Mehra v. Bentz
| Decision Date | 03 April 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 72 C 787.,72 C 787. |
| Citation | 391 F. Supp. 648 |
| Parties | Roshan L. MEHRA, as Administrator of the Goods, Chattels and Credits which were of Rajinder K. Mehra, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. Roberta BENTZ and Rudolph J. Bentz, Jr., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Feder & Kaszovitz, New York City, for plaintiff.
Bower & Gardner, New York City, for defendant.
Defendants move pursuant to Rule 50 (b) and (c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for a judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $10,000 on plaintiff's first claim and $69,500 on plaintiff's second claim on the grounds that: (i) there was no evidence of negligence on the part of the defendants, and (ii) plaintiff's intestate was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law.
At the close of the evidence offered by the plaintiff and at the close of all of the evidence defendants moved to dismiss on the foregoing grounds and the Court in each case reserved decision.
In the alternative, defendants move pursuant to Rule 59 of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for a new trial on the following grounds:
Plaintiff's complaint was divided into two claims, the first for conscious pain and suffering (for which the jury awarded $10,000) and the second for support payments for his parents (for which the jury awarded $67,000) and funeral expenses (for which the jury awarded $2,500).
This is the second trial of this case; the first having occurred before U. S. District Judge Orrin G. Judd and a jury in November, 1973, at the conclusion of which the jury returned a verdict for the defendants.
During the course of the first trial, evidence was inadvertently admitted which indicated that plaintiff's intestate's life was insured under a life insurance policy for $100,000.; the beneficiaries of which were the plaintiff and his spouse (the deceased's parents). Even though Judge Judd instructed the jury during the course of trial and in his charge that they should disregard this evidence, he apparently felt that such admission was so prejudicial to the plaintiff as to require him to set aside the verdict for the defendants and order a new trial. Accordingly, the case came on for trial before this Court in February, 1975, and, as indicated, the second jury reached a diametrically opposed verdict.
On the instant motions the Court is required, of course, to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Lebrecht v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., (2d Cir. 1968) 402 F.2d 585; Wenhold v. O'Dea, 338 Pa. 33, 35, 12 A.2d 115.
In this light, the facts are that Rajinder K. Mehra, age 32 years, was struck and fatally injured on April 5, 1972 at approximately 11:15 PM by an automobile driven by Rudolph J. Bentz, Jr. and owned by then Roberta Lintz (now Bentz) who was then the six year fiancee of (and is now the wife of) Rudolph J. Bentz, Jr.
The automobile, a small Volkswagen, was travelling north on Route 309, a four-lane, divided, limited access highway in Salisbury, Pennsylvania, and at a point approximately 500 feet north of an access known as Cedarcrest Boulevard the accident occurred. As indicated, Route 309 consists of two lanes north and two lanes south and is separated by a center divider. There were no other cars on any of the four lanes; there were no eye witnesses and there were no lights except for the headlights on defendants' Volkswagen which were lit.
The defendant Rudolph Bentz, Jr. testified (and his testimony was corroborated by his wife and in part by his former professor) that he and his fiancee had had dinner at the home of his former Professor Rabot; that he had had two cocktails during the hour or so before a 7 PM dinner, a glass of beer with dinner, and coffee after dinner; that his fiancee and he had started for their homes at approximately 10:45 PM in her Volkswagen which he was driving; that they had turned on to Route 309 and were proceeding northbound in the righthand lane at a speed of approximately 55 miles per hour; that the speed limit on such highway was 60 miles per hour; and that he was looking and observing the roadway in front of him as lit up by the VW's headlights. There was no other traffic either in front or behind them or coming in the opposite direction; the weather was dry and there was no illumination on the roadway except that which came from the VW's headlights.
Defendant Rudolph Bentz, Jr. testified further (and there was no evidence to contradict the same) that a split second prior to the impact he observed a glimpse or image of something to his left and in the next instance the impact occurred causing damage to the left side of his VW's left front fender and shattering the left side of the windshield in upon him. He said that he had no opportunity either to apply his brakes or slow his speed from the time that he first caught a glimpse of an image until the time of the impact. He testified further that he brought his car under control and brought it to a stop at a point which later proved to be approximately 400 feet from where the plaintiff's intestate was found. One of the pictures of the VW taken after the accident shows a shadow or mark which was variously described as a "dirt mark" or "smudge" on the left side of the front bumper but other pictures introduced into evidence do not reveal any such mark. When questioned, both defendants indicated that such mark might have been made by one or the other of them shortly after the accident when they were sitting on the front of the Volkswagen discussing what possibly could have happened at a time before they were informed of the existence of plaintiff's intestate on the roadway. All of the pictures, however, definitely show (i) a dent on the left side of the Volkswagen's left front fender behind the headlight and (ii) a shattered left side of the windshield.
There was no evidence of any skid marks or of any attempt by the defendant Rudolph Bentz to bring his Volkswagen to an immediate stop. Indeed, the evidence quite clearly shows that neither of the defendants was aware of what happened until several minutes after the accident when the occupants of another car came up to them and advised them of the existence of plaintiff's intestate on the highway.
Within a half hour or so after the impact, the authorities had arrived and plaintiff's intestate was pronounced dead. His body was removed to the offices of the local coroner where a blood sample was taken which, when tested, revealed a gross weight of alcohol in his blood of thirty-nine one-hundredths (0.39) percent. The supervisor of the testing laboratory testified that .10% alcohol blood content was presumptive of intoxication and .40% was evidence of a comatose condition in the average person.
Plaintiff argues that there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could infer that the defendant Rudolph Bentz should have seen the plaintiff's intestate prior to the accident; that the Volkswagen was being operated at a speed in excess of the 60 mph speed limit; and/or that said defendant, having had some drinks and his fiancee in the car was driving at a speed or otherwise in a manner that his vehicle was not under control. There is nothing, however, in the record to support any such inference. The only testimony, (i. e., that of both of the defendants) is that the speed of the Volkswagen was 55 mph; that the vehicle was fully under control and that the defendant Rudolph Bentz was maintaining a normal lookout ahead. There is no evidence that he was in any way affected by the two cocktails that he had consumed several hours before the accident. All the testimony is to the contrary.
In Martin v. Marateck, 345 Pa. 103, 27 A.2d 42 (1942), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reviewed the authorities in that State and under similar circumstances held that a verdict for the plaintiff could not be sustained. In the Martin case the decedent was struck by an automobile driven by the defendant on a public highway known as Route 11 at about 9:30 in the evening of June 8, 1940 at a point immediately east of the Village of New Kingston, Cumberland County. Route 11 is a main highway running between Carlisle and Harrisburg in an East/West direction and at the time of the collision the defendant was driving in a westerly direction. The decedent was first seen passing between certain gasoline pumps and a filling station building by a motorist driving up to purchase gasoline. The witness next saw the decedent near the middle of the highway just as the defendant's car was then "just upon him" and "just ready to hit". An inspection of the motor vehicle after the accident revealed that "it was damaged on the right side; the right cowl light and the right front door window was cracked". In holding that there was no evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made the following pertinent comments (345 Pa. at pp. 106-108, 27 A.2d at p. 44):
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