Case Name: STUCKEY v. HAYDEN et al.
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1940-11-01
Citations: 3 So. 2d 443
Docket Number: No. 6171
Parties: STUCKEY v. HAYDEN et al.
Judges: 
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 3
Pages: 443–446

Head Matter:
STUCKEY v. HAYDEN et al.
No. 6171.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.
Nov. 1, 1940.
On Rehearing May 19, 1941.
Hunter & Neilson and John R. Hunter & Son, all of Alexandria, for appellant.
H. W. Hill, of Alexandria, for appellees.

Opinion:
DREW, Judge.
This case is before us for the second time. It grew out of an intersectional collision between cars driven by the two defendants. The issues and facts of the case were fully stated in our former opinion, reported in 188 So. 406, and no good purpose could be served by reiterating them here.
After the original trial in the lower court, Judge Hooe rendered a lengthy written opinion in which he absolved defendant Hayden from any negligence and rejected plaintiff's demands as to him.
The pivotal question in the case was whether or not Hayden had brought his car to a stop before entering the intersection. He so testified and was corroborated by two negro witnesses, namely, Burley Jones and Louis Edison, who claimed to have been at the scene of the accident. Judge Hooe, in his written opinion, expressed the opinion that he believed the two. witnesses were telling the truth and that Hayden told the truth. His opinion and judgment were based on this testimony.
Plaintiff filed an application for a new trial alleging that he could prove by certain witnesses that the two negro witnesses were not present at the scene of the accident, which application was overruled by the lower court. On-appeal here, we were not satisfied that the two witnesses were present at the scene of the accident and exercised our right to remand the case for the purpose of hearing all testimony relative thereto.
When the case came on for trial below the second time, it was tried before Judge Culpepper, the other judge in that district, and after hearing the testimony offered by both sides, he rendered a written opinion giving his reasons for believing that the two witnesses were present at the scene of the accident and for believing they testified truthfully that Hayden did bring his car to a stop before entering the intersection. Therefore, the veracity of these two witnesses has been vouched for by both district judges of the Ninth Judicial District of Louisiana and we would be without justification in disregarding their testimony.
The lower court found that Hayden brought his car to a stop then slowly proceeded to cross the intersection and had negotiated thirty feet of its distance before it was struck broadside by the car driven by Martin. If this finding is correct, then certainly Hayden is absolved from all blame for the accident. When we consider the testimony of Jones and Edison, we cannot say there is manifest error in this finding of the lower court. If Hayden entered the intersection slowly and traversed thirty feet of it before being struck by the car driven by Martin, it is certain that the Martin car was far enough away for Hayden to be justified in law in entering the intersection.
It therefore follows that the judgment of the lower court is affirmed, with costs.