Title: Dawkins v. Chavez
Citation: 285 P.2d 821
Docket Number: 17577
State: Colorado
Issuer: Colorado Supreme Court
Date: June 27, 1955

285 P.2d 821 (1955) W. K. DAWKINS, Plaintiff in Error, v. Reymunda CHAVEZ, Defendant in Error. No. 17577. Supreme Court of Colorado. En Banc. June 27, 1955. Rehearing Denied August 8, 1955. Wolvington &amp; Wormwood, Denver, for plaintiff in error. Frank A. Bruno, Gail H. Haddock, Denver, for defendant in error. MOORE, Justice. We will herein refer to the parties as they appeared in the trial court, where plaintiff in error was defendant and defendant in error was plaintiff. This action was brought by plaintiff Reymunda Chavez against defendant W. K. Dawkins to obtain a judgment for damages sustained by her as a result of the death of her nine year old daughter allegedly caused by defendant while driving his automobile recklessly, negligently and carelessly in the city of Denver. In her complaint plaintiff included an allegation that defendant had consumed large portions of intoxicating liquor immediately prior to the incident which resulted in the death of the child, and that he was in no condition to operate a motor vehicle on a public highway at the time of the fatal accident. Defendant by answer admitted ownership of the automobile described by plaintiff, but denied that he was driving same at the time of the accident. The case was tried to a jury, and a verdict rendered in favor of plaintiff for the sum of $10,000. After motion for a new trial was filed and overruled, judgment was *822 entered on the verdict, and defendant, seeking reversal of the judgment, brings the case to our Court for review by writ of error. Plaintiff's daughter was struck while crossing an intersection at California and Downing streets at about 6:45 P.M. March 15, 1953. The car which struck her was travelling south on Downing street at a high rate of speed. In view of the grounds for reversal of the judgment urged by counsel for defendant, we will outline a more detailed statement of the evidence in connection with the treatment of the matters which they contend constitute reversible error. Their argument consists of four major points as follows: 1. The trial court erred in permitting the witness, Grace Martin, to testify concerning her identification of defendant while he was in a "line-up" at the police department. 2. That there was insufficient evidence connecting defendant with the accident to warrant submission of the case to the jury. 3. That the trial court erred in instructing the jury with reference to the question of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. 4. That the verdict of the jury was excessive. First: In the civil action brought by plaintiff to secure a judgment for damages for the alleged wrongful death of her child, was it error for the trial court to admit evidence that a witness identified defendant, the day after the child was killed, while he was in a "line-up" in the custody of the police? This question is answered in the negative. The circumstances giving rise to the foregoing question are, briefly, as follows: Grace Martin testified that she was a waitress in a "drive-in" where food and drinks were served; that on the date in question she was on duty "outside" beginning at 6:00 P.M.; that within twenty to thirty minutes after she went on duty outside defendant drove in and ordered some beer, which she served him; that he was alone in the car; that ten or fifteen minutes after she served him the beer she noticed his car was gone; and that the "drive-in" where she worked was a block or so north of the scene of the accident. The evidence further disclosed, without contradiction, that the automobile owned by defendant was picked up and taken to the police station on the following day. A police officer was called as a witness by counsel for plaintiff, and the following testimony was given in the course of his direct examination: After the foregoing testimony by the police officer, the witness Grace Martin was recalled, and during the course of her continued examination she testified as follows: The point involved in the objection to the above-quoted testimony is stated by defendant's counsel as follows: Counsel for defendant further state, in argument: Our Court finds no merit in this argument. The fact that Miss Martin was able to, and did, identify defendant on the day following the fatal accident, was competent evidence for the jury's consideration, and had probative value in determining the credibility which the jury might give the identification made by her upon the trial of the case which took place sixteen months after the accident. There was no testimony concerning any prosecution of defendant for the violation of a municipal ordinance, and no reference was made to any case of a criminal or quasi criminal nature. The relevancy and competency of evidence cannot be entirely destroyed because the facts related happened to occur at a police station. Evidence which has probative value, and is in all respects competent, cannot be rendered inadmissible simply because it relates to an incident which took place in the presence of officers of the law in the discharge of their official duties. Facts within the knowledge of police officers, acquired by them at police headquarters in the discharge of their duties, can be established by their *824 evidence in the trial of any issue, whether civil or criminal in nature, if the evidence otherwise is material and competent. With reference