Opinion ID: 1879936
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: directed verdict/judgment n.o.v.

Text: At trial, Plaintiff had the burden of establishing that there was sufficient evidence to reasonably conclude without resort to speculation, that the preponderance of evidence favored liability. Leslie v. City of Bonesteel, 303 N.W.2d 117, 119 (S.D. 1981). She need not, however, prove her case to a degree of absolute certainty. Id. The three necessary elements of actionable negligence are: (1) A duty on the part of the defendant; (2) a failure to perform that duty; and (3) an injury to the plaintiff resulting from such a failure. Id. The crux of this appeal is Defendants' alleged failure to perform their duty established by the safety statutes of this state. Negligence is the breach of a legal duty imposed by statute or common law. Walz v. City of Hudson, 327 N.W.2d 120, 122 (S.D.1982). As the California Supreme Court has observed: The statutory provisions regulating the maintenance and equipment of automobiles constitute express legislative recognition of the fact that improperly maintained motor vehicles threaten `a grave risk of serious bodily harm or death,' and such statutes establish a duty to meet the standards required. Maloney v. Rath, 69 Cal.2d 442, 447, 445 P.2d 513, 516, 71 Cal.Rptr. 897, 900 (1968) (citation omitted). The violation of a statute designed for the benefit of individuals is of itself sufficient to prove a breach of duty as will sustain an action for negligence brought by a person within the protected class if other elements of negligence occur. Albers v. Ottenbacher, 79 S.D. 637, 641, 116 N.W.2d 529, 531 (1962) (defective brakes). The statute or ordinance becomes the standard of care of the ordinarily careful and prudent person. Id. [W]hen the driver or owner of a motor vehicle violates the specific regulations as to brakes ..., he is guilty of negligence as a matter of law unless it appears that compliance was excusable because of circumstances resulting from causes beyond his control and not produced by his own misconduct. Albers, 79 S.D. at 643, 116 N.W.2d at 532. Evidence of due care does not furnish an excuse or justification. Id. Albers is in part based on Nettleton v. James, 212 Or. 375, 319 P.2d 879 (1958), wherein it was held that the defendant was liable after his brakes failed due to an open valve, regardless of whether the problem was caused by the defendant's negligence or some other cause. [2] Plaintiff in this case relies on Albers and its progeny, which hold unexcused violation of motor vehicle statutes to be negligence as a matter of law. See Engel v. Stock, 88 S.D. 579, 581, 225 N.W.2d 872, 873 (1975); Grob v. Hahn, 80 S.D. 271, 274, 122 N.W.2d 460, 461 (1963). This Court has followed a negligence per se course regarding unexcused violation of safety statutes consistently in non-automotive contexts as well, as in Lovell v. Oahe Elec. Coop., 382 N.W.2d 396 (S.D.1986) (where I dissented on other grounds), [3] and Martino v. Park Jefferson Racing Ass'n, 315 N.W. 2d 309 (S.D.1982). In essence, Plaintiff asserts that the unattended truck rolling down the hill was proof of either its brakes being incapable of holding it on all grades in all conditions of load, or the brakes being improperly set, in violation of one or more of the safety statutes regarding brakes. We agree. We quote from Lovell: As a general rule where a particular statutory or regulatory standard is enacted to protect persons in the plaintiff's position or to prevent the type of accident that occurred, and the plaintiff can establish his relationship to the statute, unexplained violation of that standard renders the defendant negligent as a matter of law. Weeks v. Prostrollo Sons, Inc., 84 S.D. 243, 248, 169 N.W.2d 725, 728-29 (1969) (quoting Richardson v. Gregory, 281 F.2d 626 (D.C.Cir.1960)). Lovell, 382 N.W.2d 397-98 (emphasis added). We further note the language in Lovell: It [ordinary care] is commensurate with existing and surrounding hazards. Id. at 398. Surely, Defendants' truck, being loaded, and parked on an incline, with a gravitational opportunity to roll down the hill, was in a position which required ordinary care to a degree of a hazard that then existed. Omdahl, the driver, had no explanation as to why the brakes on his truck did not hold; we posit that this is precisely the unexplained violation mentioned in Lovell. Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk. Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts, § 39, at 243 n. 11 (W.P. Keeton 5th ed. 1984) (quoting Thoreau, Journal, Nov. 11, 1850). As the Maryland Court of Special Appeals phrased it, perhaps too colorfully: By Golly, if I'm standing on the corner minding my own business and a truck which is parked some 500 feet away comes barreling down the hill without anybody driving and knocks me tail over tincups, the owner better be prepared to explain how it happened. Gleason v. Jack Alan Enterprises, Inc., 36 Md.App. 562, 573, 374 A.2d 408, 414 (1977). Here, no explanation was offered. Plaintiff demonstrated that Defendants almost certainly violated the statutes. We do not require a plaintiff to eliminate all possible explanations of causation that the ingenuity of counsel might suggest. Shaffer v. Honeywell, Inc., 249 N.W.2d 251, 256 (S.D. 1976). Defendants counter that Plaintiff did not prove that their negligence caused the collision. As their brief states: It remains a mystery what caused the truck to roll that morning. The truck's brakes had not failed prior to the accident, nor have they since. [4] Their inspection failed to uncover any mechanical malfunctions, and Driver testified that he set the brakes properly. The only explanation Driver offered was a guesstimation that a valve had stuck, allowing air to leak out and causing the roll. This defense is unacceptable. In Lohr v. Watson, 68 S.D. 298, 2 N.W.2d 6 (1942), this Court overturned a verdict lacking support in the evidence. A verdict cannot rest on an inference based on speculation and conjecture. Lohr, 68 S.D. at 304, 2 N.W.2d at 8. Here, the situation is reversed. The Defendants seek to excuse the violation of their statutory duty to properly maintain their truck on the basis of speculation that an unknown defect caused its brakes to slip. Plaintiff's powerful circumstantial evidence of statutory violation, at least as to the requirements that the brakes be capable of holding the vehicle, is essentially unchallenged. The legal excuse doctrine, to apply, requires a violator to prove that the violation was excused by a preponderance of the evidence. Meyer v. Johnson, 254 N.W.2d 107, 110-11 (S.D.1977). The claim that a latent defect caused brake failure, without corroborating evidence, is inapplicable: When, in a negligence action, a defendant raises a defense of latent defect or sudden mechanical failure, the burden is upon the defendant to show the existence of such defect by evidence of the most convincing nature. ... However, if plaintiff has made a prima facie case of negligence against the defendant, and defendant offers in defense only his naked statement that such defect existed, we believe the defendant's burden of proving latent defect by evidence of a most convincing nature has not been met as a matter of law. Under these circumstances the reviewing court may consider whether a jury verdict for defendant is sustained by the weight of the other evidence presented. Rutschman v. Trybula, 38 Ill.App.3d 298, 300, 346 N.E.2d 34, 36 (1976) (citations omitted). See also Hassell v. Colletti, 12 So.2d 31 (La.App.1943). There is no credible evidence to support the latent defect defense; therefore, the Defendants are negligent as a matter of law. There was really nothing here for a jury to consider. The issue of statutory violation should not have been submitted to the jury. The Plaintiff's motions should have been granted. In reviewing the propriety of the judgment n.o.v., we are cognizant that the motion is retroactive to a motion for a directed verdict and thus the motion, in effect, brings before the trial court for review a second time the grounds urged in support of the motion for directed verdict. Fajardo v. Cammack, 322 N.W. 2d 873, 875 (S.D.1982) ( see also SDCL 15-6-50(b)). The appropriate motions were made by Plaintiff. `A verdict is appropriately directed when there is no question for the trier of fact.' Malloy v. Commonwealth Highland Theatres, Inc., 375 N.W. 2d 631, 634 (S.D.1985) (citation omitted). `A motion for a directed verdict should be granted only when it would be the duty of the trial court to set aside a contrary verdict as being manifestly against the entire evidence because reasonable men could draw but one conclusion therefrom.' Malloy, id. at 634 (citation omitted). While it is seldom that a party having the burden of proving a proposition establishes such a proposition as a matter of law, Malloy, id., such is the case here. Circumstantial evidence established an overwhelming probability that Defendants breached their duty. Defendants failed to present evidence even remotely sufficient to show an excuse. We therefore reverse the trial court on this issue.