Court Opinion

ID: 9697115
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:06:19.68228+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:29.286123
License: Public Domain

Boslaugh, J.,
dissenting in part.
There is a preliminary question for the court to decide before submitting any issue to the jury; not whether there is literally no evidence, but whether there is sufficient evidence to support a finding on that issue in favor of the party who has the burden of proof.
The only specification of contributory negligence that was of any importance in this case was the defendants’ allegation that the plaintiff was on the wrong side of the road. Although there was some evidence to that effect, there was no substantial evidence to support that allegation.
The plaintiff’s testimony was corroborated by the *134physical facts which strongly indicated the impact occurred on the south side of the road. Defendant Reinwald’s testimony that he was “hugging the center of the road” when he saw the plaintiff “right in front of him,” and that the plaintiff “was more in the center of the road” was, in my opinion, not sufficient to overcome the evidence as to skid marks, the damage to the vehicles, and where they came to rest after the accident. When the evidence is considered as a whole, it seems to me there was no substantial evidence upon which the jury could have found that the plaintiff caused the accident in part by driving on the wrong side of the road.