Case Title: Alabama Power Company v. Taylor

Citation: 306 So. 2d 236

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1975-01-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
306 So. 2d 236 (1975)
ALABAMA POWER COMPANY
v.
Ivy LaDonna TAYLOR, a minor, etc.
SC 783.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
January 9, 1975.
*238 Balch, Bingham, Baker, Hawthorne, Williams & Ward, James O. Spencer, Jr., Birmingham, and J. B. Blackburn, Bay Minette, for appellant.
Cunningham, Bounds & Byrd, Mobile, for appellee.
BLOODWORTH, Justice.
This is an appeal by defendant Alabama Power Company from a judgment and jury *239 verdict of $200,000 for personal injuries, rendered in favor of Ivy LaDonna Taylor, a minor, ten years of age, who sues by and through her mother and next friend, Cherry Ann McCormick. Mrs. McCormick also brought a derivative suit to recover medical expenses incurred on behalf of her daughter. See SC 755, Cherry Ann McCormick v. Alabama Power Company, wherein on Mrs. McCormick's appeal from trial court's judgment reducing the jury verdict in her favor, the judgment is reversed. [1975], 293 Ala. 481, 306 So. 2d 233.
The complaint is in five counts. The first four counts charge in essence that Alabama Power Company negligently caused or allowed or maintained uninsulated high-voltage power lines or negligently failed to insulate high-voltage power lines, in that said lines were allowed to be in or dangerously near a tree which, by the exercise of reasonable care, it should have known was frequently climbed by children and that as a proximate result of defendant's negligence, plaintiff was injured and damaged by coming in contact with said lines. Count five charges wantonness in the maintenance of the uninsulated wires.
At the conclusion of the evidence, both parties moved for directed verdicts. The trial judge granted Alabama Power's motion for a directed verdict as to the wanton count and granted plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict as to all four negligence counts. After instructions from the court, the jury retired and assessed LaDonna's damages at $200,000. Following the jury verdict and judgment thereon, Alabama Power Company moved for a new trial, or, in the alternative, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. When the motion was overruled, this appeal then ensued.
Alabama Power Company's arguments on appeal are directed to three grounds of its motion for new trial.
Prior to trial, Alabama Power Company took the deposition of one Robert L. Jenkins, a consulting engineer and resident of Baldwin County. At the taking of this deposition, each party was represented by counsel and each had the opportunity to examine the witness. Mr. Jenkins was subpoenaed for the trial but failed to appear. Initially, the trial judge indicated that Jenkins' deposition would not be admitted in evidence as part of the plaintiff's case in chief. On the following day, however, the court changed its ruling and the deposition was admitted. (Mr. Jenkins was then either in Birmingham or Atlanta.) Alabama Power Company vigorously objected to the use of the deposition and moved for a continuance until such time as Mr. Jenkins could be available. The trial judge's denial of the continuance is assigned as error.
Rule 32(a)(3)(B), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, makes the deposition of a nonparty witness admissible against any party represented at the taking thereof for any purpose when "* * * the witness is at a greater distance than 100 miles from the place of trial * * * unless it appears that the absence of the witness was procured by the party offering the depositions."
It is not disputed that the witness Jenkins was more than 100 miles from the place of trial when the deposition was offered. Alabama Power Company had the opportunity to examine him when he was deposed. No contention is made that the witness' absence was procured by the plaintiff. Therefore, it is clear that under Rule 32(a)(3)(B), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, the deposition was admissible. As we perceive it, the very purpose of the rule is to prevent the need for a continuance.
As this Court has heretofore written:
Alabama Power Company made no showing that the witness would testify differently, or as to other facts, if he testified in person. We do not find that the trial judge abused his discretion in this case. To the contrary, we believe he was justified in proceeding with trial and allowing the deposition of the witness to be used.
After the jury had been deliberating on the issue of damages some period of time, the following occurred:
In a personal injury action, the plaintiff's attorneys' fees are not part of plaintiff's legal damages. Clark v. Exchange Ins. Ass'n, 276 Ala. 334, 161 So. 2d 817 (1964). Therefore, Alabama Power assigns as error the giving of this "instruction" and contends that it resulted in an excessive verdict.
