to be resolved by the jury. (Graf v. Marvin Engh Truck Co. (1962) 207 Cal.App.2d 550, 556.) We have no basis to conclude the jury's award was outside the reasonable range of the evidence or that as a matter ......
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Miller v. San Diego Gas & Elec. Co.
...that case the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for 'nothing,' and a judgment thereon was affirmed. In Graf v. Marvin Engh Truck Co., 207 A.C.A. 568, 24 Cal.Rptr. 511, this court had before it an award which was less than the medical bills. A motion for new trial was denied and an a......