Court Opinion

ID: 9834254
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 23:26:53.10869+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:44:13.277886
License: Public Domain

ON MOTION FOB REHEARING.
If it ever becomes the duty of a court to apologize to counsel for an opinion it has rendered against their client, as the spirit and tone of this motion seems to imply, we beg to remind counsel for appellant that their thirty-four assignments of error, insisted upon in their brief, were exploited by numerous propositions which required more time to consider than is ordinarily given to the determination of a cage on appeal; and to humbly state (though not without fear of contradiction) that they were all thoroughly considered, and such expression of the conclusions reached as was deemed essential to their disposition was given in the opinion, and that the proximate cause of its being laconical in disposing of some of the assignments was the pendency of appeals of other parties who under the law were thought to be entitled to their day in court.
Aesop sought to teach by a fable the impossibility of pleasing everybody; but the poor old fellow was a slave and, in consequence, little heed has been given his lesson; for still men like to please and be pleased, especially judges and lawyers. Therefore, by way of further apology and with the hope of pleasing appellant’s counsel, as far as it is legal to do so, we will, in disposing of this motion, elaborate upon points considered in the original opinion and express our reasons more fully for overruling the assignments of error, especially those which counsel baldly assert were given no consideration at all
If further reason is demanded for our conclusion “that plaintiff’s injuries were not proximately caused by any negligence on the part of a fellow-servant, but were the direct result of defendant’s negligence,” we beg leave to state that nowhere in appellant’s brief are we pointed to any part of the record for evidence to show that the fellow-servant doctrine as it obtains at common law existed in the territory of Arizona at the time plaintiff was injured. In the absence of such evidence the presumption should be indulged that the law where the injury occurred is the same as in this State. Tempel v. Dodge, 89 Texas, 69; Whaley v. Bankers Union, 88 S. W., 262; Southern Kansas Ry. v. Curtis, 99 S. W., 567; Western U. Tel. Co. v. Sloss, 100 S. W., 355. While we take judicial cognizance of the Act of Congress organizing the Territory of Arizona we are not charged with notice of the laws passed by its Legislature. If, however, it should be conceded that it was proved that the common law is the *20rule of decision in that Territory, we can not, in the absence of proof, take cognizance of the construction placed upon it by the Supreme Court of that Territory; and must presume that the construction of the common law applicable to the facts involved in a case like this received either the construction placed upon it by the Supreme Court of the United States or by the courts of this State. In construing the common law doctrine of fellow servant, it is held by the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as by the Supreme Court of Texas, that an employe charged with the duty of keeping a safe place to work is a vice principal of the master, regardless of the rank of the servant to whom the duty is entrusted. Northern Pac. Ry. v. Herbert, 116 U. S., 647, 29 L. ed., 755; Union Pac. Ry. v. Daniels, 152 U. S., 689, 38 L. ed., 579; Hough v. Texas & P. Ry. Co., 100 U. S., 213, 25 L. ed., 612; St. Louis, S. F. Ry. v. George, 85 Texas, 155; Houston & T. C. Ry. v. Marcelles, 59 Texas, 337; Missouri Pac. Ry. v. James, 10 S. W., 332; Texas & Pac. Ry. v. O’Fiel, 78 Texas, 489; Railway v. Wise, 106 S. W., 466. Under the common law as thus expounded, Delevan was not the fellow servant of the plaintiff but the vice principal of defendant; for he' was charged by the railway company with the duty, which was personal to it and nondelegable, of keeping the rip track reasonably safe for the plaintiff, and other employes at work there, for them to do the work they were put to do there by their employer. If then, as we held in our original opinion, the collision which resulted in plaintiff’s injury was proximately caused by Delevan’s removal of the blue flag and inviting the engineer to drive his engine upon the track, the negligence which caused plaintiff’s injury was not that of a fellow-servant, but the negligence of the defendant itself. Under this view of the case, which we refrained from expressing out of deference for counsel, and are now induced to expose by this motion, it is wholly immaterial whether the defendant was guilty of negligence in employing Delevan or whether he was incompetent to discharge the duties of his employment, or not. That this act of negligence, attributable to defendant and not to a fellow-servant, was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries, does not admit of the shadow of a doubt by any one familiar with the elementary principles of the law. In addition to the authorities cited in the original opinion upon the subject of “proximate cause,” we venture, at the risk of having it pronounced inapplicable by appellant’s counsel, to cite the case of Russell v. German F. Ins. Co., 10 L. R. A. (N. S.), 326, where it is said: “Whatever may have been the original meaning of the maxim, causa próxima et non remota spectatur, it has been clearly settled by a long line of decisions that what is meant by proximate cause is not that which is last in time or place, not merely that which was in activity at the consummation of the injury, but that which is the procuring, efficient and proximate cause.”
