Case Title: Stradinger v. Hatzenbuhler

Citation: 137 N.W.2d 212

Docket Number: 

State: north-dakota

Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Date: 1965-09-23T00:00:00Z

Document:
137 N.W.2d 212 (1965) Margie STRADINGER, an Infant, by Rose Stradinger, her guardian ad litem, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Laverne HATZENBUHLER and Larry Koffler, Defendants, Laverne Hatzenbuhler, Defendant and Respondent. No. 8131. Supreme Court of North Dakota. September 23, 1965. Greenwood & Swanson, Dickinson, for appellant. William R. Reichert, Dickinson, for respondent. Dale Jensen, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Bismarck, for Unsatisfied Judgment Fund. *213 ERICKSTAD, Judge (on reassignment). This is an appeal by the plaintiff, Margie Stradinger, an infant, by Rose Stradinger, her guardian ad litem, from an order of the District Court of Stark County denying a motion for a new trial. This case was consolidated for trial with the cases of Carol Novotny, an infant, by Philomine A. Novotny, her guardian ad litem, v. Laverne Hatzenbuhler and Larry Koffler and of Arlene Novotny, an infant, by Philomine A. Novotny, her guardian ad litem, v. Laverne Hatzenbuhler and Larry Koffler. The actions against Larry Koffler were dismissed by stipulation. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Hatzenbuhler in each of the actions. Motion for new trial was made on behalf of Margie Stradinger. It is from the order denying that motion that this appeal is taken. Margie Stradinger's complaint alleged in substance that on April 21, 1957, she was a passenger in an automobile operated by Mr. Hatzenbuhler on U. S. Highway 10 approximately one-half mile west of Dickinson, North Dakota; that he willfully and wantonly operated the automobile in a grossly negligent manner; that he lost control of the automobile and crashed into a gasoline tank truck; and that, as a direct and proximate result of his conduct, she suffered severe personal injuries for which she was entitled to recover a judgment in the sum of $41,000. In his answer Mr. Hatzenbuhler admitted that Margie Stradinger was a passenger in the automobile he was operating and that the accident had occurred. He denied that he had operated the automobile in a negligent manner and alleged that the collision was proximately caused by the negligence of the truck driver. At the close of the court's instructions the jurors retired to the jury room for deliberation. Later they returned to the court room for further instructions relating to whether a certain violation of the rules of the road constituted gross negligence. Upon receiving additional instructions from the court, the jury again retired to the jury room for deliberation and thereafter returned to the court room, where the following verdict was read: The motion for new trial was based essentially on two grounds. The first ground was that the verdict received by the court was not the verdict of the jury, as evinced by the fact that when the jury was polled one of the jurors stated that it was not his verdict. The second ground was that the verdict of the jury was improperly and illegally reached, because the dissenting juror was induced to assent to the verdict by remarks made by the judge after the polling of the jury, under the mistaken belief that the judge wished him to agree with the verdict rendered by the other jurors. The trial court denied the motion for a new trial on the grounds that all of the jurors finally assented to the verdict; that the jury had not amended or altered its verdict in open court but had only approved it; and that, since it was the wish of all the jurors that Mr. Hatzenbuhler not be held liable on the charge of gross negligence, the verdict properly disposed of that issue. The trial court held that the words "not guilty" in the verdict were surplusage. The first issue raised on appeal is whether the court erred in failing to return the jurors to the jury room when one of the jurors disagreed with the verdict on being polled. A part of the conversation between the judge and the juror follows: Section 28-1506 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 [now § 28-14-23, N.D.C.C.], in effect at the time of this trial, read: North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. When Juror Reisenauer said that the verdict was not his own, the jurors were not sent out again. The record also discloses the following conversation: The trial court, in holding § 28-1506, N.D.R.C. of 1943, only directory in nature, found it unnecessary to send the jury out for further deliberation when Juror Reisenauer disagreed with the verdict. In so doing, the court, in its memorandum opinion, cited as its authority the case of Hart v. Village of Wyndmere, in which this court *215 held the part of the statute requiring that the verdict be signed by the foreman to be directory, not mandatory. The foregoing language clearly shows that when this court referred to the statute as being directory, the reference was only to the provision requiring that the verdict be signed by the foreman. No reference was made to the provision in the statute which requires that jurors be sent out again if any juror disagrees with the verdict upon being polled. We have examined the authorities cited in Hart and have found that they all refer to the validity of an unsigned or improperly signed verdict. They do not involve the issue before us. Our statute, § 28-1506, N.D.R.C. of 1943 [now § 28-14-23, N.D.C.C.], was