Opinion ID: 1940704
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was there any Evidence of Negligence on the part of the County?

Text: The theory upon which Crane sought to hold the County liable was that a servant and agent of the County who was Topelski's superior had instructed Topelski in the performance of his escort duties, had specifically instructed him to disregard red traffic signals as in the case of an emergency, that Topelski had followed these instructions and that his compliance with these instructions was the proximate cause of the accident. It is not contended that in following these instructions Topelski was guilty of contributory negligence. [1] The real crux of our inquiry is whether any superior of Topelski, acting as an agent for the County, did so instruct Topelski. The court below found such instructions in the testimony of Sergeant Carr of the County Police. Sergeant Carr, Topelski's superior officer, told Topelski to go to the Carlton House, meet officer Bertges and whoever was in charge of the detail and take the Lone Ranger and the other persons on a hospital tour. On cross-examination by Topelski's counsel, Carr testified: Q. Did you give them [officers in the detail] any instructions if they came to a red light at an intersection? A. Well now, we have been on a lot of escorts. If we hit a red light and it was an emergency, we would proceed with caution and give a signal. . . . Q. Even though you have a red light you proceed with caution. A. You should proceed with caution if you went through it. . . . Q. Do you make any distinction between an emergency and an escort? A. Well he was protecting this man, anyone. There could be a riot, there could be anything there. By the Court: Q. Answer the question yes or no, and then make an explanation. Do you make any distinction between an escort and an emergency? A. Well, I'd say that was an emergency. Q. Then your answer is `No'? A. Right. Later Carr stated Well now, if you are escorting someone, protecting them, if you hit a red light, you would give some sign and go through it. You have to protect this man. We fail to find anything in this testimony which indicates that Carr, as the superior officer, instructed Topelski on this escort detail to disregard red lights or any traffic signals. All that Carr's testimony amounts to is an expression of opinion, strictly his own, that he saw no distinction between an emergency and an escort detail so far as red traffic signals were concerned. On the other hand, Topelski's testimony was that, outside of being told where to report, he was given no instructions as to this escort duty and Officer Bertges who was on this detail directly testified that on escort convoys, not an emergency, the police are told not to go through red traffic signals. Furthermore, Topelski testified that he stopped at a red light at Forbes and Sixth Streets and did not go through a red traffic signal at Carson and 18th Streets. In the light of this record there is no evidence upon which to pinion the County with liability for this accident. In submitting to the jury the question of the liability of the County the court below fell in error and judgment n.o.v. should be entered in favor of the County and against Topelski, Crane and Universal.