It will be noted from the record that Alabama Power Company did not object to the giving of this "instruction" and, therefore, Rule 51, Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure applies. It is, in pertinent part, viz.:
Having failed to object, appellant cannot now complain. Stated simply, this Court reviews "rulings" made by the court below. In such an instance as here, when a party fails to object, and thereby invoke the ruling of the trial court, nothing is preserved for our review.
At oral argument, Alabama Power Company, in order to excuse its failure to object, alluded to Rule 46, Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides:
This rule merely abolishes the need for formal "exceptions" while reiterating the need for an "objection." Only if a party has no opportunity to object, does the rule excuse the absence thereof. Alabama Power Company does not contend in brief, nor did it contend at oral argument, that it had no opportunity to object. Thus, we conclude there is no reversible error in the assignment of error directed to the trial court's remark as to attorney's fees.
Finally, Alabama Power Company argues that the giving of the directed verdict for plaintiff on the negligence counts was erroneous in three respects: (1) That since plaintiff had the burden of proof, the trial judge should have hypothesized his direction to the jury to return a verdict for plaintiff on the jury's belief of the evidence, citing McHugh v. Harrison, 266 Ala. 138, 94 So. 2d 756 (1957); (2) That there was a scintilla of evidence from which the jury could have found that Alabama Power Company was not negligent; (3) That there was a scintilla of evidence from which the jury could have found that the minor plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. We will speak to each of these arguments in detail.
Rule 50(a), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, provides inter alia:
Rule 50(e), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, provides:
Thus, the former procedure of giving an affirmative charge with hypothesis has been abolished. If a trial judge decides there is not a scintilla of evidence upon which the jury could reasonably reach a verdict for a defendant, he can direct the verdict without submitting the credibility of the witnesses to the jury if their testimony is uncontradicted and unimpeached. In such case the direction of the verdict is effective without the assent of the jury.
An excellent discussion of the new directed verdict rule, and a comparison with the affirmative charge procedure is found in the Committee Comments to Rule 50:
Under the federal rule (from which our rule is copied), a majority of courts hold that the trial judge, on motion for directed verdict, may accept as true the uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony from disinterested witnesses. 9 Wright and Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2527, p. 561 (1971). Some federal courts have held that the jury must determine the credibility of uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony of interested witnesses but in other circumstances the same courts have held that even this testimony must be believed. 9 Wright and Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2527, p. 562 (1971). The United States Supreme Court has expressed the rule thusly:
In the instant case two interested witnesses testified, the minor plaintiff and her mother. None of the testimony of the mother was relevant to the issue of Alabama Power Company's negligence. Alabama Power Company does not argue that the minor plaintiff's testimony that she climbed the tree and touched the wire is not to be believed. Such facts were stipulated to by Alabama Power Company in the pre-trial order. Alabama Power Company did not even cross-examine her. Furthermore, in the view we have taken of the case, the physical evidence and the uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony of distinterested witnesses was sufficient without *243 the testimony of the minor plaintiff to justify a directed verdict on the issue of Alabama Power Company's negligence. As will be shown hereinafter in detail, there was no issue of contributory negligence in this case because of the lack of evidence to rebut the presumption that the ten-year-old plaintiff was incapable of contributory negligence. Thus, there was no jury issue of credibility as to the testimony of the minor plaintiff.
Assuming that the case was otherwise a proper one for the giving of a directed verdict, the trial court did not err in failing to condition the directed verdict for plaintiff on the jury's belief of the evidence.
As is expressly set out in Rule 50(e), the "scintilla" rule is preserved as the standard by which the trial judge must determine the propriety of granting a motion for directed verdict. As this Court has often said:
A defendant as well as a plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of the scintilla rule. McHugh v. Harrison, 266 Ala. 138, 94 So. 2d 756 (1957).
Whether or not the scintilla rule requires a given case to go to the jury is dependent upon the substantive law. The controlling principles applicable to the facts of this case are found in Blackwell v. Alabama Power Company, 275 Ala. 123, 152 So. 2d 670 (1963), an opinion authored for this Court by Justice Coleman:
"The Missouri Court approved the following statement:
"The Texas Court said:
The liability of Alabama Power Company is predicated on negligence. Therefore, to be entitled to a directed verdict on this issue, it was incumbent on the plaintiff to prove, to the exclusion of any contrary reasonable inference, that Alabama Power Company owed a duty, that it breached that duty and that the breach of the duty was the proximate cause of the injuries she sustained.