to the argument that Miss Martin's identification, made on the day following the accident, should not have been admitted in evidence because she identified defendant in the court room upon the trial, we hold that the first identification was properly admitted in evidence. We find ample authority in the decided cases and in sound reasoning for reaching this conclusion. In Vol. 4, Wigmore on Evidence, (3d ed.) page 208, section 1130, we find the following: The rule above quoted was applied in People v. Londe, 230 Mich. 484, 203 N.W. 93, 94, in which case the Supreme Court of Michigan said: See, also, People v. Slobodion, 31 Cal. 2d 555, 191 P.2d 1, and State v. Wilson, 38 Wash. 2d 593, 231 P.2d 288. Second: Was there sufficient evidence to warrant submission to the jury of the question as to whether defendant was the driver of the automobile which ran over the child? This question is answered in the affirmative. There is no serious contention by counsel for plaintiff that the 1941 Buick automobile, painted a two-tone green with a radio aerial on the left rear fender, was not the automobile which struck the daughter of plaintiff. An eyewitness to the accident took the license number of the car as it continued on its way. The unusual features with relation to the radio aerial on the left rear fender, together with the color and make of the car as observed by witnesses, established beyond doubt the identity of the car. In addition to this, there is testimony that a fiber, identified as rabbit hair, was found in the mechanism of the "knee action" on the lower front part of the car, which corresponded with fur trim on part of the clothing worn by the deceased child; fresh markings or scrapings on the bottom of the splash pan of the automobile were plainly visible; and there were other telltale evidences of very recent forceful impact upon the car. All of the testimony points inescapably to the conclusion that defendant's automobile was the car involved in the accident. *825 It is forcefully argued that there is no identification of defendant as the driver of the car, and it is true that no witness was able to identify him as the man at the wheel at the moment the child was struck. As hereinabove stated, the accident occurred at about 6:45 P.M. There is evidence that at about 6:30 P.M. defendant drove his car into a "drive-in" two blocks north of the scene of the accident; that he ordered some beer, and drank it; that he was alone in the car; and that after "ten or fifteen" minutes the car and defendant were gone. The car that killed the child was being driven south on Downing street. There also is testimony to the effect that the driver of the car at the time of the impact was a negro. Defendant is a member of that race. He denied being in the car at the time in question. He claimed that before the accident could have happened he had parked his car some distance from the scene while he visited certain taverns, and that at a time long after the child had been killed he returned to the place where his car had been parked and found it just as he had left it. There was other evidence, however, which established the fact that defendant's automobile had been moved between 6:00 o'clock P.M. and 8:00 o'clock P.M., and the conclusion is inescapable that it was defendant who drove the car, since he had no difficulty in going directly to the place where it was parked the last time. The foregoing, not to mention other circumstances shown by the evidence, was sufficient to support the finding of the jury that defendant was the driver of the automobile involved in the accident. Third: Was there sufficient evidence, tending to establish the fact that defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor, to justify the trial court's instructions upon that subject? This question is answered in the affirmative. Instructions nine and ten correctly stated the law with reference to the subject of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and no objection was made to those instructions on the ground that the law was not correctly stated therein. The objection was to the effect that there was not sufficient evidence tending to prove that the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. We cannot agree with this contention. The record in this case shows that defendant admits that he began drinking beer at 11:30 A.M. on the day of the accident, at which time he drank two cans of beer at the home of Charlesetta Walker; that after driving around the city looking for an apartment he drank two more cans of beer at about 2:30 P.M.; that at 6:15 P.M. he drank four bottles of beer at the "715 Club"; and immediately thereafter drank two glasses of beer at the nearby Arcade Club. He further admits that the four bottles of beer consumed at the "715 Club" and the two glasses he drank at the Arcade Club were consumed within a period of "twenty-five or thirty minutes," and that the first of these was taken within thirty to forty-five minutes of the time of the accident. The witness Martin testified that she served defendant still another beer at the drive-in, and there is evidence that at about five o'clock in the afternoon, before going to the above drinking places, defendant returned to Miss Walker's apartment bringing with him six cans of beer. Under these circumstances, most of which is admitted by defendant, there was no error committed by the trial court in instructing the jury upon the pertinent ordinance of the City and County of Denver, nor