derived from Harston's (Cal.) Practice, 618. The District Court of California for the Second District has applied their statute, which is substantially the same as ours, to a case similar to the one before us. That court said in part: The Municipal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is in accord with this view. See also: Orwin v. Clark, 135 N.J.L. 542, 53 A.2d 345. In a case tried before the Municipal Court of the District of Columbia, two jurors dissented *216 from a verdict but subsequently agreed in court that the verdict was their own. The verdict was then received by the court, but on appeal the United States Court of Appeals granted a new trial. Section 28-1418 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 is cited as authority for accepting the verdict without sending the jurors to the jury room for further deliberation following the dissent of juror Reisenauer. This section reads in part: The pertinent provisions of Sections 28-1506 and 28-1418 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 were contained in the Code of Civil Procedure of the Revised Codes of the Territory of Dakota in 1877 as Sections 258 and 253 of Chapter XII, Article IV. These statutes remained under the same article, entitled Of the Conduct of the Trial, until Section 28-1418 appeared in the Revised Code of 1943 under the title Trial by Jury and Section 28-1506 appeared in the same code under the title Verdict, Forms, Direction of. They now appear in the Century Code under one title, Trial by Jury. Under these circumstances, the statutes should be construed so as to give effect to both, if it is reasonably possible. This is consistent with the general rule of statutory construction, that when two statutes relating to the same subject matter appear to be in conflict, they should be construed whenever possible to give effect to both statutes if this can be done without doing violence to either. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in a 1964 decision states this rule as follows: The Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut has stated the same rule, using other language: *217 Another version of the same rule was stated recently by the Supreme Court of Arizona: See also: Marshall v. City of Golden, 147 Colo. 521, 363 P.2d 650; State v. Roy, 23 Conn.Sup. 26, 176 A.2d 66. Applying this rule so as to give effect to both statutes, a reasonable interpretation of the statutes is that when a case is submitted to a jury, the jury may deliberate in open court and render its verdict without retiring to the jury room, but when a jury has retired to the jury room for deliberation, returned to the court room to render its verdict, and upon being polled a juror disagrees with the verdict, the provision in § 28-1418, N.D.R.C. of 1943 [§ 28-14-18, N.D.C.C.], which permits the jury to render its verdict in court without retiring to the jury room to deliberate, ceases to apply, and the provisions of § 28-1506, N.D.R.C. of 1943 [§ 28-14-23, N.D.C.C.], requiring the jurors, when a juror disagrees with the verdict on being polled, to be sent out for further deliberation, applies. We therefore find that the trial court erred in not sending the jurors to the jury room for further deliberation after juror Reisenauer disagreed with the verdict. In view of this holding, it is not necessary to discuss the other issues which Miss Stradinger has raised, as they are not likely to arise on a retrial. This court has repeatedly held that it need not discuss any point, the decision of which is not necessary to a disposition of the case. Kirkham, Michael & Associates v. City of Minot, 122 N.W.2d 862 (N.D.1963). See also: Inches v. Butcher, 104 N.W.2d 556 (N.D.1960); In re Novak's Estate, 73 N.D. 41, 11 N.W.2d 64. The order of the District Court denying a new trial is reversed, and a new trial granted. STRUTZ and KNUDSON, JJ., concur. KNUDSON, J., did not hear the argument in this case but participated in the decision on the briefs. TEIGEN, Judge (dissenting). I dissent. The colloquy between Juror Reisenauer and the court, set forth in the majority opinion, makes it crystal clear that the juror was in complete agreement with the verdict tendered if the jury was required to find gross negligence to establish liability. There were two actions consolidated for the purpose of trial. They were brought by two guest passengers in an automobile against their host for personal injuries sustained as a result of an accident. A verdict of dismissal was returned in each case. The court instructed the jury that to find the defendant liable in either of these cases, the jury must find that the defendant was grossly negligent. This is required by our law. The dissenting juror clearly stated that if it was necessary to find gross negligence "we just couldn't find anything that would come under gross negligence." He indicated a desire to find liability on "just negligence." Therefore, his dissent, if any, was with the law and not the verdicts tendered under the law as given them by the court. It is the duty of the court to determine the law and to instruct the jury as to the law to be applied. The function of the jury is to find the facts and apply the law as given it by the court. There was no reason for the court to send the jury back to *218 the jury room for further deliberation. It is clear all jurors agreed to the verdicts tendered and accepted by the court. It was a unanimous verdict. BURKE, C. J., concurs in Judge Teigen's dissent.