Puckett v. Laster

• Decision Date: 11 March 1965
• Citation: 405 S.W.2d 35,56 Tenn.App. 66
• Parties: Harry Lee PUCKETT, Plaintiff-in-Error, v. John D. LASTER, Defendant-in-Error.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

Page 35

405 S.W.2d 35

56 Tenn.App. 66

Harry Lee PUCKETT, Plaintiff-in-Error, v. John D. LASTER, Defendant-in-Error.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Western Section.

March 11, 1965.

Certiorari Denied by Supreme Court Aug. 16, 1965.

Allen J. Strawbridge, Dresden, Heathcock & Cloys, Union City, for plaintiff in error.

Homer W. Bradberry, Dresden, for defendant in error.

CARNEY, Judge.

Upon the trial below the plaintiff, John D. Laster, was awarded $15,000 by the jury for personal injuries sustained in an automobile collision on October 24, 1962. The accident happened about 6:00 P.M. on U.S. Highway 45E between the towns of Sharon and Greenfield about one-half mile south of the Middle Fork of the Obion River. Plaintiff John D. Laster was driving southward in a 1958 Ford pickup truck owned by his employer, Eveready Auto Parts Company of Greenfield. He ran into the rear of a 1958 GMC 1 1/2 ton truck driven by the defendant, Harry Lee Puckett, who was also traveling southward.

Plaintiff Laster was alone in the Ford pickup truck. The defendant, Harry Lee Puckett, had two passengers with him in the GMC truck, his brother, J. D. Puckett, and Shannon Priest, who had been helping with the combining of soy beans. Only Mr. Laster was injured in the collision.

Judgment was entered on the verdict and the defendant, Harry Lee Puckett, has appealed and assigned error. Plaintiff was severely injured and no attack is made on the amount of the judgment.

Assignment of error No. I assails the action of the Trial Judge in refusing to admit in evidence before the jury a written statement purporting to be a narration by the plaintiff, John D. Laster, of the manner in which the accident occurred. The written statement was not made a part of the bill of exceptions but was read into the record upon the cross-examination of the plaintiff taken out of the presence of the jury. The statement consisted of several handwritten pages with the name of the plaintiff affixed to each page. The statement was dated November 2, 1962, eight days after the accident, at which time the plaintiff was still confined to the Madison County Hospital.

The statement was presented to the plaintiff for examination. Mr. Laster stated that the body of the statement was not in his handwriting but it looked like his signature. However, he said he ordinarily signed his name John D. Laster instead of John Laster; that he had no recollection of ever signing or even seeing the statement; that he had no recollection of being interviewed by anyone while in the hospital and that he was heavily sedated for about two or three weeks while in the hospital.

Mr. Laster testified that that portion of the written statement which recited that his lights were on 'park' was incorrect and that that portion of the statement that said that he never saw the truck until it was right in front of him was incorrect.

Upon objection His Honor the Trial Judge refused to permit attorney for defendant to introduce the written statement in evidence before the jury or to interrogate the plaintiff concerning the contents of the statement in the presence of the jury without proof as to who took the statement, where it was taken and the conditions under which the statement was taken. Attorney for defendant replied that he was not prepared to make such proof. The jury was returned and the trial resumed without the written statement ever being admitted in evidence.

Plaintiff had testified on direct examination that as he rounded a curve the lights of his car shone on the truck operated by defendant Puckett which was then approaching Highway 45 from the west on an upgrade; that the truck had no lights on it; that shortly thereafter plaintiff met two northbound automobiles the lights of which blinded him and that after he passed the second northbound car he discovered that he was immediately in the rear of the Puckett truck which had entered the highway, turned right and southward on Highway 45E in front of the plaintiff; that the plaintiff applied his brakes and struck the back end of the truck almost simultaneously. The point of collision on the highway was about 160 feet south of the mouth of the field road along which the defendant had entered Highway 45 from the west. Plaintiff has affirmatively testified that he was not driving on parking lights but with his regular lights on and that they were on bright except for the times when he had dimmed them for approaching vehicles.

