Kuhle v. Ladwig
| Citation | 295 N.W. 41,237 Wis. 147 |
| Parties | KUHLE v. LADWIG et al. |
| Decision Date | 11 March 1941 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County; Otto H. Breidenbach, Judge.
Affirmed.
Action brought by plaintiff Marie Kuhle, individually and as administratrix of the estate of her husband, Edward Kuhle, deceased, against Paul A. Ladwig and his insurance carrier, Milwaukee Automobile Insurance Company, to recover damages for the wrongful death of her husband. The case was tried to the court without a jury. On the facts and law the court found in favor of the plaintiff, upon which findings judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff, individually, for the sum of $10,000 damages, with costs and disbursements. It was further adjudged that plaintiff, individually, recover of the defendant Milwaukee Automobile Insurance Company the sum of $5,000 of the said $10,000 damages together with $167.45 costs and disbursements. Defendants appeal. The material facts will be stated in the opinion.
D. J. Regan, of Milwaukee, for appellant.
David J. Berk and Churchill, Churchill, Davis & Rapkin, all of Milwaukee, for respondent.
The action, upon which this appeal is based, involves an unusual casualty which resulted in the death of Edward Kuhle, plaintiff's husband, on June 3, 1935. The material facts are not in dispute. Defendant Ladwig, a resident of Princeton, Wisconsin, about 37 years of age, was engaged in making and selling alcohol. Defendant Kuhle was an automobile mechanic, 22 years of age, and lived with his wife in the city of Fond du Lac. Officers Quinn and Hawkes, hereinafter referred to, were federal agents, members of the Federal Alcohol Tax Unit. It appears that Quinn had planned to trap Kuhle and Ladwig and arrest them while possessed with illegal (non-taxed) alcohol. On the night of June 3, 1935, the four men met in Princeton at a place designated as the power house. Officer Quinn posed as the person desiring to purchase said alcohol, and Hawkes posed as Quinn's driver. Ladwig was the maker and seller of the liquor and Kuhle was his driver and contact man. The alcohol was transferred from Ladwig's car to Quinn's car. At the time of the accident, Ladwig was seated in the driver's seat of his 1935 Pontiac sedan and Quinn was standing on the right side of the car with one foot on the running board facing Ladwig through the open door. He had just disclosed his identity to Ladwig, showed his badge of authority as an officer, told Ladwig that he was under arrest, and covered him with his automatic revolver to prevent his escape. At this time, Hawkes and Kuhle were on the left side of the car. Quinn directed Hawkes to put Kuhle under arrest and bring him around to the right door of the car, which Hawkes did. They came around the rear end of the car, Kuhle in the lead and Hawkes a few steps behind him. Quinn ordered Kuhle into the rear seat of the car, intending Hawkes was to get in the rear seat also. The automobile was a two-door sedan, the right door of which was exceptionally wide, and was hinged at the rear and opened from the front towards the rear of the body. The motor was not running and the right door was standing open at right angles to the body of the car with Officer Quinn standing there with his pistol. The dome light of the car was lighted and Ladwig saw the pistol pointed at himself. The car was equipped with a starter and accelerator as a single unit so it would start by merely turning on the switch and stepping on the accelerator without stepping on any starter pedal. Quinn turned partly aside to allow Kuhle to enter the car, his pistol plainly visible to both Kuhle and Ladwig. As Kuhle was in the act of entering the car, Ladwig suddenly started the motor and the car went ahead with a rush, the open door striking Quinn's right arm, causing the gun to be discharged, the bullet hitting Kuhle, who slumped over into the car. Ladwig shortly thereafter pulled him into the car as he fled. Ladwig admits that he heard and saw what was transpiring and was waiting and watching, as he sat in his car, intending to try to escape.
The foregoing facts are the substance of the trial court's findings. The court further found that Ladwig's act in setting his car in motion under the circumstances was a wrongful act, and in so doing he was guilty of gross negligence; that said act was the sole proximate cause of Kuhle's death; that a person of ordinary care and prudence ought reasonably to have foreseen that some injury might naturally and in the ordinary course of events, result to someone from such a wrongful act. The court further found that ...
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Royal Transit v. CENTRAL SURETY & INS. CORPORATION
...839 of 15 N.W.2d): "On the undisputed facts can it be held that defendant's adjusters and attorneys acted in bad faith in not settling the Kuhle case Kuhle v. Ladwig, 237 Wis. 147, 295 N.W. 41, where, upon their full investigation of the facts and law they concluded that it was a case of no......
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Berk v. Milwaukee Auto. Ins. Co.
...the alleged cause of action to the plaintiff-respondent, David J. Berk. This action arises out of the case of Kuhle v. Ladwig, reported in 237 Wis. 147, 295 N.W. 41, in which action the plaintiff recovered a judgment against Paul A. Ladwig and his insurance carrier, Milwaukee Automobile Ins......