Southern Ry. Co. v. Brewer
| Decision Date | 19 June 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 45331,No. 1,45331,1 |
| Citation | 122 Ga.App. 292,176 S.E.2d 665 |
| Parties | SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY v. Charles BREWER et al |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Bloch, Hall, Hawkins & Owens, F. Kennedy Hall, Macon, for appellant.
O. L. Crumbley, Macon, for appellees.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
Rebecca Brewer brought suit against Central of Georgia Railway Company and Southern Railway Company. The action was subsequently dismissed as to Central and appellant is now the sole defendant in the case; the petition alleged that Mrs. Brewer was injured while riding as a passenger in an automobile being operated by her husband when that automobile was involved in a collision with a train being operated by defendant's agents; defendant moved to serve a third party complaint on the husband; the husband moved to deny the defendant's motion prior to the time of service but the court elected to allow service of the complaint and then to rule on the motion to deny service as if it had been a motion to strike.
The theory of the third party was that the defendant Railway would be entitled to contribution from the husband for any judgment obtained against it by Rebecca Brewer. The third party complaint as amended alleged gross negligence on the part of the third party defendant. The court sustained the motion of the husband and struck the third party complaint as amended. The defendant obtained a certificate of immediate review and the case is here for review. Held:
The question for determination is whether the defendant could bring in the plaintiff's husband as a third party defendant. Code Ann. § 81A-114 (Ga.L.1966, pp. 609, 627; 1969, p. 979). The appellant contends that it would have a right of contribution from the plaintiff's husband for any judgment the plaintiff recovered because he was a joint tortfeasor. With this contention we cannot agree.
In Central of Georgia R. Co. v. Lester, 118 Ga.App. 794, 803, 165 S.E.2d 587, this court cited with approval O'Steen v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 294 F.Supp. 409, 412 (1968), wherein it was held that under Code Ann. § 105-2012 the right to contribution relates only to joint tortfeasors and where the proposed third-party defendant cannot be made liable as a joint tortfeasor the third party complaint does not state a claim. The appellant contends the ruling in the Lester case was dictum. Assuming but not deciding this to be...
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Eschen v. Roney, 47452
...See Heyman v. Heyman, 19 Ga.App. 634(1), 92 S.E. 25; Chastain v. Chastain, 50 Ga.App. 241(3), 177 S.E. 828.' See also So. Ry. Co. v. Brewer, 122 Ga.App. 292, 176 S.E.2d 665. such third-party defendant, Mrs. Roney made a motion to dismiss based upon her son being an unemancipated minor who c......
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...290; see also Big Canoe Corp. v. Moore & Groover, Inc., 171 Ga.App. 654, 657(2), 320 S.E.2d 564 (1984); Southern R. Co. v. Brewer, 122 Ga.App. 292, 293, 176 S.E.2d 665 (1970). In the course of construing a different statute, moreover, our Supreme Court held in 1996 that "contribution will n......
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Glazer v. Crescent Wallcoverings, Inc.
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