Worsham v. Duke
Decision Date | 21 March 1955 |
Docket Number | No. 12257.,12257. |
Citation | 220 F.2d 506 |
Parties | Virginia WORSHAM, Appellant, v. T. E. DUKE and Christine Duke, Appellees. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Joe B. Orr, Bowling Green, Ky. (Richardson & Barickman, Glasgow, Ky., Bell & Orr, Bowling Green, Ky., Ralph Brumet, Bristol, Va., on the brief), for appellant.
G. Duncan Milliken, Jr. (Milliken & Milliken, Bowling Green, Ky., on the brief), for appellees.
Before MARTIN, MILLER and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
Appellant, Virginia Worsham, brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries suffered by her in an automobile accident on August 28, 1952 near Edmonton, Kentucky. The District Judge directed a verdict in favor of the appellees, from which ruling this appeal was taken.
At the time of the accident, appellant was a passenger in an automobile owned by the appellee T. E. Duke, which was being driven by his wife appellee Christine Duke. The automobile had stopped at a gas station in Edmonton and had proceeded some 5 or 10 miles therefrom. It had negotiated a curve and was traveling on the righthand side of the road on a straight stretch of road, on which there was no traffic either in front or behind. Appellant's testimony about the accident was as follows: "We were riding along and at a low rate of speed, not fast, and all of a sudden or seemed to be — I don't know why — the car went from one side of the road to the other so fast — it went so fast that I don't know what happened and the next thing we went over a bank and the next thing that I recall I was standing on my feet holding my head, my eye, which was bleeding." She further testified that the car was traveling at approximately 30 miles an hour, that she did not see Mrs. Duke put on the brakes or turn the car to the right or to the left, or accelerate the car or slow the car down just prior to the accident. She testified — She was asked, to which she answered, "It was just one of those things I was only a passenger and I just — it is just one of those things — it happened so fast." She was then asked, to which she answered,
The appellant further testified that she didn't examine the car, which was a 1951 Oldsmobile, but as far as she knew or could see it was in good condition, that it was a misty sort of a day, that the highway was of black-top construction, and as far as she could tell it did not seem to have any bumps in it.
At the conclusion of the appellant's case, the District Judge, being of the opinion that the foregoing evidence did not establish any negligence on the part of the operator of the automobile and was not sufficient to take the case to the jury on the theory of res ipsa loquitur, sustained appellees' motion for a directed verdict. Supporting Kentucky authority for the ruling was not cited. Appellant contends that the case was one for the application of the res ipsa loquitur doctrine and should have been submitted to the jury.
Appellant relies chiefly upon Thompson v. Kost, 298 Ky. 32, 181 S.W.2d 445, and Reibert v. Thompson, 302 Ky. 688, 194 S.W.2d 974, being two appeals in the same case, in which the factual situation was very similar to the present case. In that case, while Miss Thompson was driving on the main highway from Cincinnati to Louisville, at a reasonable rate of speed and in a careful manner, and with no interfering traffic, the car suddenly swerved to the left, then to the right, and then off the road. The three occupants of the wrecked car were rendered unconscious, and none of them had any recollection of how the accident happened. In the first opinion the Court said 298 Ky. 32, 181 S.W.2d 446: "The facts in this case bring it within the res ipsa loquitur doctrine since the automobile which caused the injury was shown to be under defendant's control and the accident was such that in the ordinary course of events it would not have happened if she had used ordinary care, and the mere proof of the happening of the accident is sufficient evidence that it was caused by negligence on defendant's part unless she showed that the accident was attributable to some other cause." It ruled that the question of defendant's negligence should have been submitted to the jury.
On the appeal, following the second trial, the Court again held that the res ipsa loquitur doctrine applied, giving the following explanation for its ruling 302 Ky. 688, 194 S.W.2d 976:
The appellees rely upon the following case...
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Rommel-McFerran Co. v. Local U. No. 369, Int. Bro. of Elec. Wkrs.
...Certainly a deposition not introduced and admitted in evidence at trial may not be relied on in argument of the case. Worsham v. Duke, 220 F.2d 506 (C.A.6, 1955). The appellee argues that we should hold on this record that the error did not affect "substantial rights" of defendant, citing R......
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Miles v. Ryan
...in evidence at trial or in chambers, it was not evidence in this case and cannot be considered by a reviewing court. Worsham v. Duke, 220 F.2d 506 (6 Cir. 1955); Charles v. Judge and Dolph, Ltd., 263 F.2d 864 (7 Cir. 1959); United States v. City of Brookhaven, 134 F.2d 442 (5 Cir. 1943). Mo......
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Reed v. Baxter
...with the court during the motion in limine arguments, they never offered these items into evidence at trial. Relying on Worsham v. Duke, 220 F.2d 506, 509 (6th Cir.1955), they argue that the plaintiffs may therefore not attempt to use these depositions as evidence of the testimony that woul......