The contents of the written statement signed by the plaintiff but of which the plaintiff said he had no recollection whatsoever are as follows:

'My name is John Laster, white, male, age 43, reside at Greenfield, Tennessee. I am employed by Eveready Auto Parts Company in Greenfield, Tennessee. On Wednesday, October 24, 1962, at about 6:00 P.M., I was driving a 1958 Ford one-half ton pickup truck owned by Jack Huggins south on Highway 45, near Greenfield, Tennessee. I remember coming across the bottom, and that I was driving about 50 m.p.h. I had crossed the bridge and gone around the curve, and there was a straight stretch of road. I don't remember what my lights were on, but I believe they were on park. The last I remember before the accident happened was seeing the bulk of a truck in front of me. I did not see any lights of any kind on the truck. When I first saw the truck it was right in front of me, if I ever saw it at all. I did not apply my brakes or try to stop at all. There was no marks on the road from this. I don't know if I was meeting any traffic or not. I was not tired or sleepy and do not know why I did not see the truck if it had any lights on. I ran into the rear of the truck and hit it about the center of the rear. I was knocked out by the impact. I was brought to Jackson to the hospital where I am now confined with both legs broken; left arm broken at my wrist, and a cut on my forehead, and a cut on my chin. My chest is bruised and I am bruised all over. I am being treated by Dr. Jack Boothe and his Assistant, Dr. Smith. The truck I hit was owned by Harry Puckett of near Greenfield, Tennessee. I don't know if there was anybody else in the truck or not. I was alone in the truck I was driving. The Highway Patrol investigated the accident. It did not place any charge that I know of. The road is straight and level and it was dry where the accident happened. I had not been drinking any before the accident. I don't drink but a very little, and I don't drink any while I'm on the job. In my opinion the accident was caused by the driver of the truck misjudging the distance I was away, and not having any lights on. If the truck had had lights on, I could have seen it and missed it. The road was wide enough for me to have gone by the truck if I had seen the truck in time, and if there was no traffic meeting me. Under the circumstances I don't know of anything I could have done to avoid the accident. I feel the driver of the truck should have waited about three or four minutes before pulling out on the highway. I have read or heard read this statement, and it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Dated 11--2--62,--signed, John Laster.' Then the letters 'P.S.' on it. Then after the letters P.S., 'Where the accident happened there is a bridge and the road makes a bend to my left.' Again the words, '11--2--62,' and a little short dash, and the words 'John Laster.'

Thus it appears that the contents of the written statement allegedly signed by the plaintiff are in conflict with the plaintiff's testimony on direct examination in two material aspects: (1) Plaintiff testified that he was driving with his regular lights on whereas the alleged statement says he was driving probably with lights on park or at least the plaintiff did not know what lights he had on. (2) Plaintiff testified on direct examination that he had first seen the defendant's truck in the side road on the west side of Highway 45E as the plaintiff rounded the curve and the lights from his automobile shown on the truck and that the truck had no lights on at the time the plaintiff saw the truck whereas the statement is to the effect that the plaintiff saw the defendant's truck for the first time immediately prior to striking it on Highway 45E.

The defendant, Harry Lee Puckett, testified that on the day in question he had been combining soy beans and left the field shortly before 6:00 P.M. with about 6,000 pounds of soy beans on his truck; that the field road leading to Highway 45E went upgrade and he stopped just west of the pavement, waited for two southbound cars to pass, looked to his left and saw no car approaching but in the far distance to his left up Highway 45E to the north he did see a dim light which could have been the parking lights of a vehicle; that the lights on his GMC truck both in front and in the rear were burning; that he put his truck in double low, pulled up onto Highway 45E and pulled to the right and to the south, straightened up and was in the process of shifting gears from double low to regular low at a speed of 20 miles per hour when he felt a great blow from the rear of his truck which made him think his truck had exploded.

Mr. Puckett further testified that within a few days he and his brother, J. D. Puckett, who was also in the truck with him at the time of the collision, visited Mr. Laster, their friend, in the hospital in Jackson, Tennessee; that Mr. Laster asked them what happened and they told him that he ran into the back of the GMC truck to which Mr. Laster replied, 'I never did see a thing. I don't remember a thing. I never did see that truck.' Further, Mr. Puckett testified that Mr. Laster asked Mr. Puckett if he had lights to which Mr. Puckett answered, 'I did' and that Mr. Laster then said the best he remembered he, Laster, was still driving with the parking lights on the pickup truck. Mr. Laster testified that he did not remember Mr. Harry Lee Puckett and his brother coming and had no...