Lloyd v. Gill, 25740.

Decision Date14 January 1969
Docket NumberNo. 25740.,25740.
Citation406 F.2d 585
PartiesRoy B. LLOYD, Gladys Lloyd and A. J. Henderson, Appellants, v. Michael Doud GILL, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Gus Efthimiou, Jr., Miami, Fla., for appellants.

Michael Weintraub, Miami, Fla., for appellee.

Before THORNBERRY and DYER, Circuit Judges, and KEADY, District Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Roy B. Lloyd, Gladys Lloyd and A. J. Henderson, respondents-appellants, and the M/V BLACK SEA, were sued in admiralty by Michael Doud Gill, libelant-appellee, for damages for the loss of the houseboat NIK MIK II, because of negligence occurring while the houseboat was being towed behind the M/V BLACK SEA from Nassau, Bahamas, to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. On conflicting evidence, the District Court, sitting without a jury, concluded that the M/V BLACK SEA had performed the towage at an excessive speed, negligent under the circumstances, which proximately caused the casualty, and awarded $40,000 damages against appellants. Appellants assert the factual findings of negligence and liability to be "clearly erroneous", so as to require reversal, and also that the trial court erred in refusing to grant their motion for new trial. Holding both contentions to be without merit, we affirm.

The evidence disclosed that the houseboat NIK MIK II was seaworthy and fit for its intended voyage of 120 miles from the rendezvous point at Coral Harbor to the destination, Freeport. The M/V BLACK SEA with the NIK MIK II in tow got under way, in calm sea, at 12:15 p. m. The houseboat was connected, with towing bridles, to the stern of the tug by a manila hawser approximately 150 feet long. The tow had to be stopped for 15 minutes to replace the fraying hawser with a nylon hawser not over 200 feet long, and it then proceeded without further incident until 1:05 p. m. when it was noticed that NIK MIK II had taken a significant list to starboard. Approximately 10 minutes later the houseboat broke into pieces and sank. There was an adequate evidentiary basis for the District Court to conclude that the towing vessel had operated at a speed of 15 to 16 mph, which was arrived at by determining 35 minutes to be the time the tow was in movement and approximately 9 miles to be the distance traveled within that time. Corroborative evidence of such speed rests in the estimate of BLACK SEA'S master, expressed at the beginning of the voyage, that it would take 8 to 9 hours to reach Freeport, and thus anticipating arrival at destination before nightfall, he did not rig the towed houseboat with any running lights, as required by the International Rules of the Road. Appellee's marine surveyor testified that ocean towage of a vessel of rigid construction like the houseboat, if done with a hawser of at least 400 feet in length, could be prudently accomplished at a speed of not more than 4 knots, and also that open sea towage of such a vessel on a hawser not more than 200 feet long at a speed in excess of 9 mph could produce stress and resulting rupture to the hull. Notwithstanding certain conflicts in the testimony, the findings of the District Court are supported by adequate, credible evidence and must be here affirmed since they are not "clearly erroneous". This is the familiar standard as acknowledged by appellants, and set forth in McAllister v. United States, 348 U.S. 19, 75 S.Ct. 6, 99 L.Ed. 20 (1954), in relevant part:

"In reviewing a judgment of a trial court sitting without a
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  • Johansen v. Combustion Engineering, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • April 1, 1999
    ...on appeal of the final judgment. Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan, 311 U.S. 243, 61 S.Ct. 189, 85 L.Ed. 147 (1940); Lloyd v. Gill, 406 F.2d 585 (5th Cir.1969).13 Defendants, of course, could appeal the remitted amount as still excessive, but only after plaintiffs had consented to the remitti......
  • Taylor v. Illinois
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • January 25, 1988
    ...or innocence." Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78, 81-82, 90 S.Ct. 1893, 1896, 26 L.Ed.2d 446 (1970) (footnotes omitted). 18 Lloyd v. Gill, 406 F.2d 585, 587 (CA5 1969) (motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence "may not be granted unless . . . the facts discovered are of such n......
  • Lanier v. Lanier
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    ...1 (D.D.C.2000); Raymond v. Raymond Corp., 938 F.2d 1518 (1st Cir.1991); Duffy v. Clippinger, 857 F.2d 877 (1st Cir.1988); Lloyd v. Gill, 406 F.2d 585 (5th Cir.1969); Johnson v. United States, 32 F.2d 127 (8th Cir.1929); Kettenbach v. Demoulas, 901 F.Supp. 486 (D.Mass.1995); see also Wright ......
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