Harper v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 12 April 1961 |
| Docket Number | No. A-7739,A-7739 |
| Citation | 345 S.W.2d 277,162 Tex. 117 |
| Parties | Gilbert N. HARPER et al., Petitioners, v. N. L. JOHNSON et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Strasburger, Price, Kelton, Miller & Martin, Royal H. Brin, Jr., with firm, R. L. Stanfield, Dallas, W. B. Brown, Quitman, for petitioners.
Kenley, Sharp, Ritter & Boyland, Long-view, W. H. Frank Barnes, Terrell, for respondents.
This is a damage suit growing out of an automobile and truck collision in which the driver of the truck, Gilbert N. Harper, was injured and the driver of the automobile, Norman Lee Johnson, was killed. The suit was initiated by Harper, Allied Van Lines, Inc., and Dallas Transfer & Terminal Warehouse Company in a joint action against N. L. Johnson, individually and as heir of the estate of Norman Lee Johnson deceased, and W. E. Lindley as administrator of the estate of Norman Lee Johnson, deceased. Harper sued for personal injuries and damages to the truck, which he owned; Allied Van Lines, Inc., sued for damages to the goods being transported, and Dallas Transfer & Terminal Warehouse sought recovery for damages to its trailer and equipment, which was attached to Harper's truck.
N. L. and Minerva Johnson, as the surviving parents of the deceased, filed a counterclaim for funeral expenses and a grave marker, and, as beneficiaries under the Death Statute (Art. 4671, V.A.C.S.) sought damages for the loss of contributions which they would reasonably have expected to receive from the deceased had he survived. The administrator, W. E. Lindley, also filed a counterclaim against the three plaintiffs seeking damages for the destruction of the deceased's automobile. Both such counterclaims alleged that Harper was the agent of the other two plaintiffs.
The facts of the case, which are set forth in more detail in the Court of Civil Appeals opinion reported in 331 S.W.2d at pages 482, 486, show that Harper, as driver of the truck-tractor and trailer, was traveling in a westerly direction on U.S. Highway 80 at the time of the collision. The deceased, Norman Lee Johnson, was driving a 1957 Ford automobile and traveling in an easterly direction on U. S. Highway 80. These two vehicles collided at a point on said highway approximately six miles west of the town of Mineola. As the vehicles were traveling in opposite directions at the time of the impact, the principal issue in the suit was the question of which vehicle was on the wrong side of the highway.
The case was tried to a jury and the cause submitted on special issues. In answers thereto, the jury found that Harper was guilty of negligence which proximately caused the accident and the jury returned other issues which absolved the deceased, Norman Lee Johnson, of any negligence causing or contributing to the accident. Based on this verdict, the court entered judgment for N. L. and Minerva Johnson and W. E. Lindley on their above-described counterclaims against the cross-defendants, Harper, Allied Van Lines, Inc., and Dallas Transfer & Terminal Warehouse Company, in the total amount of $22,507.45. Of this total sum, $1,750 was for the agreed amount of damages to the deceased's automobile. The sum of $1,047.45 was awarded for funeral expenses and the sum of $460 was awarded for a grave marker. The amounts of $15,000 and $6,000 were awarded to Minerva and N. L. Johnson, respectively, for the loss of the reasonably probable pecuniary contributions which their deceased son would have made to them had he lived.
On appeal from the above judgment the plaintiffs-cross-defendants alleged that the trial court erred by not permitting plaintiff Harper to testify to any of the facts concerning how the collision occurred. It was appellant's contention that Harper's testimony should have been admitted, at least, for certain limited purposes (i. e., those actions which arose under the Death Statute, Art. 4671, V.A.C.S.). The appellees took the view that Harper's testimony was incapable of limitation as a practical matter, and that the trial court did not err in granting their motion to suppress such evidence in its entirety.
On motion for rehearing in the Court of Civil Appeals the above-recited contentions were disposed of with the following language:
'The evidence in question of Harper was not inhibited by Article 3716, V.A.C.S., in his defense to the parents' cross-action under the wrongful death statute (Article 4671, V.A.C.S.) for damages arising from the reasonably probable expectations of pecuniary contributions which their deceased son would have made to the parents. Armstrong v. Marshall, Tex.Civ.App., 146 S.W.2d 250, wr. dism., judgm. cor.; Norman v. Valley Gin Co., Tex.Civ.App., 99 S.W.2d 1065, wr. ref.
'The evidence in question of Harper was not inhibited by Article 3716, V.A.C.S., in the causes of action of Allied Van Lines and of Dallas Terminal & Warehouse Company, against the administrator of the estate of Norman Lee Johnson, deceased, nor was such evidence inhibited by Article 3716, V.A.C.S., in defense to the parents' and administrator's cross-actions against Allied Van Lines and Dallas Transfer & Terminal Warehouse Company.'
On the basis of this analysis and a thorough review of applicable case law the Court of Civil Appeals held that the trial court committed error in not admitting the testimony in question of Harper for limited purposes, and that such action constituted reversible error which required that the judgment of the trial court be affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part. The judgment of the court below read:
'The judgment of the trial court in favor of the administrator Lindley against the plaintiff-cross-defendant Harper for the sum of $1,750, the agreed amount of damages to the car of Norman Lee Johnson, deceased, is affirmed.
'The judgment of the trial court that Harper take nothing in his suit as plaintiff against the administrator and against the parents individually and as legal heirs of Norman Lee Johnson, deceased, is affirmed.
'The judgment of the trial court in favor of the parents Johnson, as legal heirs of Norman Lee Johnson, deceased, and against the plaintiff-cross- defendant Harper, in the amount of $1,507.45 for funeral expenses (including grave marker) of their deceased son, is affirmed.
'The judgment of the trial court in favor of the parents Johnson against the plaintiff-cross-defendant Harper, in the amount of $21,000 ($15,000 for Mrs. Johnson and $6,000 for Mr. Johnson) on their cause of action under the wrongful death statute (Article 4671) for damages for pecuniary losses by reason of the reasonably probable expectation of pecuniary contributions which their deceased son would have made to them, is reversed and such cause of...
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