Prather v. Nashville Bridge Co.
Decision Date | 09 April 1970 |
Docket Number | 6 Div. 624 |
Citation | 286 Ala. 3,236 So.2d 322 |
Parties | Dola T. PRATHER et al. v. NASHVILLE BRIDGE CO., a Corp. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
George S. Brown, Birmingham, for appellants.
Sadler, Sadler, Sullivan & Sharp, Birmingham, for appellee.
This case was brought under the provisions of Title 26, § 312, Code of Alabama, by the widow and dependents of decedent Duel Prather. The complaint claimed damages in the amount of $500,000 for injuries resulting in the death of Prather, charging defendant with negligence, in that while the said Duel Prather was working as a truck driver for the Alabama Freight Lines the defendant, at the Bessemer Galvanizing Works Division of the defendant, Nashville Bridge Company, a corporation, loaded a trailer truck being operated by Prather with twelve large and heavy sections of galvanized steel pipe and then and there undertook to secure same for delivery by Prather; and that after Prather had transported said load and while standing alongside said load, one of the sections of pipe fell off and onto Prather, causing him to suffer injuries from which he died.
The complaint went on to allege that the death of Prather was the proximate consequence of the negligent failure of the defendant to properly secure the steel pipe on the trailer truck.
The case was tried to a jury which returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. Plaintiffs appealed, and while the brief sets out the evidence of each witness in narrative form, and runs to more than 190 pages, appellants concede at the outset that only two points are relied on for reversal. They are as follows:
First, that the judgment must be reversed because the court allowed members of the jury to put more than 100 different questions to various witnesses throughout the trial. No objection was interposed by either side to this interrogation of witnesses by members of the jury. It is conceded by counsel on both sides that no Alabama case has been found on this precise point. Our research has revealed none. The appellant contends that no objection was made because of fear and apprehension that the interposition of any objection would prejudice the objector's case with the jury. They rely on cases from other jurisdictions which have severely criticized the practice and reversed cases on this ground, even in the absence of objection. However, an annotation at 159 A.L.R. 347 indicates that a majority take a different view. It is there stated:
The annotation goes on to analyze the rationale of the courts in dealing with this matter. Some have held that it is discretionary with the trial court; some have taken the position that the practice should be encouraged, while others take the position that it should be discouraged. While no cases in Alabama have dealt directly with the point, we are not without general authority for the disposition of the point here. Our cases have consistently held that where no objection is made, the trial court cannot be put in error. The appellate courts in Alabama review only such matters as were ruled on by the trial Court.--Ala.Dig. 2, Appeal & Error, k No. 206(2). Hence, we do not reach the question of whether error would have resulted had proper objection been made and overruled to the questions put by members of the jury.
We believe the statement made by the Missouri court in Ray v. Collins, Mo.App., 274 S.W. 1098, is consistent with Alabama law:
The only other point raised by appellants is based upon the refusal of the trial court to give certain requested written charges. Plaintiffs here sued Nashville Bridge Company. Their contention was that although the loading of the truck had been done by Bessemer Galvanizing Works, the latter was a wholly owned subsidiary of Nashville Bridge Company and wholly controlled by Nashville Bridge Company. On this issue the trial court charged the jury as follows:
'* * * Nashville Bridge Company denies everything that is stated in the Plaintiff's complaint, among other things, denying the averment that the Nashville Bridge Company caused the trailer to be loaded with the pipe, and further specifically denying there was any negligence on the part of the person who loaded the truck and trailer. * * *
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Ex Parte Malone
...may actively solicit questions from jurors, which is a material question of first impression before this Court. Prather v. Nashville Bridge, 286 Ala. 3, 236 So.2d 322 (1970), is the only published case from an Alabama court that has presented the question whether jurors may directly questio......
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U.S. v Richardson, 11
...all Fifth Circuit decisions handed down prior to the close of business on September 30, 1981. 3 Alabama: Prather v. Nashville Bridge Co., 286 Ala. 3, 236 So.2d 322 (Ala.1970). Arizona: Superior & Pittsburg Copper Co. v. Tomich, 19 Ariz. 182, 165 P. 1101 (Ariz.1917), aff'd, 250 U.S. 400, 39 ......
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U.S. v. Richardson
...all Fifth Circuit decisions handed down prior to the close of business on September 30, 1981. 3. Alabama: Prather v. Nashville Bridge Co., 286 Ala. 3, 236 So.2d 322 (Ala.1970). Arizona: Superior & Pittsburg Copper Co. v. Tomich, 19 Ariz. 182, 165 P. 1101 (Ariz.1917), aff'd, 250 U.S. 400, 39......
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State v. Fisher
...2000), 233 F.3d 1285, 1288-1291; Dobbins v. United States (C.A.D.C.), 157 F.2d 257, 260. 2. See, e.g., Prather v. Nashville Bridge Co. (1970), 286 Ala. 3, 4-5, 236 So. 2d 322, (civil); Linden v. State (Alaska 1979), 598 P.2d 960, 962-963; State v. LeMaster (1983), 137 Ariz. 159, 163-164, 66......