We will examine the evidence on each of these elements in light of Blackwell v. Alabama Power Company, supra, to determine if the plaintiff met that burden.
On October 29, 1972, Ivy LaDonna Taylor suffered severe electrical burns when she came in contact with uninsulated highvoltage power lines erected and maintained by Alabama Power Company. The wire ran through a thirty-five to forty foot sweet gum tree which grew beside a public alley in a residential neighborhood in Bay Minette, Alabama. The tree was thickly foliated and contained thirty-nine limbs spaced no more than eighteen inches apart. The lowest limb was five feet nine inches from the ground at the trunk, and the ends of some branches reached to the ground. Boards, which served as a makeshift ladder, were nailed to the trunk of the tree, and the tree's lower limbs supported a wooden platform eight to ten feet from the ground. Mr. Sam Crane, District Superintendent for Alabama Power Company, who had viewed the scene less than twenty-four hours after the accident, was called as an adverse witness by the plaintiff. He testified, inter alia:
A number of other children lived in the neighborhood and three children, including plaintiff, customarily played in the tree.
Three uninsulated power lines passed through the tree. The highest wire, which carried a charge of 7,200 volts, was ten feet below the top of the tree. A neutral wire was four and a half inches below the 7,200 volt line. The third line was four and a half feet below the neutral wire and carried no charge at the time of the accident. Thus, the lowest of the wires was approximately twenty-four feet above the ground and the highest twenty-nine feet above the ground. The highest and lowest wires were approximately sixteen feet and twenty-one feet, respectively, above the platform. All three wires passed in close proximity to the trunk of the tree and the two lower wires were embedded in the tree's limbs.
*247 The tree had not been trimmed since 1965,[1] and Alabama Power Company employees had not even been in the area since 1968 when they installed a new transformer. Prior to January, 1972, Alabama Power Company had no policy of inspection but each employee was supposed to report any dangerous condition he encountered by chance. In January, 1972, Alabama Power Company instituted a plan for six-year periodic inspections of its lines, but, as of the time of the accident, it had not undertaken any inspection in this area.
The expert witness Jenkins testified that on the foregoing facts Alabama Power Company was not in compliance with the following industry safety codes which were in use at the time of the accident by well regulated power companies, viz.:
Alabama Power Company's own Distribution Standards recommended that the top of a sweet gum tree be trimmed a minimum of five feet below a primary conductor. The standard recognized that a sweet gum tree was a fast growing tree.
Challenged by her playmates, the ten-year-old plaintiff attempted to climb to the top of the tree. In groping for a handhold, she grabbed the uninsulated 7,200 volt primary conductor while her foot rested on the uncharged low-voltage line. She then fell from the tree and when found by neighbors was unconscious. The burns suffered by her necessitated the amputation of three fingers, part of the thumb, and part of the palm of the left hand; a pin was placed in the ankle above one foot which was severely burned. Numerous skin grafts have also been required and will be required in the future.
In Blackwell, supra, the precise question was whether the electric company was entitled to a directed verdict. On the element of duty, the decision turned on whether there was a scintilla of evidence that a child might reasonably have been expected to climb the particular tree involved. This Court held there was at least a scintilla of such evidence from which the jury could and did find that a child would reasonably be expected to climb the particular tree. Therefore, the electric company was bound to anticipate that a child would climb the tree. Applying Blackwell to the procedural posture of this casean appeal from directed verdict for plaintiffthe question becomes whether there was a scintilla of evidence from which a jury could find that a child might not be reasonably expected to climb the particular tree. Stated otherwise, is the evidence so clear and convincing and free from adverse inference that it would be unreasonable to assume a child would not climb the particular tree involved?
Having carefully considered the evidence, we answer the question, as alternatively posed, in the affirmative and conclude that the trial court was correct in removing this issue from the jury's consideration. The tree was in a residential neighborhood occupied by numerous small children. At the trunk, the lowest limb was only five feet nine inches from the ground and the ends of several branches reached almost to the ground. The tree was thickly foliated with branches close together, forming convenient foot and handholds all the way up to the power lines. When these factors are coupled with the existence of the climbing boards and platform, no one could reasonably say this tree was other than a children's climbing tree. Indeed, *248 even Alabama Power Company's own District Engineer's testimonythat this was a children's climbing treeis uncontradicted.
