Sayre v. Crews, 12991.
| Decision Date | 26 October 1950 |
| Docket Number | No. 12991.,12991. |
| Parties | SAYRE v. CREWS. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Geo. S. Peck, Atlanta, Ga., for appellant.
Edgar A. Neely, Jr., Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and HOLMES and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges.
The appeal in this case follows a jury verdict finding in favor of the defendant in a suit brought by the minor appellant, Sylvia Sayre, by her father as next friend, against appellee, claiming damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained as the result of the negligent operation of the defendant's automobile which caused it to collide with the car driven by the minor's father on Juniper Street in Atlanta, Ga. Error is assigned upon specified portions of the charge of the Court as given, failure of the Court to charge as requested, and the action of the Court in overruling motions of the plaintiff seeking, upon the ground of res adjudicata, to establish as a matter of law the negligence of the defendant because of the result of another suit between the father of the minor and the defendant involving property damage to the father's automobile. We find no reversible error in either or all of the assignments.
The adjudication in the suit by the father of the minor against the defendant awarding the father damages for property damage to his automobile in which the injured minor was riding, established in that case, it is true, that the collision was caused by the negligence of the defendant, but this adjudication was not binding upon either party in the present litigation. The fact that the father proceeds in another suit, predicated upon the same collision, as next friend of the minor, creates no privity between the father and child. The recovery, if any, is the child's alone. Any other competent person could proceed in behalf of the minor. In such a suit there is no privity between the minor and her next friend, nor identity of causes of action, so as to bring into play the principle of res adjudicata relied upon by the plaintiff to establish as a matter of law the negligence of the defendant. This has been expressly held in Georgia as to father and child.1
The excerpts from the charge to the jury complained of, when considered in connection with the charge as a whole, were not erroneous. In view of the Court's charge that the negligence of the father could not be imputed to the daughter, as well as his express statement that there was no issue as to contributory negligence on her part, there is no possible basis for finding that the charge complained of confused the jury. The second charge complained of states the law...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Glover v. Narick
...agreed that for collateral estoppel purposes, privity does not typically arise from the relationship of parent and child. Sayre v. Crews, 184 F.2d 723 (5th Cir.1950); Gorski v. Deering, 465 N.E.2d 759 (Ind.App.1984); Arsenault v. Carrier, 390 A.2d 1048 (Me.1978); Whitehead v. General Tel. C......
-
Weiner v. Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.
...barred by a defendant's verdict from suing in his own behalf for damages (Detore v. Demers Bros., 312 Mass. 531, 45 N.E.2d 745; Sayre v. Crews, 184 F.2d 723; Hyba v. C. A. Horneman, 302 Ill.App. 143, 23 N.E.2d 564; Smith v. Bishop, 26 Ill.2d 434, 187 N.E.2d 217; Thompson v. Hamrick, 23 N.C.......
-
Freeman v. Lester Coggins Trucking, Inc.
...for others is not bound by the determination of an earlier suit in which he appeared only in an individual capacity. Sayre v. Crews, 184 F.2d 723, 724 (5th Cir.1950) (determination of negligence in individual suit by the father had no preclusive effect in subsequent suit by father brought i......
-
BC Truck Lines, Inc. v. Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc.
...existence of the negligence specified or of the warranty and breach thereof specified, Georgia Code Annotated, § 38-103; Sayre v. Crews, 184 F.2d 723 (C.A.5, 1950), and that such negligence or breach of warranty was the proximate cause of the injury suffered. Hover & Company v. Denver & R. ......