Case Title: Green v. Jones

Citation: 319 P.2d 1083

Docket Number: 

State: colorado

Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Date: 1957-12-23T00:00:00Z

Document:
319 P.2d 1083 (1957) Dinksey GREEN, Plaintiff in Error, v. Kathleen May JONES, by her father and next friend, Leighton Jones, Defendant in Error. No. 17963. Supreme Court of Colorado. En Banc. December 23, 1957. Rehearing Denied January 27, 1958. *1084 Lowell White, Walter A. Steele, Denver, for plaintiff in error. Duane O. Littell, Kenneth D. Sutterlin, Denver, Nicholas E. Darrow, Delta, for defendant in error. HALL, Justice. Plaintiff in error was defendant in the trial court and we will refer to her as defendant; defendant in error, plaintiff in the trial court, we refer to as plaintiff, or Kathy. Plaintiff, two years of age at the time of the injuries complained of, through her father and next friend, filed her complaint against the defendant, alleging two grounds upon which she seeks recovery. In her first claim, she sought to recover for personal injuries suffered as a result of the alleged negligence of the defendant in the operation of an automobile; her second claim alleged that defendant's negligence consisted of wilful and wanton conduct. Defendant answered and set forth as defenses: (1) a general denial; (2) unavoidable accident; (3) plaintiff was a guest of defendant at the time of her injuries, and (4) the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Trial was to a jury which returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff upon which judgment was entered, and the defendant is here on writ of error. Though there may be some slight inconsistencies in the testimony, there is no real conflict therein. The evidence shows that Kathy and her four older brothers and sisters were left by their parents in charge of defendant, who had from time to time taken care of the children while their mother and father worked. The children had spent the night preceding the accident with the defendant, Kathy's maternal grandmother. On the morning of the accident the defendant had gotten the two children of school age off to school and was going to take the three children of preschool age to a babysitter retained by Kathy's mother; the defendant directed two of the children to get in the car and they did get in the front seat of defendant's 1947 two-door sedan; the defendant picked Kathy up and put her in the front seat next to defendant, the other two children being on Kathy's right, and she herself got in the car behind the wheel and started to back out of a rather long driveway with a circular portion where the car could be turned around. As defendant backed out, Kathy climbed over the other two children and was next to the right door as defendant backed out and started to make the turn at this circle, the door came open and Kathy fell out and was run over by the right front wheel and had her left ear and part of her scalp completely torn off and irretrievably lost. She suffered other serious injuries also, for which the jury awarded her damages in the sum of $7,500. Defendant well knew that the right front door of this car was defective and often flew open and usually did so when making a curve or turn. Though defendant knew of this defect and knew *1085 Kathy had climbed over the other two children and was next to this defective door, she turned her head away from Kathy, looked over her left shoulder and backed out of the driveway and was on the circular part of the driveway when the door opened and Kathy fell out and was injured as set forth above. There was uncontradicted evidence that Kathy's mother had given the defendant a check for $70 and had also paid a $15 debt owing by defendant. The evidence as to just why these amounts were turned over to defendant is not clear; nor is it clear just what the $70 should coverwhether food, care, services, or gas for transportation. The defendant testified that Most of the argument in the trial court and also in this court deals with the question as to whether the facts presented with reference to payment were sufficient to submit to the jury the question of whether Kathy had been removed from the inhibitions of the guest statute by "* * * payment for such transportation * * *." The mother, father and grandfather of Kathy all testified in her behalf; much of their testimony consisted of a recital of what the defendant had told them concerning the accident, the defects in the car, her neglect in failing to watch for Kathy and her understanding of the purpose of the $70. Defendant's counsel objected to this testimony on the ground that it was hearsay. The trial court properly held that though hearsay, it consisted of admissions against interest and was admissible under a well established exception to the hearsay rule. Plaintiff called the defendant under the statute