Alabama Power Company contends that it was without actual notice or knowledge of the dangerous condition and that it owed no duty of reasonable care because the plaintiff was a trespasser.
Lack of actual notice or knowledge is immaterial. Having erected and maintained highly dangerous uninsulated wires, in close proximity to trees, Alabama Power Company is charged with knowledge of whatever it would have ascertained by a reasonable inspection. Blackwell v. Alabama Power Company, supra; Alabama Power Co. v. Jackson, 232 Ala. 42, 166 So. 692 (1936); cf. Reynolds v. Iowa Southern Utilities Co., 21 F.2d 958 (8th Cir. 1927); Benton v. North Carolina Public-Service Co., 165 N.C. 354, 81 S.E. 448 (1914); Sweeten v. Pacific Power & Light Co., 88 Wash. 679, 153 P. 1054 (1915).
It was stipulated that the power lines in question were suspended over a public way and not on Alabama Power Company's property. In Blackwell, supra, this Court said:
Thus, as a matter of law, plaintiff was not a trespasser as to Alabama Power Company.
Therefore, we conclude that on the particular facts of this case, Alabama Power Company, as a matter of law, was bound to anticipate that children would climb this tree and owed a duty of care to such persons.
In Blackwell, supra, the requisite degree of care is alternately stated as being a high degree of care or care commensurate with the circumstances. When analyzed, the meanings of these phrases are not different. The degree of care reasonable under the circumstances is a high degree of care because of the danger inherent in the maintenance of highly charged wires in or near trees. 18 Am. Jur. Electricity § 48 (1928); see cases collected at Annot., 27 A.L.R.2d 204, 213 (1953).
Alabama Power Company could have discharged its duty of care by cutting down the tree, trimming the tree, covering the wire with a protective insulation, or erecting a guard device around the tree. See cases collected at Annot., 27 A.L.R.2d 204, 214-217 (1953).
It is undisputed that the wires ran through the tree, that the tree had not been periodically trimmed, that the wires had no insulation covering, and that no guard device had been erected. The evidence shows that the top of the tree was ten feet above the primary conductor which caused the injury while Alabama Power Company's own safety manual required a sweet gum tree to be trimmed a minimum of five feet below a primary conductor. The tree had not been trimmed in seven years, even though Alabama Power Company's manual described a sweet gum tree as fast growing. (The condition had existed for such a period of time that the tree limbs had grown around the two lower wires!)
The witness Jenkins testified that the conditions existing at the time of plaintiff's injury did not comply with any of the standards for line clearance recognized and used by well regulated electric companies. No attempt was made by Alabama Power Company to rebut this statement.
*249 Mr. William Monroe, the local engineer for Alabama Power Company, called by plaintiff, testified as follows:
Mr. Monroe was not examined by Alabama Power Company and no testimony was offered in rebuttal.
All of the recognized standards introduced in evidence required periodic inspection and trimming, preferably each two years. Alabama Power Company had no plan of periodic inspection in operation but depended on its operating crews to report conditions they might happen upon. No Alabama Power Company employee had even been in the area in four years.
We conclude that all of the evidence admits of but one inferenceAlabama Power Company did not exercise any care, much less the high degree of care commensurate with the risk involved.
It is undisputed that the factual cause of plaintiff's injury was contact with the uninsulated wire maintained in a dangerous condition by Alabama Power Company.
In Alabama, foreseeability is the cornerstone of proximate cause. See, e. g., Liberty National Life Ins. Co. v. Weldon, 267 Ala. 171, 100 So. 2d 696 (1957); Havard v. Palmer & Baker Engineers, Inc., 293 Ala. 301, 302 So. 2d 228 (1974). In accord with the principles of law enunciated in Blackwell, supra, it having been established that the particular tree which contained the wire was one likely to be climbed by children, Alabama Power Company was bound to anticipate or foresee that a child might climb the tree and come in contact with the wire. In the instant case, plaintiff is clearly a member of the foreseeable class and was injured in the precise manner which the exercise of that degree of care imposed on the Alabama Power Company would have protected her against.
