Opinion ID: 312241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: fulton's appeal as to rock island

Text: 51 In pressing here his contentions that the district court should have granted either his posttrial motion for judgment on his Carmack claim against Rock Island, or alternatively, the motion for a new trial on his complaint, Fulton asserts, respectively, that the verdict entitles him to judgment and that the trial court erred repeatedly in its instructions and in excluding certain evidence. We shall review these contentions seriatim. 52
53 To comprehend Fulton's assertion that the verdict entitles him to judgment, one must first understand the respective elements of the negligence and Carmack claims submitted to the jury. Liability in common law negligence, of course, requires the plaintiff (Fulton) to show the defendant's conduct failed to conform to the standard of due care society expects a reasonable man to follow to avoid injury to others in the circumstances, and even if he fulfills this burden of proof his own contributory negligence will defeat the claim. Under the Carmack Amendment, the burden of proof is drastically altered. 54 [T]he shipper establishes his prima facie case when he shows delivery [to the carrier] in good condition, arrival in damaged condition, and the amount of the damages. Thereupon, the burden of proof is upon the carrier to show both that it was free from negligence and that the damage to the cargo was due to one of the excepted causes relieving the carrier of liability . . . (a) the act of God; (b) the public enemy; (c) the act of the shipper himself; (d) public authority; (e) or the inherent vice or nature of the goods. Missouri Pac. R.R. Co. v. Elmore & Stahl, supra, 377 U.S. at 138, 137, 84 S.Ct. at 1144. 55 Here the only exception claimed was the act of the shipper in omitting the safety bolt. 56 Fulton's argument is that the jury's verdict for him on Rock Island's counterclaim constitutes a verdict either finding Fulton free of negligence or finding Rock Island guilty of contributory negligence and that either finding constitutes a jury conclusion that Rock Island failed its burden of proof on the Carmack claim. Accordingly, Fulton contends he is entitled to a judgment upon the verdict. However, what Fulton actually seeks is judgment notwithstanding the jury's verdict against him on the Carmack claim, but he has not preserved his standing to make that motion because he failed to move for a directed verdict as Rule 51 requires. Nor is it helpful to Fulton that the verdicts appear to be fatally inconsistent, because Fulton twice had an opportunity to object to the form allowing those verdicts and failed to do so. Indeed, we were informed at argument by counsel for Fulton that such an objection was consciously withheld. Accordingly, we hold that Fulton is not entitled to judgment n. o. v. on the Carmack claim and turn to his contentions for a new trial as to Rock Island, which are premised upon several assignments of error in the instructions and rulings on evidence.
57 Fulton first faults the instructions by assigning as error the court's charge that there are but two . . . factual questions in this case with respect to what caused this derailment . . . whether . . . this counterweight rack extended out, or whether the load shifted. App. 1880. Fulton contends this statement is inaccurate, but we disagree. The statement was not part of the court's instructions on liability; it was merely part of the court's preambular comments delineating the issues. The court merely stated, quite accurately, that the evidence showed only two possible causes for the derailment, and proceeded also to state that there was no evidence the width of the load per se caused the accident. Thus, viewed in context, this portion of the instruction was not in error. 58 Fulton next assigns as error the two statements quoted in the margin. 6 He contends the effect of these instructions was to tell the jury (1) that a rollby inspection satisfies the carrier's duty of due care whereas Fulton contends that is a fact question for the jury, and (2) that the duty to inspect extends only to a load shift whereas Fulton contends it extends also to the counterweight drift. However, when the relevant portion of the instruction is read in its entirety, App. 1889-92, it is clear the portions assigned as error are merely excerpts taken out of context of an instruction which, viewed as a whole, accurately states the law. 59 Finally, Fulton asserts it was error to fail to itemize in the instructions a dozen or so specific acts of negligence by Rock Island which Fulton had tried to prove. We note first that the thrust of this contention is that this was a failure to instruct properly on his common law negligence claim. To that extent it is moot by our holding above that recovery in negligence is preempted by the Carmack Amendment. Second, we note that these alleged items of specific negligence contributing to the derailment would also be relevant to the Carmack claim because the carrier must prove its freedom from all contributing negligence. However, the plaintiff was allowed to offer evidence of these allegedly negligent acts and argue them to the jury as contributing causes, and the court did instruct the jury that the burden is upon the company [Rock Island] to show that it is free of any negligence or that it has caused or contributed to cause the damages complained of by the shipper. Accordingly, we do not think it was prejudicial to the plaintiff that the court declined to lengthen the instructions by itemizing each act of negligence Fulton argued to the jury. 60 In sum, we find Fulton's contentions faulting the instructions as to Rock Island to have insufficient merit to warrant reversal. We therefore turn to his contentions that certain evidence was erroneously excluded.