From this we desire, without offense to appellant’s counsel, to pass to the eighth ground of this motion which complains of our not. sustaining the seventh assignment of error, which is: “The trial court erred in admitting in evidence, over objection of defendant, the testimony of Fred Morris as shown by defendant’s bill of excep*21tions No. 3.” The bill of exception referred to in the assignment is not copied in the statement under it in the brief, as is required by the rules of this court. An assignment of error should distinctly specify the ground relied upon for a reversal of the judgment, (art. 1018, Rev. Stats. of 1895) and ordinarily ought to be complete in itself; and if it is not, and there is something else in the record essential to an intelligent ruling upon it, the latter, at least, should be embraced in the statement in the brief under the assignment. Robertson v. Coates, 1 Texas Civ. App., 644; Poland v. Porter, 98 S. W., 214. It may, therefore, be. doubted whether the assignment should have been considered at all But by reference to the record it will be seen that after the witness, Fred Morris, had testified "that he knew the habits of George Delévan with reference to sobriety or drunkenness during his employment by defendant prior to April, 1903; that he was drunk a good deal of the time; that he had seen him drunk frequently prior to May 3, 1903, and had taken care of him when he was so drunk he could not perform his duties; that during the time he, witness, was employed, he had seen Delevan, at least twenty times so drunk he could not perform his duties,” he then testified, over objections of defendant, as follows: “I believe I am capable of judging the competency or incompetency of a man who could safely and properly perform the. duties of foreman of car repairers. Taking into consideration all the facts and circumstances, and what I know of his habits up to the time I last saw him, on May the 3d, 1903, George Delevan was not a competent man to perform the duties of ear repairer in the Douglas yards.” The testimony indicated by the quotation marks was objected to by defendant’s counsel "for the reason that it was incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, and the witness had not shown himself qualified to pass upon and should not be allowed to pass upon the competency of Delevan.” It is a rule that an objection to testimony not made in the trial court can not be considered on appeal. It is also well settled that the objection, “incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant” is not specific enough, unless the real nature of the objection to the testimony is so plain that the general phrase is sufficient to indicate it. 1 Wigmore on Ev., sec. 18, p. 58, and cases cited in note 18. As is there said, “Certainly it is not fair to allow such a general drag-net as 'incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial’ to be cast over every bit of evidence in the case which counsel would like to keep out, and then to permit counsel, upon careful anatysis of the printed narrative of the trial, to formulate some specification of error, not thought of at the time, and which, if seasonably called to the court’s attention, might have been avoided or corrected.”
If then, we discard the phrase “incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial” as being too general to require consideration, we have the only objections (1) that the witness had not shown himself qualified to pass upon the competency of Delevan to perform the duties of foreman of car repairers in the Douglas yards; and (2) he should not, for that reason, have been allowed to pass upon' the competency of Delevan to perform such duties. At least this is the proper analysis of the remaining objection. Whatever there is in the propo*22sitions asserted under the assignment, which extends beyond the objection as thus analyzed, can not be considered. The witness was an old railroad man, familiar with the character of the work to be done in defendant’s yards, the danger attending; knew the necessary precautions to protect employes in the yard from danger, the duties of a foreman of the car repairers at work there, what habits and qualifications he should possess to be able to efficiently discharge such duties; in short, he was an expert on such matters. His testimony taken as a whole clearly shows this. He knew Delevan’s capacity for the work, his character and habits, knew that he was an habitual drunkard, for he had frequently seen him drunk and at times so drunk that he could not take care of himself. This was enough to qualify him as an expert to give an opinion upon the question whether a man of Delevan’s character and habits was competent to discharge the duties entrusted to him, and it was not essential that he should state any opinion as to his own capacity to express an opinion of Delevan’s competency. This was a matter going to the competency of the witness to be determined by the court. If, however, it were essential that he should state his competency to give such an opinion, it is clear that- by his statement, that he believed he was capable of judging of the competency or incompetency of a man who could safely perform the duties of foreman of car repairers, he meant to express an opinion as to his competency in that regard.