In brief, Alabama Power Company suggested no other proximate cause except the failure of plaintiff's mother and neighbors to notify it of the dangerous condition. For the cause of an injury to be its proximate cause it need not be the sole proximate cause. Chambers v. Cox, 222 Ala. 1, 3, 130 So. 416, 418 (1930); Havard v. Palmer & Baker Engineers, Inc., supra; Shepherd v. Gardner Wholesale, Inc., 288 Ala. 43, 256 So. 2d 877 (1972). Assuming, arguendo, that plaintiff's mother and neighbors were under a duty to notify Alabama Power Company, such does not negate the inescapable conclusion that a proximate cause of plaintiff's injury was the failure of Alabama Power Company to insulate its wire or trim the tree. It is axiomatic that any negligence which might be attributable to the mother cannot be imputed to the child.
In its answer to the plaintiff's complaint, Alabama Power Company interposed *250 the affirmative defense of contributory negligence. At the time she sustained her injuries, the minor plaintiff was but ten years old. A child between the ages of seven and fourteen is prima facie presumed incapable of contributory negligence. Birmingham Ry., Light & Power Co. v. Landrum, 153 Ala. 192, 45 So. 198 (1907).
There was testimony that plaintiff scored "well above average" or in the "bright average range" on an "IQ" test administered at an undisclosed time after the accident but before trial.
This Court has long held that:
As can be seen, the above testimony is insufficient to overcome the presumption. We have found no evidence in the record that the minor plaintiff possessed the discretion, intelligence, and sensitivity to danger of a child fourteen years of age.
The legal presumption being against the existence of those characteristics, and there being no evidence to the contrary, Alabama Power Company was not entitled to have the question of plaintiff's contributory negligence, if any, submitted to the jury. Alabama Power Co. v. Bowers, 252 Ala. 49, 39 So. 2d 402 (1949).
In accord with our rule of review, we have reviewed the evidence in the light most favorable to Alabama Power Company and conclude that the trial judge did not err in directing a verdict for plaintiff as to the negligence counts.
It is, perhaps, unnecessary that we call attention of bench and bar to the obvious that it is a rare instance when plaintiff is entitled to a directed verdict in a negligence action.
Let the judgment stand affirmed.
Affirmed.
HEFLIN, C. J., and MERRILL, HARWOOD, FAULKNER and JONES, JJ., concur.
COLEMAN and MADDOX, JJ., dissent.
MADDOX, Justice (dissenting).
I must respectfully dissent. The majority relies strongly on Blackwell v. Alabama Power Co., 275 Ala. 123, 152 So. 2d 670 (1963). There, this Court said the plaintiff had a right to have a jury, not the trial judge, determine whether the Power Company was negligent. It is almost ironic how closely the facts of this case parallel the facts of the Blackwell case. Here, as in Blackwell, the trial judge took the case from the jury. I think the trial judge was wrong in taking the case from the jury in Blackwell. I think the trial judge was wrong here. In other words, the "scintilla rule" should be just as available to defendants as it is to plaintiffs.
I believe there was at least a scintilla of evidence that the wires were not the proximate cause of the injury. I also believe that since the jury saw the minor plaintiff testify at the trial and heard a psychiatrist tell about her IQ that there was at least a scintilla of evidence that she had a mental age of 14. There was at least a scintilla of evidence presented that the child's mother failed to properly protect her child against a known danger. Failure of a parent to extend such protection can be negligence. Pratt Coal & Iron Co. v. Brawley, 83 Ala. 371, 3 So. 555 (1888). I believe it was a jury question whether the parent was negligent and whether this negligence *251 was the proximate cause of the child's injury.
This child suffered a severe injury. The evidence of negligence was substantial. Nevertheless, I believe that every person has a right to have a jury of his peers pass on that question. Our "scintilla rule" has been jealously preserved even against strong opposition. The "scintilla rule" means that in Alabama it is even harder for a judge to take from a party the right of trial by jury. That is the legal principle involved and that is the reason, and the only reason, I dissent.
[1]  The evidence does not affirmatively disclose that this tree had ever been trimmed, only that trimming had not been done in the area since 1965. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Alabama Power Company, the inference might be drawn that the tree was in fact trimmed in 1965.