Kentucky Power Co. v. Carter
| Citation | 321 S.W.2d 410 |
| Parties | KENTUCKY POWER COMPANY, Appellant, v. Myrtle CARTER, Appellee. |
| Decision Date | 27 February 1959 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
William I. Baird, Baird & Hays, Pikeville, for appellant.
E. D. Stephenson, Pikeville, for appellee.
Appellee, Mrs. Myrtle Carter, was severely injured by coming in contact with a wire charged with electricity which she averred was caused by the negligence of appellant, Kentucky Power Company (hereinafter referred to as the Company), and sued it for $10,202 damages. The first trial resulted in a hung jury and on a second trial she recovered judgment for $3,000.
The Company assigns five grounds for a reversal of the judgment, among which are that the court erred in failing to grant its motion for a directed verdict at the conclusion of the evidence and in failing to sustain its motion under CR 50.02 for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in the second trial; also, in failing to give it a directed verdict and in overruling its motion for judgment n. o. v. when the jury failed to agree in the first trial. As we deem these grounds are meritorious, we will not consider the other four.
Mrs. Carter, with her husband and family, lived in a small house on Chloe Creek Road near the City of Pikeville. The Company maintained a pole on the edge of the road about 35 feet from the porch of the Carter home which carried three wires. The central wire was neutral and the wires on each side of it carried 2300 volts of electricity. On the side of this pole attached to the neutral wire was what is known as a 'lead down wire' running to a metal stake in the ground. This lead wire had a covering to protect it from the weather, carried no current, and was a safety device. Around the pole and the 'lead down wire' were two strands of wire clothes line; one of which ran to a tree in the Carter yard (which had grown around the wire) and then to a post on the Carter porch. The other wire clothes line went directly from the Company's pole to a post on the porch. These two clothes lines were some 5 or 6 feet above the ground and were so located when the Carters moved to the property in 1954. The Company was aware of these clothes lines, and some months before the accident, one of its employees had told Mrs. Carter, upon inquiry, that the clothes lines were safe, as the lead wire carried no current.
In the early afternoon of August 20, 1955, Lee Luster was attempting to erect an aluminum television antenna in the Carter yard. He had an iron pipe to which was attached the antenna. The pipe was leaning against the edge of the roof of the Carter house with the antenna on the roof. Luster climbed into the fork of the tree to which one of the clothes lines was attached. He had a six-foot length of wire around the pipe. He was endeavoring to raise the pipe with the antenna attached in order to fasten the pipe to the tree, which was only 21 feet tall. The transmission lines ran above the tree and were 30 feet 9 inches from the ground at this point, while the pipe with the antenna attached measured 33 feet 1 inch.
The fork of the tree into which Luster had climbed was 10 or 12 feet from the ground. Both he and Mrs. Carter testified she was standing near the edge of the porch and some 6 feet from the tree watching him; while a witness for the Company, Carroll Johnson, testified she was standing at the foot of the tree assisting Luster. Luster pulled the wire attached to the pipe but testified he did not get the antenna off the roof and looked down and saw Mrs. Carter holding the clothes line. She had turned blue. He jumped out of the tree to go to her assistance and before he could reach her, the pipe fell across the clothes lines and the current knocked her several feet into a ditch at the side of the road. Mrs. Carter's testimony is that she casually put her hands on the clothes line which ran from the power-line pole to a post on the porch, and this is the last she remembers.
F. M. Baker, an electrical engineer and the Company's District Manager, was in his Pikeville office at the time of the accident and immediately went to the Carter home. He got on the roof of the house and examined the antenna for burns and found He testified this burn came from the high tension wire. Luster was there, talked with Baker and showed him his burned hand which he said he got while up in the tree pulling on this pipe in an attempt to raise the antenna.
Baker further testified that while he was at the scene of the accident he took hold of the clothes line Mrs. Carter had touched and it was 'perfectly clear,' meaning it was carrying no current. He described the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bryant v. Tri-County Elec. Membership Corp.
...and the public against danger and harm." Kentucky Power Co. v. Kilbourn, 307 S.W.2d 9, 12 (Ky.1957); see also Kentucky Power Co. v. Carter, 321 S.W.2d 410, 413 (Ky.1959). 3 Strict liability in warranty exists when a manufacturer enters a contract for the sale of goods that are unfit for ord......
-
G & K DAIRY v. Princeton Elec. Plant Bd.
...the utmost care" to protect their customers and the public and to prevent the destruction of life or property. Ky. Power Co. v. Carter, 321 S.W.2d 410, 413 (Ky.1959) ("highest degree of care" standard); Ky. Power Co. v. Kilbourn, 307 S.W.2d 9, 12 (Ky.1957) ("utmost care and skill" standard)......
-
Lee v. Farmer's Rural Elec. Co-Op. Corp., 2006-CA-001641-MR.
...places they have a right to be. Lambert v. Franklin Real Estate Company, 37 S.W.3d 770 (Ky.App.2000); see also Kentucky Power Company v. Carter, 321 S.W.2d 410, 413 (Ky.1959). "In constructing and maintaining electrical lines the highest degree of caution must be exercised for the protectio......
-
Lambert v. Franklin Real Estate Co.
...is chargeable with the highest degree of care to protect all persons in all places they have a right to be. Kentucky Power Co. v. Carter, Ky., 321 S.W.2d 410, 413 (1959). "[S]uppliers of electric current must exercise the utmost care and skill to protect their patrons and the public against......