61 The first item of evidence Fulton contends was erroneously excluded is the deposition testimony of three railroad executives concerning the multiplicity of precautions their lines take when transporting wide loads. Fulton's theory was that had Rock Island taken similar precautions because this was a wide load, it would have discovered the drifted counterweight or shifted load, that Rock Island's failure to take these precautions therefore constituted contributing negligence; hence this evidence was relevant to show the standard of care to which Rock Island should have adhered. 62 While custom is not conclusive of the standard of care, [w]hat usually is done may be evidence of what ought to be done. . . . Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Behymer, 189 U.S. 468, 470, 23 S.Ct. 622, 623, 47 L.Ed. 905 (1903). Thus, this evidence was relevant, and could have been admitted at the discretion of the court. Colorado Milling & Elevator Co. v. Terminal R.R. Assoc., 350 F.2d 273, 277-278 (8th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 989, 86 S.Ct. 563, 15 L. Ed.2d 476 (1966); Weinberg v. Northern P. Ry. Co., 150 F.2d 645, 653 (8th Cir. 1945); Midland Valley R.R. Co. v. Bell, 242 F. 803, 807-808 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 245 U.S. 653, 38 S.Ct. 12, 62 L.Ed. 532 (1917); Chicago G. W. Ry. Co. v. McDonough, 161 F. 657, 663-666 (8th Cir. 1908). Accord, Norton v. Railway Express Agency, 412 F.2d 112, 114 (3rd Cir. 1969); Wigmore, Evidence Sec. 461 (3rd ed. 1940). 63 [B]ut evidence of that character is not indispensable, for the ultimate and controlling test always is, not what has been the practice of others in like situations, but did the defendant in this case exercise reasonable or ordinary care. . . . Midland Valley R.R. Co. v. Bell, supra, 242 F. at 808. 64 Accordingly, where, as here, similar evidence was admitted and the comparison of defendant's precautions with the custom of his competitors was argued to the jury, the exclusion of the evidence was not so prejudicially erroneous as to necessitate a new trial. Lowe v. Taylor Steel Products Co., 373 F.2d 65, 69 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 858, 88 S.Ct. 85, 19 L.Ed.2d 122 (1967). 65 The second item of evidence Fulton contends was erroneously excluded is his offer of the expert testimony of Paul Lilly that if cable clamps are placed on the short end of the cable rather than the long end they will slip. This evidence was excluded because there was no evidence the cables on the derailed cars were clamped on the wrong end. To rebut that ruling Fulton points to the testimony of John T. Bauer, at App. 1050-51, but he said only that the clamps were not spaced far enough apart. Fulton, also argues the destructive nature of the accident prevented determination of how the clamps were affixed, but that hardly justifies the admission of speculation. The evidence was without proper foundation and thus was properly excluded. 66 The third item of evidence Fulton contends was erroneously excluded is his offer of testimony by Paul Lilly that Lilly obtained two pieces of cable, one from a derailed traincar and one from a derailed machine, and upon microscopic examination of those cables it was Lilly's expert opinion the cables broke not from the sudden force of the accident, but from being weakened by fraying action resulting from being too loose. This testimony was excluded because the cable was first seen by Lilly three years subsequent to the derailment and after the car and machine had been moved from Trenton to a railroad yard in Kansas City. Since no showing was made that these cables were used to secure Fulton's machinery on the ill-fated cars or, if so, that the cables were in the same condition when Lilly examined them as when the accident occurred, the testimony was properly excluded as immaterial. Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Daniels, 299 F.2d 154, 160 (8th Cir. 1962). 67 Additionally, both excluded portions of Lilly's testimony were intended to show the cables were loose allowing the load to shift and this caused the accident; and Lilly was allowed to give his expert opinion that that was precisely what occurred. Accordingly, the excluded testimony was merely a subpart of an ultimate conclusion that was admitted, and its exclusion was, therefore, not reversibly prejudicial in any event. 68 The final items of evidence Fulton contends were erroneously excluded were photographs of the two railcars Soo's inspector Knutson, deleted from the shipment as improperly loaded, and the testimony of Clarence Tyree relating to Rock Island's actions in correcting the cabling on those cars. While the pictures might show the two deleted cars were faultily cabled, Soo recognized the improper loading at the same time it approved the other cars ultimately derailed. Accordingly, the inadequacy of these two cars does not infer the other eight were similarly inadequate. The evidence was therefore immaterial and properly excluded.