Case Name: Ben MUDD on behalf of the community and Olga Mudd, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1974-05-17
Citations: 295 So. 2d 540
Docket Number: No. 4487
Parties: Ben MUDD on behalf of the community and Olga Mudd, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before FRUGÉ, HOOD and WATSON, JJ-
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 295
Pages: 540–550

Head Matter:
Ben MUDD on behalf of the community and Olga Mudd, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 4487.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.
May 17, 1974.
Rehearing Denied June 26, 1974
Camp, Carmouche, Palmer, Carwile & Barsh by Harry E. Barsh, Jr., Lake Charles, for defendant-appellant.
Scofield, Bertstedt & Gerard by John B. Scofield, Lake Charles, for plaintiff s-ap-pellees.
Before FRUGÉ, HOOD and WATSON, JJ-

Opinion:
WATSON, Judge.
Plaintiff, Olga Mudd, filed this suit to recover damages for personal injuries she received on November 27, 1971, while operating a lawn mower owned by her son-in-law, Roland J. Trosclair, Jr., at the latter's farm in Ragley, Louisiana. Plaintiff, Ben Mudd, is the husband of Olga Mudd and joined in the suit to recover his wife's medical expenses. Defendant, Travelers Indemnity Company, is the liability insurer of Trosclair. Roland J. Trosclair, Jr. is a resident of Cameron Parish, and the farm in Ragley is not his primary residence but rather a country home.
It was stipulated between the parties that Mrs. Mudd's medical bills amounted to $1,956.59. It was also stipulated that Travelers insured Trosclair against public liability to the extent of $25,000.00.
The suit was tried in Cameron Parish before a jury which brought in a unanimous verdict in favor of plaintiffs as follows :
SPECIAL VERDICT OF JURY
QUESTION ANSWER
1. Was Roland J. Trosclair Jr., negligent and, if so, was such negligence a proximate cause of the accident ? Yes (Yes or No)
2. Was Ben Mudd contributorily negligent and, if so, was such contributory negligence a proximate cause of the accident? No (Yes or No)
3. Was Olga Mudd contributorily negligent and, if so, was such contributory negligence a proximate cause of the accident? No (Yes or No)
4. Did Olga Mudd voluntarily assume the risk of the accident involved in this case ? No (Yes or No)
5. What was the amount of damages, if any, that were sustained by Olga Mudd as a result of the accident. $15,000.
6. What was the amount of damages, if any, that were sustained by Ben Mudd as a result of the accident ? $2,000.
/s/ Bobby R. Vincent
Foreman
Cameron, Louisiana
May 25, 1973.
A judgment was rendered in accordance with the jury's findings.
Defendant, Travelers Indemnity Company, has appealed from the judgment in favor of plaintiffs.
Counsel for Travelers Indemnity Company states in brief that the issues presented on this appeal are: (1) whether Trosclair was negligent and, if so, was such negligence the proximate cause of the accident; (2) were Ben and Olga Mudd contributorily negligent so as to bar their recovery herein, and/or make Ben Mudd liable as a third party defendant for indemnification or contribution; (3) did the Mudds' voluntarily assume the risk of the accident involved herein; and (4) were the damages awarded Mrs. Mudd excessive.
As to number one, the negligence of Trosclair, Mrs. Mudd, a fifty-four year old housewife, testified that she was injured when the mower ran over her when she got off of it to move a hose. The evidence indicates that the mower jumped from neutral into forward gear after she dismounted and that this was the cause of her injury. Mr. Earl Mouton, owner of the Cameron Western Auto Store for five and a half years and a diesel mechanic for eleven years prior to that, testified that he services and sells Wizard riding lawn mowers and sold the Wizard 8 horsepower riding lawn mower in question to Roland J. Trosclair, Jr. in May of 1969. He testified that he examined this particular mower on April 15, 1972, at his store and found: that the throttle cable was broken; that the brakes would not catch, and would not hold; that the transmission needle was very loose causing the machine to go in and out of gear; that the mower could go in and out of gear because of vibration; and that the safety guard on the blade housing was broken off, leaving an opening to the blade. He stated that the model in question had been redesigned in accordance with government safety standards and that the present model Wizard mower has safety switches which prevent it from vibrating out of neutral into gear. He further testified that he had owned a mower similar to the one he sold to Trosclair and that he had known it to vibrate into gear. Mr. Mouton was proposed a hypothetical question as follows:
"Suppose you had a lady on a Wizard mower that you sold in 1969, and suppose on November 27, 1971, this woman was operating this mower and had put the mower in neutral, got off the mower —it was stopped — got off the mower, walked in front of it and was doing something in front of the mower and all of a sudden the mower began moving again and struck her. In your opinion what would cause that?" (TR. 334).