for cross-examination and experienced little difficulty in eliciting from defendant admissions which established negligence on the part of the defendant. When called by her counsel to testify in her own behalf, defendant readily testified as to her various acts of negligence which were the proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. At this point defendant's counsel undertook to discredit his client's testimony by cross-examination. Objection to this was properly sustained. Counsel then made a tender of proof and offered to show by two witnesses that defendant, shortly after the accident, had made written statements concerning the accident and alleged payments for transportation, which were at material variance with her testimony from the witness stand; this offer was rejected on the ground that counsel could not seek to discredit or impeach his client. It seems elementary that counsel, having accepted and continued in the employment of defendant, is in no position to impeach or discredit his client. To do so would be to act beyond and above the call to duty and might well be considered, though we do not determine the question, as being beyond the scope of his employment. Reason dictates that it is the duty of counsel during the period of his employment to seek to sustain, rather than destroy, the position of his client. All of the issues and arguments concerning payment for transportation, wilfulness and wantonness, and the propriety of instructions touching these questions, we consider irrelevant and for the reason that Kathy, age two, did not and could not attain or occupy the status of a "guest," as contemplated by the legislature in adopting C.R.S. '53, 13-9-1, as follows: *1086 This statute is in derogation of the common law rule which makes the operator answerable in damages for injuries suffered by an occupant of his car arising out of and proximately caused by the operator's failure to exercise ordinary care. Such being the case, the statute must be strictly construed. To achieve the status of "guest" there must be an invitation, expressed or implied, and an acceptance, formal, informal, or by act or deed. Kathy, because of her tender years, was incapable of accepting; the defendant recognized this fact and, without consulting Kathy, picked her up and plunked her down in the front seat. A strange invitation. How did Kathy accept? We take judicial notice of the fact that a two-year-old child is incompetent to accept or reject an invitation. The status of "guest" under the statute is acquired only by knowingly and voluntarily accepting the invitation to become so. Certainly a kidnapped person does not attain the status of guest; a prisoner, being transported against his will, is not a guest. Interwoven in our guest statute and decisions construing the same we find the doctrines of "assumption of risk," "contributory negligence," failure to extricate one-self from apparent danger, etc., none of which can with reason be applied to Kathy. In Dobbs v. Sugioka, 117 Colo. 218, at pages 221-222, 185 P.2d 784, at page 786, this court, in holding that plaintiff was not a "guest," said: Our guest statute has been the subject of much discussion in many cases that have been presented in this court for review, and there have been many pronouncements touching on the question as to whether certain persons riding with others occupy the position of "guest" at the time of being injured. None has directly dealt with the question herein discussed. In Wilson v. Hill, 103 Colo. 409, at page 415, 86 P.2d 1084, at page 1087, this court, in defining the duties of a "guest" under certain circumstances, said: "* * * If a guest knows that danger may follow the operation of the car because of the physical incapacity of the driver, as plaintiff here alleged and testified was her conviction, it is the duty of the guest to take such measures as may be open to him to avoid the threatened injury and he is guilty of negligence if he fails to so do. If the discharge of such duty can only be met by leaving the vehicle at the first available opportunity, if such is offered, the passenger may be deemed guilty of contributory negligence if he elects to remain in the car, but the passenger's duty to leave the automobile must be judged in the light of all the surrounding facts and circumstances, such as the time of the day or night, the place and surroundings, the availability of other means of transportation *1087 and other pertinent considerations of similar nature. * * *." The court was speaking of a guestcertainly not about Kathy. In United Brotherhood of Carpenters, etc. v. Salter, 114 Colo. 513, 167 P.2d 954, 958, this court, in further outlining the duties of a guest, said: This language is applicable to "guests" not Kathy. In Ling v. Pease, 123 Colo. 518, at page 521, 232 P.2d 189, at page 190, this court said: