Lewis v. Wilson, s. 41234
| Decision Date | 22 April 1965 |
| Docket Number | 41235,Nos. 41234,No. 2,s. 41234,2 |
| Citation | 142 S.E.2d 852,111 Ga.App. 666 |
| Parties | Wilma (Bill) LEWIS v. Alfonso WILSON, by Next Friend. Wilma (Bill) LEWIS v. Elizabeth W. GRANT |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
Where suit was brought against two defendants, one a resident of the county and the other a nonresident, and the petition failed to set out a cause of action against the resident defendant, a general demurrer of the nonresident defendant on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction as to him should have been sustained.
Alfonso Wilson, a minor, by his mother as next friend, brought suit in Chatham Superior Court against Willie Bryon, a resident of Chatham County, and Wilma Lewis, a resident of Screven County, on the theory that they were joint tortfeasors, alleging: Plaintiff was riding as a guest in the back seat of an automobile driven by Willie Bryon in a southerly direction along State Highway No. 24 some four miles north of Sylvania; they crested a hill approximately 100 feet before coming to the intersection with Highway No. 301, and the driver, Bryon, had a clear view ahead enabling him to see approaching from the south a pickup truck driven by Billy Lewis, a minor son of the defendant Wilma Lewis, across the Jacksonboro bridge located about 500 feet south of the intersection; that the truck was weaving from one side of the highway to the other at a reckless and dangerous rate of speed; that Bryon, failing to observe a yield sign as he entered the intersection with Highway No. 301, continued on across the intersection and just after crossing drove his car off onto the shoulder of the road and brought it to a stop approximately a foot off the pavement 'and there waited without further action to permit the aforesaid Billy Lewis to bring his pickup truck under control or to pass,' but that 'Billy Lewis did not pass but as he approached the parked vehicle in which petitioner was riding as a guest, completely lost control of the aforesaid pickup and the same ran off the easterly edge of Highway No. 301 onto the shoulder thereof, and traveled a distance of 69 feet on the shoulder in a northerly direction and skidded across Highway No. 301 in a westerly direction at the point where said highway merges with State Highway No. 24 and traveled a distance of approximately 48 feet to collide with the left side of the parked vehicle operated by the defendant, Willie Bryon, and occupied by petitioner' as a result of which plaintiff suffered injuries. He alleged that the pickup truck was a family purpose vehicle, that the minor son, Billy Lewis, was living in the home with his father and was using the truck as his father's agent.
Elizabeth Grant, another passenger in the Bryon car, brought a similar action against the same defendants, with the same allegations as to the happening of the accident and with the same allegations as to negligence.
The allegations of negligence as to Willie Bryon, the resident defendant who was the host driver, were that he was grossly negligent in (a) proceeding into the intersection of the two highways at a time when it was apparent that a vehicle was approaching in an uncontrolled manner and at a dangerous rate of speed, (b) in violating a yield sign facing oncoming traffic proceeding in a southerly direction at the intersection, (c) in driving into the intersection from a position of relative safety in reckless disregard of the consequences and in the face of a rapidly advancing vehicle that was obviously out of control.
The following is a sketch of the situation presented by the petition, which may be of some assistance in understanding the facts.
NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE
The resident defendant filed no pleadings of any kind, but Wilma Lewis, the nonresident defendant demurred generally to the petition, and upon the grounds that the petition failed to show that the resident defendant was guilty of gross negligence, or of any negligence, in the operation of his automobile, or that the defendants were joint tortfeasors, and thus the court was without jurisdiction as to him.
W. Colbert Hawkins, Sylvania, for plaintiff in error.
Donald E. Austin, Savannah, for defendants in error.
It is well settled that where a nonresident defendant is joined with a resident defendant in an action presenting no cause of action against the resident defendant, the court has no jurisdiction of the action against the nonresident and a demurrer upon that...
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