And he answered as follows:
"The transmission could go into gear. You have a long lever that came through underneath by the seat and it moves sideways, and the vibration can move it either way, reverse or forward, it can go into gear. Because the type gear, the way it's made, which is a beveled gear, it can run full speed forward and just without even pressing the clutch reverse and go backwards. The way the gears are made they can mesh." (TR. 334).
Mr. Mouton also testified that even if the brakes were in good condition and were on when the mower was stopped, the brakes would not keep the mower from starting up again if it went into gear. Mr. Mouton stated that, although the safest thing to do when getting off the mower was to stop it, he himself, when mowing his yard, gets off the mower without stopping it and then gets back on " . . . because I'm not going to stand there and crank the thing again." (TR. 358).
There is little question that the foregoing testimony was sufficient to convince a jury that the mower in question was dangerous and hazardous. Mr. Tros-clair's mere ownership of that mower would not make him responsible for Mrs. Mudd's injuries. Mrs. Mudd's status on Trosclair's land was that of an invitee. The Mudds were staying at the Trosclair farm at the latter's request in order to care for the property during Mr. Trosclair's absence. Mr. Trosclair's duty to Mrs. Mudd was to warn her of any hidden or concealed perils of which she was unaware and of which Mr. Trosclair knew or should have known in the exercise of reasonable care. LSA-C.C. art. 2317, Champagne v. Northern Assurance Co. of America, 210 So.2d 68 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1968); writ denied, 252 La. 831, 214 So.2d 159; Genovese v. New Orleans Public Service, 45 So.2d 642 (La.App.Orl.1950); Foggin v. General Guaranty Insurance Company, 250 La. 347, 195 So.2d 636 (1967). Mr. Tros-clair testified that he took the lawn mower in question to his Ragley farm after using it two years ". . . because it was too small for my place in Cameron." (TR. 370).
As to the safety guard which Mr. Mouton testified was missing, Mr. Trosclair said:
"I took that off myself, because when you are cutting grass that is high or above normal cutting, the fact the guard, the way it was sitting on the housing of the mower, would not throw the grass through it. It would clog up." (TR. 371-372).
As to whether or not the Mudds knew the safety guard w'as missing, Mr. Trosclair said:
"That would be hard to notice unless you were really inspecting it real close. Some lawn mowers don't have them and some do." (TR. 376).
Mr. Trosclair also testified that it was always easy to put the lawn mower in and out of gear. He stated that in heavy grass the lawn mower would sometimes vibrate out of gear and that he had not ever told Mr. or Mrs. Mudd this fact.
It is clear from Mr. Trosclair's testimony that he was aware of dangers inherent in his lawn mower, in particular; he was aware that the safety guard was missing from the mower blade; and he was aware that the machine could vibrate out of gear. The jury could have well concluded that he should have been aware that it could also vibrate into gear. He did not warn Mr. and Mrs. Mudd of these perils and the evidence on this point was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Mr. Trosclair was negligent.
According to Mrs. Mudd's account of the accident, -which was apparently accepted by the jury, her injuries occurred because the lawn mower vibrated into gear after she got off it and the blade struck her left knee and right toe. The nature of her injuries, in particular, the four inch laceration on her left knee, confirmed her account of the accident. The jury may well have concluded as a matter of fact that her injuries were the result of two defects in the mower of which Mr. Trosclair was aware and of which he failed to warn Mrs. Mudd, to-wit: the missing safety guard and the defective transmission. In our opinion, there is no manifest error in the jury's finding that Mr. Trosclair's negligence was thus the proximate cause of Mrs. Mudd's injuries.
