Puckett v. Elsner
| Decision Date | 07 June 1957 |
| Citation | 303 S.W.2d 250 |
| Parties | James G. PUCKETT, Appellant, v. James L. ELSNER, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Philip L. Haller, Louisville, for appellant.
Edward J. Hogan, Louisville, for appellee.
Plaintiff, James G. Puckett, while crossing Bells Lane on the outskirts of Louisville on August 15, 1955, was struck and injured by the automobile of defendant, James L. Elsner, and he sued Elsner for $10,500 damages. The complaint averred the accident was caused by the negligence of defendant. The answer denied negligence and averred the accident was caused by the sole negligence of plaintiff and further pleaded contributory negligence upon the part of plaintiff.
Defendant took the deposition of plaintiff by way of discovery, and on this deposition and the affidavits of two witnesses, the trial judge gave a summary judgment for defendant on the ground that plaintiff's deposition showed there was no genuine issue of fact and plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. On this appeal plaintiff insists the court erred in giving a summary judgment against him and contends that he is entitled to a jury trial.
The deposition and the affidavits reveal these facts. Plaintiff was 74 years of age at the time of the accident and was in the daily habit of walking from his home, two blocks north of Bells Lane, to a grocery on the south side of the lane. On the day in question he walked down the private road of a transportation company to where it intersects Bells Lane and crossed the lane at this point. These was no cross-walk at the intersection but there is some testimony it was regularly used as a crosswalk.
The accident happened around noon on a bright day and the macadam surface of the lane was dry. Plaintiff was returning home from the grocery when he stopped at a point on the south side of the lane opposite the private road he was accustomed to travel when returning to his home from the grocery. Plaintiff testified he could see 700 or 800 yards each way and that he looked both ways before he started across the road. Not seeing anything coming from either direction, he started across. The width of the road is not shown but it has two traffic lanes. There is a rather sharp curve in the road 700 or 800 yards east of the point where plaintiff was crossing.
When plaintiff had gotten about two-thirds of the way across the road, he suddenly saw defendant's car 10 or 12 feet from him. Defendant was traveling west at a speed described in the affidavit of Robert Warren as 'too fast for the existing road conditions.' At the time plaintiff saw defendant's car, he tried to jump out of the way but was unsuccessful and the car hit him in his right side. After the accident a considerable number of feet of skid marks were seen on the roadway.
From the meager evidence in the record it appears there were no other vehicles on the road near the point of the accident and there was nothing to have prevented defendant from seeing plaintiff in the road when defendant came around the curve 700 or 800 yards...
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Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc.
...the motion may not succeed at trial, it should not render a summary judgment if there is any issue of material fact. Puckett v. Elsner, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 250 (1957). The trial judge must examine the evidence, not to decide any issue of fact, but to discover if a real issue exists. It clearly ......
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Chesser v. Louisville Country Club
...an issue, the question becomes one of law and a summary judgment is properly awarded. Ingram v. Ingram, Ky., 283 S.W.2d 210; Puckett v. Elsner, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 250; Rowland v. Miller's Adm'r, Ky., 307 S.W.2d The defendant pleaded the adjudication of the plaintiff's claim for workmen's compe......
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Seigle v. Jasper
...the motion may not succeed at trial, it should not render a summary judgment if there is any issue of material fact. Puckett v. Elsner, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 250 (1957). The trial judge must examine the evidence, not to decide any issue of fact, but to discover if a real issue exists. It clearly ......
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Peterson v. Foley, 2017-SC-000028-DG
...it should not render a summary judgment if there is any issue of material fact." Steelvest , 807 S.W.2d at 480 (citing Puckett v. Elsner , 303 S.W.2d 250 (Ky. 1957) ). Under federal law, the United States Supreme Court issued several opinions "encourag[ing] greater use of summary judgments ......