in defining what the law requires before a person can be considered to be "under the influence of intoxicating liquor." Under the state of the record in this case, and in the light of defendant's admissions with respect to his drinking, the jurors, as reasonable men and women, were entitled, in the light of their experiences, to consider the effect, if any, which the consumption of beer by defendant shortly prior to the accident would have upon his ability to drive an automobile. As our Court stated in Snyder v. City and County of Denver, 123 Colo. 222, 227 P.2d 341, 343, if by the consumption of intoxicants the defendant was "less able, either mentally or physically or both, to exercise a clear judgment and with steady hands and nerves operate an *826 automobile with safety to himself and to the public, * * *," he is under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The question as to the intoxication of defendant was properly submitted to the jury. Fourth: Was the verdict of the jury so excessive as to require reversal of the judgment entered thereon? This question is answered in the negative. The Colorado legislature has seen fit to authorize an award of damages not to exceed $10,000 in wrongful death cases. Our Court, in the case of Colorado Springs and Interurban Railroad Co. v. Kelley, 65 Colo. 246, 176 P. 307, 309, said, inter alia: In the more recent case of McEntyre v. Jones, 128 Colo. 461, 263 P.2d 313, 315, our Court upheld a judgment of $7,500 for the wrongful death of a thirteen year old girl, against the argument that the judgment was excessive. In that case we said, inter alia: The above quoted language is applicable with equal force, under the facts in the instant case. The judgment is affirmed. HOLLAND, KNAUSS and BRADFIELD, JJ., dissent. HOLLAND, Justice (dissenting). The majority opinion in this case adds to the static already existing in the opinions of our Court when the matter of a death is attributed to the operation by a person of an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. In addition to this situation this Court should not vary from case to case in its position taken so many times to the effect that judgments must rest on firmer ground than that of speculation, and there can be no dispute of the fact in the instant case that the only evidence upon which a verdict or judgment could rest is the weakest of circumstantial evidence and the jury had to indulge in assumptions outside the record to reach the verdict of which complaint is here made. In the majority opinion it is correctly stated that no witness was able to identify defendant as the man at the wheel of the car at the moment the child was struck. The fact is, no witness even attempted to make any such identification, and the only thing identified was that the car involved was of the description of defendant's automobile. If the jury was correct in assuming that defendant's automobile was the only one of that description in all of the thousands of cars on the streets, then there could be no question about the matter of defendant's automobile being involved in the accident. More than that, defendant is not the only *827 colored person owning or driving an automobile. The missing link, which should defeat the judgment in this case, is that it was not established beyond guesswork that defendant was driving the car, even if it was his automobile that was involved. Regardless of the amount or amounts of beer defendant had consumed during the evening, there is not one whisper in the testimony to the effect that he was under the influence of liquor, much less intoxicated. He vehemently denies driving his automobile at the time and place in question. If he was not driving the car, then it makes no difference about his "spiritual" condition; however, in that regard, "one man's meat is another man's poison." Therefore, we have two vital and essential elements missing, which, if attempted to be supplied by circumstance, must result in speculation, and the assumption of facts not disclosed on the face of the record. We must not overlook the fact that it is easy for a jury, when a death is involved, to have prejudice aroused when liquor is mentioned, and more particularly with some jurors if the defendant is of a different race or color to that of the juror. The instructions of which complaint is made, unquestionably state the law to be applied in proper cases; however, a correct statement of the law is sometimes prejudicial to a defendant if the circumstances do not warrant the giving of the instruction. It must be remembered that jurors look upon and consider instructions as the voice of the court. The instructions given in the instant case, of which complaint is made, are as follows: In view of what we have herein observed concerning lack of evidence of intoxication; then even if defendant was driving the car, the giving of these instructions was error, because they were not based on the evidence, but presented what the jurors could easily feel that in the mind of the court such a condition existed. Our Court of Appeals in an earlier case, which never has been questioned, modified, or overruled, aptly expressed the law on this particular topic in the case of Fisk v. Greeley Electric Light Co., 3 Colo.App. 319, 33 P. 70, 71, in the following language: It is my firm conviction that the judgment herein should be reversed and the cause remanded with directions for a new trial, and that consideration be given to the views herein expressed.