As to issue number two, the question of contributory negligence on the part of Mr. or Mrs. Mudd, it is well settled that this is a question of fact to be decided by the trier of fact, in this case, the jury, Odom v. Hooper, La., 273 So.2d 510 (1973); Cooksey v. Central Louisiana Electric Co., Inc., 279 So.2d 242 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1973); Crum v. Holloway Gravel Company, Inc., 273 So.2d 566 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1973); writ refused, La., 276 So.2d 701. We find no manifest error in the jury's finding that Mr. and Mrs. Mudd were not guilty of contributory negligence. Mrs. Mudd testified that she had used the mower only once or twice before the occasion of her accident and that she was unable to start the mower herself; that her husband had to start the mower with jumper cables. She testified that she did not know much about machinery and was unaware of any defect or trouble with the mower other than the fact that it would not start. She also stated that she was unaware before her accident that the mower would jump gear. Karen Mudd, aged thirteen, and Terry Mudd, aged fifteen, who also operated the mower, corroborated their mother's testimony. Mr. Mudd also testified that he was unaware before the accident of any trouble with the mower other than the starter. He further testified that he did not know of the missing safety guard on the blade outlet until after Mrs. Mudd's accident when: "Earl Mouton showed it to me." (TR. 303). He stated that, until the day of the accident, his wife and children had never operated the mower except when he was present; that they never got off the mower without killing the engine and calling him. All of the Mudd family said that, on the day of the accident, Mr. Mudd had started the mower and then he and the children had gone off to pick pecans, leaving Mrs. Mudd operating the mower. In view of the fact that both Mr. Trosclair and Mr. Mudd testified that Mr. Mudd was not told by Trosclair about the mower vibrating in and out of gear and the safety guard on the blade outlet being gone, the jury could and did conclude that there was no contributory negligence on the part of Mr. or Mrs. Mudd. The jury apparently believed the testimony of the Mudd family and Mr. Trosclair, as outlined above, as well as the testimony of Earl Mouton. There were no other witnesses and no significant discrepancies in the testimony. We find no error in the jury's finding on this issue.
As to issue number three, assumption of the risk of the accident by Mr. and Mrs. Mudd, this is, of course, an affirmative defense which must be proven by the party alleging it. In order to prove assumption of risk by Mr. and Mrs. Mudd, defendants here would have had to prove that they knew of the defective and dangerous condition of the lawn mower and used it in spite of that knowledge. The evidence was to the effect that they did not know of the danger. Defendant failed to discharge its burden of proof in this regard. Langlois v. Allied Chemical Corporation, 258 La. 1067, 249 So.2d 133 (1971).
As to the last issue raised by defendant-appellant, the quantum awarded Mrs. Mudd, we are mindful of the "much discretion" given the jury in assessment of damages. LSA-C.C. art. 1934; Miller v. Thomas, 258 La. 285, 246 So.2d 16 (1971); Gaspard v. LeMaire, 245 La. 239, 158 So. 2d 149 (1963); Ballard v. National Indemnity Company of Omaha, Neb., 246 La. 963, 169 So.2d 64 (1964); and Lomenick v. Schoeffler, 250 La. 959, 200 So.2d 127 (1967).
Reviewing the evidence as to Mrs. Mudd's injuries: Dr. David Drez, Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, saw her in the emergency room of St. Patrick's hospital on November 27, 1971, and stated that she had a smashed or comminuted fracture of the left kneecap with a four inch laceration and bone fragments visible in the wound. She also had a comminuted or smashed fracture of her right big toe as well as a fracture in one of the joints of her toe. He stated that her injuries were consistent with her being run over by a lawn mower. Dr. Drez performed surgery to remove her kneecap and repair the tendon and debrid-ed and sutured the toe. Her knee was then placed in a cylinder or tubular cast from her upper thigh to just above the ankle and her toe in a "toe spika" (TR. 64) or little cast. Mrs. Mudd remained in the hospital until December 4, 1972 and was discharged on that date after being given instruction in crutch walking. On December 23, 1972, her cast and sutures were removed and there were signs of infection (inflammation and induration), so she was placed on antibiotics. On December 30, 1972, Dr. Drez noticed necrosis or dead skin in the right big toe and debrided the area. Mrs. Mudd was kept on antibiotics. Six months following her operation Mrs. Mudd had atrophy of the thigh muscle in her left leg of an inch or so. Dr. Drez stated that she had a 20% permanent physical impairment as to her left leg, as well as a permanent loss of motion in her right toe. She also has scar tissue on her left knee which may cause discomfort from time to time.
Dr. Charles Anderson also saw Mrs. Mudd on the date of the accident at the request of Dr. Drez who wanted an evaluation as to the feasibility of general anes thesia. Dr. Anderson assisted in Mrs. Mudd's operation and later saw her in his office on February 1, 1972, when she was sent to him by Dr. Drez because of swelling in her ankles and knees. Dr. Anderson diagnosed Mrs. Mudd at that time as having traumatic arthritis as the result of her accident. He prescribed medication and felt that she had a 50% improvement on February 7, 1972, when he saw her again, although she still had difficulty walking. On February 21, 1972, Dr. Anderson saw her again and felt that the swelling was minimal as the result of her medication. However, he testified that her arthritis could be permanent.
Mrs. Mudd unquestionably endured a great deal of pain and has a permanent impairment of her left leg and right big toe as well as traumatic arthritis. The award to her of $15,000.00 was not an abuse of the "much discretion" of the jury.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Costs of the appeal are taxed against appellant.
Affirmed.
HOOD, J., dissents and assigns written reasons.