Opinion ID: 1136544
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: directed verdict on assumption of risk

Text: The police report was not offered by the defendant to prove the truth of its contents but to show that it did not contain the information which Mrs. Barretto said it contained. Therefore, it was not vulnerable to the hearsay objection. As Wigmore has said: [w]here the utterance of specific words is itself a part of the details of the issue under the substantive law and the pleadings, their utterance may be proved without violation of the Hearsay rule, because they are not offered to evidence the truth of the matter that may be asserted therein. 6 Wigmore on Evidence § 1770 at 185 (3d ed. 1940); see Territory v. Williams, 41 Haw. 348, 352-353 (1956); People v. Jones, 293 Mich. 409, 292 N.W. 350 (1940). The defendant wanted the police report admitted to show that Mrs. Barretto could not have gained the information concerning the boys' intoxicated condition from it. This omission gave rise to an inference of firsthand knowledge as a source of this information. Since Marlene and Mrs. Barretto had at least equal opportunities to view the defendant and Ito, with Marlene actually getting into the car next to the defendant, the argument of assumption of risk would have been bolstered by the admission of the police report.
The plaintiffs argue that Mrs. Barretto did not speak to or see the defendant and that, therefore, she could not have known firsthand that the defendant was obviously drunk. The defendant stayed in the car while Ito went to the kitchen door to get Marlene. It is not clear from the record whether Mrs. Barretto could see more than the back of the defendant's head, nor is it clear how close the car was to the kitchen door. Nevertheless, this court has consistently applied the rule that: [O]n motions for a directed verdict, the evidence and the inferences which may be fairly drawn from the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is directed and if the evidence and inferences viewed in that manner are of such a character that reasonable persons in the exercise of fair and impartial judgment may reach different conclusions upon the crucial issue, then the motion should be denied and the issue should be submitted to the jury. Young v. Price, 48 Haw. 22, 24, 395 P.2d 365, 367 (1965), quoting with approval from Young v. Price, 47 Haw. 309, 313, 388 P.2d 203, 206 (1963). See also, Collins v. Shishido, 48 Haw. 411, 405 P.2d 323 (1965); Kealoha v. Tanaka, 45 Haw. 457, 370 P.2d 468, 6 A.L.R.3d 919 (1962). Because of the admissibility of the police report, together with Mrs. Barretto's statement that the boys were obviously drunk, the evidence that the defendant and Ito had been drinking heavily, and the fact that Marlene got into the car where she could more closely observe the defendant, an inference by the jury of Marlene's actual knowledge of the defendant's condition was possible. We think that there was enough evidence to support a jury instruction on assumption of risk and that the trial court erred in directing a verdict on that issue. Actual knowledge of the risk involved may be established by circumstantial evidence. Christensen v. Malkin, 236 Cal. App.2d 114, 45 Cal. Rptr. 836, 839 (1965). Indeed, because of Marlene's amnesia, circumstantial evidence was the only way to prove actual knowledge.