This disposes of the only matters raised by the objection to the testimony of the witness—his competency or qualification as an expert to testify to the competency of Delevan. Tt was not objected that expert testimony was not admissible upon the issue of Delevan’s competency to discharge the duties of foreman of defendant’s car repairers; for the objection to the testimony made in the trial court impliedly admits the admissibility of expert testimony upon such an issue, but urges only that the witness was incompetent to give such testimony. However, we have no doubt that the admissibility of expert testimony upon the issue was competent. United Oil & F. Co. v. Grey, 102 S. W., 935. If appellant’s contention that such testimony could not be received upon the issue as to the competency of Delevan, could be evolved from the objection made in the trial court to the testimony under consideration so as to require us to pass upon it, we should say the contention is fully met and answered in Wigmore on Ev., secs. 1919, 1920, 1921.
The twenty-third ground for a rehearing, set out in this motion, is, that the court erred in its failure to consider and pass upon the appellant’s eighth, ninth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth assignments of error. The eighth assignment of error is as follows: “The trial court erred in admitting in evidence over the objection of defendant the testimony of Fred Morris as shown by defendant’s bill of exceptions No. 2.” The testimony referred to in the assignment as it appears in the bill of exceptions is: “As general foreman the intoxication of Delevan did incapacitate him, and he was not a competent man when he was intoxicated.” The objection to it, as disclosed by the Bill of exceptions, is; “that it was incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, and a mere 'conclusion of the witness, and the witness *23was not qualified to give an opinion in regard to this matter.” When we dispose of the phrase “incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant,” as we did in passing upon the seventh assignment, by holding that the objection it embodies is too general to be considered, none of the propositions asserted under the assignment has anything in the record to support it, and to consider any one of them would be to pass upon an objection to the testimony not raised in the trial court.
The ninth assignment of error is as follows: “The trial court erred in admitting in evidence the testimony of J. B. Morris, as shown by defendant’s bill of exceptions No. 5.” The testimony referred to, as it appears in the bill of exceptions, is: “I did not think Delevan was a competent man for the performance of the duties of foreman of ear repairers in the Douglas yards at the time plaintiff was hurt, in other respects than his habit of drinking; but from his actions and what he done, I do not think he was.” The objection made to the testimony was, “That it was incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, states the conclusion of the witness, and the witness has not shown himself qualified as to the competency or incompetency of Delevan.” We will dispose of the general objection, “Incompetent, etc.;” by disregarding it as we have done in the preceding assignments. We can not determine from the statement in appellant’s brief whether the witness was qualified to give an opinion upon Deleven’s competency or not, for there is not a word stated in the brief upon the question. We are not required to search the record for the purpose of ascertaining whether the witness was qualified to give an opinion upon the subject, and in the absence of a statement in appellant’s brief of evidence to show the witness was not so qualified, we will presume, in favor of the ruling of the trial court, that he was. We have shown before that the matter testified to was such as an expert might give his opinion upon.
The tenth assignment is, “The trial court erred in admitting in evidence over the objection of defendant, the testimony of Andrew Cíenme, as shown in defendant’s bill of exceptions No. 7.” The testimony referred to as shown by the bill of exceptions is: “I am capable of judging of the competency or incompetency of the man who could safely and properly perform the duties of foreman of the car repairers, such as were required by Delevan in his capacity as such foreman. Taking into consideration the habits of said Delevan, even during the time I was employed with him, I do not think he was a safe or competent man to hold such position and perform the duties of foreman of car repairing.” The objection of defendant to the testimony was “that it was incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial, stated the conclusion of the witness, and the witness had not shown himself qualified to testify as to the competency or incompetency of Delevan at the time of the accident.” Discarding the part of the objection embodied in the phrase, incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, as being too general to be considered, we- have only the objection that the witness had not shown himself qualified to- testify as- to the competency or incompetency of Delevan at the time of the accident. The question as to the qualification of the witness was one *24primarily for the trial court to determine, and we believe it was correctly decided by it. If Delevan was incompetent a year prior to the time of the accident to discharge the duties of the same employment he was then engaged in, it was evidence tending to show that he was incompetent when the accident occurred, and also that the defendant by' the exercise of ordinary care would have informed itself of his incompetency.
