Witt v. Merrill, 6740.

Citation210 F.2d 132
Decision Date30 January 1954
Docket NumberNo. 6740.,6740.
PartiesWITT v. MERRILL et ux.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

William E. Chandler, Jr., Greenville, S. C., and Charles J. Henderson, Charlotte, N. C. (Henderson & Henderson. Charlotte, N. C., and Chandler & Chandler, Greenville, S. C., on the brief), for appellant.

Alfred F. Burgess and C. T. Wyche, Greenville, S. C. (Wyche, Burgess & Wyche, Greenville, S. C., on the brief), for appellees.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a verdict and judgment for defendant in an action for damages growing out of an automobile collision. Plaintiff contends there was error in admitting in evidence a motion picture taken of plaintiff without his knowledge showing that he did not display at that time the disabilities which he manifested in the presence of the jury, in allowing testimony as to another accident, in refusing to charge that the defendant was guilty of negligence per se in failing to control the speed of her automobile so as to avoid colliding with plaintiff's automobile and in refusing to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial on the ground that the verdict was contrary to the evidence. There is no merit in any of these contentions. The motion picture was clearly admissible and it was not rendered inadmissible merely because it was torn when being shown before the trial judge and had to be spliced for the showing before the jury. An examination of the picture clearly demonstrates that no prejudice could have resulted to the plaintiff from this circumstance. The testimony as to the injury and damage sustained in a subsequent collision in which plaintiff was involved was admissible as tending to show that the injury and damage of which plaintiff complains may have originated otherwise than out of the collision for which defendant is sued. The trial judge correctly charged the jury on the question of negligence and no more specific instructions were seasonably requested in writing as required by the rules of civil procedure. Even if the statute relating to control of speed had application to the case, therefore, and we do not think that it does, the plaintiff could not complain of the charge. So far as the motion for new trial is concerned, this was a matter resting in the sound discretion of the trial judge; and we cannot say that there was any abuse of discretion here shown. Kirstner v....

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3 cases
  • Comins v. Scrivener
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • July 7, 1954
    ...Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 3 Cir., 198 F.2d 264; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Talbot, 5 Cir., 205 F.2d 529; Witt v. Merrill, 4 Cir., 210 F.2d 132; Cf. Baker v. Western Casualty & Surety Co., 164 Kan. 376, 190 P.2d 850; Cf. Lewis v. Texas Employers' Insurance Association, Tex......
  • Goodman v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • January 20, 1960
    ...Co. v. Rochelle, 6 Cir., 1958, 252 F.2d 730, 738; Comins v. Scrivener, 10 Cir., 1954, 214 F.2d 810, 815, 46 A.L.R.2d 1; Witt v. Merrill, 4 Cir., 1954, 210 F.2d 132, 134; Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Talbot, 5 Cir., 1953, 205 F.2d 529, 533; Seeraty v. Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 3 ......
  • Carson v. Squirrel Inn Corporation, Civ. A. No. 68-353.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina
    • April 24, 1969
    ...inclusive to be admissible. Of the same impact is Willis v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co., 269 F.2d 549 (4th Cir. 1959). See also Witt v. Merrill, 210 F.2d 132 (4th Cir. 1954). In the absence of any proof that the photographs represented a true and correct film exposure to the bed board in question......

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