Court Opinion

ID: 9578964
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:50:03.943719+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:34:06.220825
License: Public Domain

Bussey, Justice
(dissenting) :
Being convinced that there was prejudicial error requiring a new trial, I most respectfully dissent. His Honor, the trial judge was, I think, clearly in error in charging the jury as to the law of sudden emergency over the repeated protest of the appellant. While there are some conflicts in the evidence, in order to show the prejudicial effect of the erroneous charge, I state the evidence and the inferences reasonably deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the plaintiff-appellant.
The respondent, aged 50 at the time of the accident, had obtained her drivers license only 10 days prior to the accident. She was driving her husband to work on a rainy afternoon and he was already 20 minutes late to work and quite some distance from his place of employment. She and her husband lived near the scene of the accident and she admitted that she was quite familiar with the fact that there were numerous children in that area and that they frequently crossed the highway at that particular location going to and from Rodenberg’s Grocery. Despite such knowledge, according to her own testimony and that of her husband, she was obviously not on the lookout for children prior to the impact.
As respondent approached the location there were four children waiting on the median, one of whom crossed the *367highway in front of the respondent without being seen by her. The second child, who started across was the decedent, who was likewise not seen by respondent, until the moment of impact, such being with the left-front fender of respondent’s vehicle, the evidence being susceptible of different inferences as to whether contact was with the front or side of the fender. According to her testimony, and that of her husband, she was not paying any attention to anything but that which was straight ahead of her. They both testified as to a black vehicle being in the left-hand adjacent lane somewhat ahead of them giving rise to the inference that such possibly obstructed their view. The testimony of the other witnesses is to the effect that no such car was there and that the left-hand lane was entirely clear with nothing to obstruct the view of children attempting to cross the street.
The respondent and her husband were the only two eyewitnesses to the accident testifying for the respondent. They both testified positively that she did not see the deceased child until the moment of impact and there is no evidence from any other witness, or physical evidence such as skid marks, from which it could be inferred that she did in fact see the child prior to impact. There is a total absence of any evidence of either act or omission on her part, after seeing the child, which could inferably have been a causative factor in producing the accident.
The doctrine of sudden emergency as it appertains in this State is correctly set forth in the case of McVey v. Whittington, 248 S. C. 447, 151 S. E. (2d) 92, as follows:
“When the driver of an automobile is confronted with a sudden emergency brought about by the negligence of another and not by his own negligence, and compelled to act instantly to avoid a collision or an injury, he is not guilty of negligence if he makes such a choice as a person of ordinary prudence placed in such a position might make, even though he did not make the wisest choice. Elrod v. All, 243 S. C. 425, 134 S. E. (2d) 410.”
*368The mere statement of the rule shows that as a prerequisite to its applicability the actor must be faced with deciding between two or more courses of action. The doctrine presupposes making a judgment in the face of pressing necessity and begins with the assumption that the actor is aware of the emergency situation. Assuming the doctrine is otherwise applicable it will isolate one from liability for not making the wisest choice in the face of an emergency so long as the choice made was that which a reasonably prudent person would have made under the same or similar circumstances. The doctrine is applicable only where the finder of fact is called upon to determine whether or not conduct, which follows being faced with an emergency, is or is not negligent. Obviously one not aware of an emergency situation would not be faced with a choice of action, and in the absence of a choice of action the doctrine of sudden emergency is totally irrelevant. I call attention to a comprehensive article on the Sudden Emergency Doctrine As Applied in South Carolina contained in 20 South Carolina Law Review 408.
No fact or facts are even mentioned in either the brief of respondent or, I submit, the opinion of Mr. Justice Littlejohn, which would make applicable a charge of the law of sudden emergency. A trial judge should not confuse a jury by charging on legal principles which are inapplicable to the case on trial and it is error for him to do so. See cases collected in West’s South Carolina Digest, Trial, Key No. 250 et seqand Appeal and Error, Key No. 1066. We have on occasion held the charge of an inapplicable principle of law to be harmless error, but any inapplicable charge which tends to mislead the jury, as to the real issues, is not only erroneous but prejudicial and requires a new trial.
In determining whether an erroneous charge was or was not prejudicial, the test is not whether this Court has an opinion as to whether or not the jury was in fact confused or misled. In many instances there is no way whatever for anyone to know with any certainty whether or not the jury *369was confused or misled and hence the proper test is simply whether or not there is any reasonable probability of the jury having been misled. Where there is a reasonable probability that the jury was influenced by extraneous matter to the prejudice of one of the parties, the judgment below must be reversed. Entzminger v. Seigler, 186 S. C. 194, 195 S. E. 244; Powers v. Temple, 250 S. C. 149, 156 S. E. (2d) 759.
In the instant case, at least viewed in the light most favorable to the appellant, the evidence discloses a strong case of liability on the part of the respondent, which gives rise to a most reasonable probability that the verdict for respondent was influenced by the erroneous charge. While ordinarily the sequence in which propositions of law are charged to the jury is not important, in the present case His Honor charged the doctrine of sudden emergency near the end of the charge, and at considerable length, such consuming approximately a full page of the printed transcript of record. Such, under the circumstances, increased the already high probability of prejudice from the erroneous instruction.
I would reverse the judgment of the lower court and remand the case for a new trial.
Lewis, J., concurs.