State v. Hamilton
| Decision Date | 10 September 1953 |
| Citation | 100 A.2d 234,149 Me. 218 |
| Parties | STATE v. HAMILTON. |
| Court | Maine Supreme Court |
Edward J. Beauchamp, County Attorney, Auburn, for State.
Berman & Berman, Lewiston, for defendant.
Before MERRILL, C. J., THAXTER, FELLOWS, WILLIAMSON, and TIRRELL, JJ., and MURRAY, A. R. J.
On exceptions and appeal. The respondent was indicted for manslaughter. It is claimed by the State that one Carl C. Berry was killed by the criminal negligence of the respondent in the operation of a motor vehicle on a public highway while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
The prosecution stems from an automobile accident which occurred on December 24, 1951 at Danville, in the City of Auburn. An automobile in which Carl C. Berry, deceased, was riding, in order to avoid an impending collision with the respondent's truck, swerved off the road and crashed, killing the deceased. At the time in question the respondent was a truck driver employed by J. E. Faltin Transportation Company, of Portland. He had been a truck driver for the past twenty years and had been employed by the Faltin Company for a period of eight months prior to the accident. His regular route was from Portland to Lewiston and Auburn, stopping in Lewiston and Auburn for pickups and deliveries, and returning to Portland in the evening. The tractor-trailer which he was driving was equipped with pneumatic tires and was registered for a gross weight of $50,000 pounds.
On the day in question, December 24, 1951, the day before Christmas, the respondent, following his usual routine, came to Lewiston and Auburn, driving a Mack trailer truck loaded with merchandise for delivery at various points in Lewiston and Auburn. He made various stops for delivery, and about 1 o'clock in the afternoon he came to the National Tobacco & Candy Company, a wholesale concern on Park Street in Lewiston. It being the day before Christmas, the concern had whiskey available for its customers and employees, as was its custom. The respondent was offered a drink of whiskey at this time and accepted one. Later in the afternoon, shortly after 3 o'clock, the respondent returned to the National Tobacco & Candy Company and had two additional drinks of whiskey. The drinks were from an ounce to an ounce and a half each of whiskey. The respondent admitted on direct examination taking the three drinks of whiskey as specified. From the National Tobacco & Candy Company the respondent went to Roy Brothers Trucking Terminal in Lewiston. A witness employed by Roy Brothers testified that his observation of the respondent at that time was that the man had probably had a few drinks.
At approximately 5 o'clock the respondent was driving his truck on Lincoln Street in Lewiston northerly toward Main Street on his way back to Portland. His route as described by various witnesses for the State who encountered him at various stages of his journey was Lincoln Street northerly to Main Street, westerly on Main Street in the direction of Auburn. At about 5:10 o'clock a witness for the State testified he observed a Faltin tractor-trailer double-parked on Spring Street in Auburn, headed north toward Court Street, and as he observed it a man came out of a house at 87 Spring Street, stumbled on the front step of the house against a picket fence, fell to his knees, arose, and then walked to the truck. The driver of the truck, who was not identified by the witness, drove the truck northerly toward Court Street and turned left on Court Street toward Minot Avenue.
The Portland Manager of the J. E. Faltin Transportation Company and other witnesses testified that the company operated five trucks in Maine on December 24, 1951, and four of these trucks, other than that driven by the respondent, were present and accounted for in Portland on that day between 4:30 and 5 o'clock; hence, at the time in question there was only one Faltin truck not accounted for at the home office. This truck was being operated by the respondent in Lewiston and Auburn at that time.
A witness for the State further testified that his car was stopped at a traffic light at the corner of Court and Spring Streets in Auburn, headed easterly, and that as he waited for the light to change, the respondent, driving a Faltin trailer-tractor, came out of Spring Street and turned onto Court Street. As the respondent did so, the truck brushed the rear left portion of the witness' vehicle.
At approximately 5:10 the respondent was in collision, at the Grand Trunk Railroad crossing on Route 100,--on the Portland Road,--with a vehicle coming from the direction of Portland. The collision occurred on the respondent's left side of the road. The driver of the other vehicle turned and followed the respondent's vehicle at varying intervals to the scene of the accident. The respondent at that time was driving at about 55 miles an hour. This collision at the railroad crossing was observed by another witness for the State, who also followed the respondent's vehicle on Route 100 to the scene of the accident. This witness further testified that as he was following the truck he was driving at a speed of 55 miles per hour and that the respondent's truck was pulling away from him. At various points on the route to the scene of the accident, the respondent was observed operating his vehicle on the left-hand side of the road and came close to cars coming from the opposite direction.
At the Oakdale Bridge, so-called, the respondent swerved sharply to his left as he came off the bridge toward an on-coming vehicle operated by a State trooper. The State trooper swerved sharply to his right to avoid being hit, then turned around and followed the respondent to the scene of the accident. The State trooper was driving his car at about 60 miles and hour in an attempt to catch up with the respondent.
The scene of the accident was a curve in the road just northerly of the railroad overpass in Danville. The visibility is unobstructed from the point of impact for a distance of some hundreds of feet northerly toward Auburn. At the time of the accident the main traveled portion of the highway was free from ice, although there was some ice at the outside edges of the shoulder. The road was dry and in good condition. The respondent testified that as he came to the curve and to the scene of the accident he was traveling in the center of the road and the truck pulled to the left.
As the respondent approached the scene of the accident, a car driven by a Mr. Anten, and containing the deceased, was approaching from the opposite direction. The truck at that time was coming down on the left side of the road. In order to avoid the truck the driver of the approaching car turned sharply to the opposite side of the road and crashed into the ditch. As a result of this crash the decedent was killed. Immediately behind the Anten car and coming from the same direction was another vehicle operated by a Mr. Pinette. This vehicle was in actual collision with the respondent's truck.
As a result of the collision the respondent was pinned under the left rear wheels of the tractor and remained there until he was extricated.
The respondent attributed the truck's being on the left-hand side of the road to defective steering mechanism and defective braking. He was aware of these defects on the morning of December 24th, but made no effort to have them remedied.
There were no signs of brake marks on the highway along the path of respondent's truck prior to the point of impact. Two police officers testified after the accident that they smelled a strong odor of liquor.
The respondent was badly injured as a result of the accident and was taken to the hospital immediately thereafter. Three doctors who observed respondent at the hospital during emergency treatment testified that, in their opinion, respondent was under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
The case is before this Court on exceptions and by appeal from the ruling of the Presiding Justice denying the motion of the respondent for a new trial.
The respondent's Bill of Exceptions contains seven distinct exceptions which we will consider in order as they appear in the bill.
Simone Dumond, a witness called by the State, testified that she entered the cab of the truck operated by the respondent, and sat in the passenger's seat while the truck proceeded northerly a short distance to Main Street, where she alighted.
Under interrogation by the County Attorney, she testified as follows:
At the conclusion of all of the evidence and in the presence of the jury the Presiding Justice addressed the jury as follows:
The respondent claims this testimony was inadmissible and that the respondent was prejudiced when it was not stricken immediately upon his motion. The...
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...proved to have been a proximate cause of the death. State v. Budge, 126 Me. 223, 137 A. 244, 53 A.L.R. 241 (1927); State v. Hamilton, 149 Me. 218, 239, 100 A.2d 234 (1953). The reckless conduct need not to have been the sole cause of the victim's death nor must it contribute more than any o......
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