To seek to apply this language to Kathy presents insurmountable difficulties. In Morrow v. Whiteley, 125 Colo. 392, at pages 399-400, 244 P.2d 657, at page 661, this court said: Kathy was neither "guest," "hitchhiker" or "bum" and was incapable of assuming any risks or hazards. In Haller v. Gross, 135 Colo. 218, 309 P.2d 598, 600, this court said: Conversely, Kathy was not possessed of any of the faculties of an adult person, was incapable of knowing or anticipating danger or avoiding the same, incapable of assuming the risk, incapable of accepting the status of a guest. A case in point is Kudrna v. Adamski, 188 Or. 396, 216 P.2d 262, 263, 16 A.L.R.2d 1297. The opinion contains the following statement of facts: "* * * At the time of her injury the plaintiff, Dolores Kudrna, was four years of age. The defendant is her uncle, the brother of her mother, who was killed in the accident. The automobile was owned by the child's father. An appointment had been arranged for Dolores with a doctor in Eugene, and the trip was made for the purpose of keeping this appointment. Mrs. Kudrna did not drive the car because she had no driver's license, and the defendant drove at the request of both Mr. and Mrs. Kudrna as a `family courtesy'. En route to Eugene the right rear wheel of the car got onto the shoulder of the highway. In the driver's effort to bring it back onto the *1088 pavement the car went out of control and crashed on the other side of the road." The Oregon statute, ORS 30.110 to 30.130, is identical with the Colorado statute. In sustaining a judgment for plaintiff, the court said: California has a statute West's Ann.Vehicle Code, § 403, similar to the statute in Colorado; it reads in part as follows: In Rocha v. Hulen, 6 Cal. App. 2d 245, 44 P.2d 478, plaintiff, a five-year-old child, recovered judgment against the defendant who found the child injured and unattended and put her in his car and started to take her to the hospital; drove negligently and collided with another car, causing plaintiff injuries. The court held that plaintiff was not a guest and had not "accepted a ride" and therefore could recover on the basis of ordinary negligence. The court said, 44 P.2d at page 482: A case exactly analogous to the case before use is Fuller v. Thrun, 109 Ind.App. 407, 31 N.E.2d 670, 672, wherein a six-year-old girl, left in the custody of defendant for a period of two hours, was taken for a ride by defendant and injured. Pertinent parts of the Indiana statute, Burns' Ann.St. § 47-1021, are identical with our statute. The court said: "It will be noted that all of these definitions contemplate both an invitation on the part of the owner and an acceptance on the part of the guest of *1089 such invitation and the hospitality and privileges thereby afforded. It is clear, therefore, that one forced against his will to ride with the driver of a motor vehicle could not be said to be riding as a guest. We are not unmindful of the fact that there are cases that appear not to be in accord with our resolution of this question; however, we find no case involving a child of tender years who has been held to be a guest in which any effort has been made by the court to analyse the question of who are guests. In re Wright's Estate, 170 Kan. 600, 228 P.2d 911, 915, presents a real legal anomaly. A four-year-old child, taken for a ride by his grandparents, was held to be a guest within the statute which does not differ from the Colorado statute. Mr. Justice Wertz, who authored the opinion of the majority of the court, said: This same Justice Wertz (incongruous as it may seem) also authored a dissenting opinion, concurred in by Justice Smith, and said: "* * * To me the statute implies that in order to become a guest one must exercise a choice in the matter, and I think that a four-year-old lacks the legal capacity to exercise that choice, just as it is incapable of responsibility for its torts and so forth. Surely the law should not be construed to say that these helpless children are bound by the same standards applicable to persons of mature years who have the ability and mentality to contract for transportation or to object and remonstrate to the manner in which the *1090 car is driven while riding in the vehicle under circumstances which make the guest statute applicable. * * *." While these conflicting opinions by the same justice in the same case leave us somewhat bewildered, we recognize merit and sound reasoning in the dissenting opinion, with which we find ourselves in full accord. Counsel objected to several instructions given touching on the guest statute. In the view we take of the matter, while many of these instructions should not have been given, Kathy, not the defendant, was prejudiced thereby and Kathy is not complaining; defendant, not being prejudiced thereby, may not complain. The judgment is affirmed.