The eleventh assignment is: “The trial court erred in admitting in evidence, over the objection of defendant, the testimony of J. E. Sandlin as shown by defendant’s bill of exceptions No. 14.” The testimony, referred to is as follows: “While Delevan was employed by defendant as foreman of car repairs at Douglas prior to June 27, 1903, I did know George Delevan as being an incompetent and reckless man as foreman over the department in which he ivas employed, and this was his general reputation in the shops among railroad men; he was generally discussed as being a drinking, reckless man.” To this testimony the defendant objected upon the ground “that it was irrelevant, incompetent and inadmissible, as the witness said he had only been there nine days and was not qualified to testify as to the competency of Delevan or as to his reputation at Douglas prior to June 27, 1903.” We think the court properly held that the witness was qualified to testify as to Delevan’s incompetency and as to his general reputation. Sandlin was a car repairer, was at work in the defendant’s yards on June 27, 1903, when the accident happened. That he had only been there nine days prior to that time, did not show that he could not, during that time, become informed of Delevan’s competency to discharge his duties, as well as of his general reputation as an incompetent and reckless man.
The twelfth assignment complains of the court’s admitting in evidence, over defendant’s objections, the following testimony of the witness Whitsit: “In'my judgment prior to the time plaintiff was injured, I did not consider Delevan a competent man to fill the position of rip track foreman in the Douglas yards.” In addition to the propositions advanced under the seventh assignment of error, this one is asserted: “The witness stated no facts which showed he was a competent judge of the ability of Delevan to perform his duties as rip track foreman; and his own testimony shows he had not a sufficient opportunity to learn of Delevan’s habits so as to ascertain whether or not he was a competent man for the position of foreman of the rip track or of car repairs.” The propositions which are repeated under this assignment were disposed of in our consideration of the seventh assignment of error. As to the original one it seems to us that the witness’s testimony shows that he was competent as an expert to form an opinion as to Delevan’s ability to perform his duties as foreman, and that he had sufficient opportunity to learn of his habits and to ascertain whether he was competent to perform such, duties. However, these were matters for the trial judge and -the ‘jury to determine rather than for this court to decide.
The thirteenth assignment of error is directed against the action of the court in admitting, over defendant’s objection, testimony of *25Fred Morris, shown by bill of exceptions No. 1, which is as follows: “That he knew the habits of George Delevan with reference to sobriety or drunkenness during his employment by defendant prior to April, 1903, and that Delevan was drunk a good- deal of the time; that he had seen him drunk frequently prior to May 3, 1903, and had taken care of him when he was so drunk he could not perform his duties; that during the time he, witness, was employed, he had seen Delevan, at least twenty times, so drunk he could not perform his duties. That he was not employed as foreman of the car repairs until May 3, 1903, when the witness left Douglas, but prior to that time and while he was inspector, and also master car builder, I have seen him drunk at least twenty times.” This shows that Delevan was an habitual drunkard while in defendant’s employment up to the time he was made foreman of the rip track or car repairs, and, in connection with, other testimony, was evidence tending to show that defendant knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care should have known of his drunkenness and incapacity, on that account, to discharge the duties of such employment when the defendant put him at it. The jury might well have found from such testimony that the defendant was negligent in employing a man of such habits in a position where the lives and limbs of its employes depended upon his faithful discharge of the duties of his employment.
This disposes of the six assignments we are charged in this motion with not considering and demonstrates that they were all considered and disposed of.in our original opinion in passing upon the seventh assignment of error, which involved practically the same questions raised by them.
If one will take the trouble to read the certificate of the notary, commencing with the caption and continuing down to his signature, who took the deposition of the witness T. J. Morris, as it appears in the record, it will be found that the court did not err in overruling defendant’s motion to suppress the deposition.
We believe that all the assignments of error insisted upon by appellant were properly overruled, and that his motion should not be sustained upon any ground presented. It is, therefore, overruled.

Affirmed.

Writ of error refused.