Court Opinion

ID: 9793397
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:46:55.541054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:44.690111
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE BOTTOMLY:
I dissent.
In my opinion, the court erred in not sustaining plaintiff’s demurrer to defendant’s third affirmative defense, by which defense it was set forth as a fact that the plaintiff and his employer were enrolled under, and were bound by the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act; that therefore plaintiff’s sole and exclusive remedy for his injuries was from his employer, Frank E. Olson; that plaintiff was awarded workmen’s compensation payments provided by said Act; that in addition *252the state industrial accident fund has paid for the medical and hospital expenses incurred by plaintiff as the result of said accident; and that by reason of such industrial accident coverage plaintiff could not maintain this action.
The district judge, to whom the demurrer was presented, should have sustained it, in order that the matter would not have been brought before the jury to the prejudice of the plaintiff. The court did however instruct the jury, at the conclusion of the evidence, to disregard all pleadings and statements of counsel concerning this defense, and to not consider such defense in arriving at their verdict. However, it must be realized that plaintiff’s ease had been prejudiced by such pleading and argument; the damage had already been done, and the plaintiff did not have a legal and fair trial. This is reversible error. The trial court should have corrected this error by granting the motion of the plaintiff for a new trial.
This court, or any court, must be naive indeed not to realize that telling the jury the plaintiff had been paid in full for his injury was not a determining factor in their verdict. The mere mention of insurance to a jury is reversible error in all but four states, and Montana is not one of the four. 4 A.L.R. (2d) 761. Neither does an instruction cure such error. Vonault v. O’Rourke, 97 Mont. 92, 33 Pac. (2d) 535, and cases therein cited.
The harm had been accomplished in this case before the demurrer was finally sustained. Prejudice was already apparent. Nor is it a solution to say now that a motion for mistrial would be proper in future cases. The appellant had asked the judge to rule in his favor and the judge had so ruled. The ruling came so late in the trial however that the plaintiff’s case had already been prejudiced. The plaintiff of course would not take exception to a ruling in his favor. There is no statutory provision in this state for either a motion for a mistrial nor any statutory authority for a judge to declare a mistrial as in some other states. Here again the majority of this court is assuming *253the prerogative of the legislature and legislating by initiating a new procedure. They say that this will only apply in future cases. If that is so then they should be consistent and apply the rule advocated by the dissent in Yonault v. O’Rourke, supra, and here, by the majority, also only to future cases.
In my opinion, the evidence preponderates in favor of plaintiff, and is insufficient to sustain the verdict in favor of the defendant. This is a case in which there are undisputed physical facts which control the opinion testimony. Such physical facts are common knowledge and should not be set aside and disregarded by a jury or by courts.
The physical law of impact clearly and conclusively demonstrates that the impact point of this collision between defendant’s truck and plaintiff’s car occurred where the glass, chrome and other debris from plaintiff’s car was found. The presence of mud and dirt which was knocked loose from the rear end of plaintiff’s car directly underneath the final stopping position of plaintiff’s vehicle conclusively proved where the collision occurred. The glass, chrome and other debris from the front of plaintiff’s ear was some six to eight feet directly in front of the final stopping position of plaintiff’s car. The right rear wheel of plaintiff’s car was inches from the north shoulder of the highway. These unchangeable facts demonstrate beyond question, conjecture, or surmise that plaintiff’s car was on its own right side of the traveled part of the highway when struck by defendant’s negligently driven truck, which from such facts must have been traveling on its left and consequently wrong side of the traveled part of the highway. These physical facts were most graphically portrayed by plaintiff’s Exhibit “B” and “C” and were not explained away by defendant. In fact, the evidence of defendant’s truck driver cannot be reconciled with the physical facts. The impact could not possibly have been at defendant’s designated point “0” of the composite exhibit.
The general rule in such matters is that the testimony of a witness should be rejected and disregarded where it is contrary *254to or opposed to laws of nature or physical law. It is well-stated that testimony at war with physical facts and laws within the knowledge of common experience will be disregarded and treated as though it had not been spoken.
In reviewing the evidence in this kind of a case, this court is bound to exercise its intelligence, and in doing so must recognize that certain facts are controlled by physical laws of nature, and when the testimony of a witness appears inherently improbable because in conflict with natural law, this court should not hesitate to reverse the judgment, or set it aside and order a new trial.
The testimony of plaintiff and his witnesses is harmonious, reasonable and consistent with the physical facts, however, the jury disregarded this testimony. The jury may not so arbitrarily and capriciously do so, neither may juries as here, disregard testimony of witnesses, which has not been impeached, but which evidence is supported by the facts in the case. See Morton v. Mooney, 97 Mont. 1, 33 Pac. (2d) 262; Casey v. Northern Pac. R. Co., 60 Mont. 56, 198 Pac. 141. Under such circumstances, even where the evidence may seem to be conflicting, this court will, upon application, order a new trial, where the district court has refused to grant a new trial. See Driscoll v. Market St. Cable Ry. Co., 97 Cal. 553, 32 Pac. 591, which sets forth the rule especially applicable here. See also Mullen v. City of Butte, 37 Mont. 183, 95 Pac. 597. Under such facts the trial judge should, without hesitation, set aside the verdict and grant a new trial. In the event he does not do so, this court should not abdicate its duty to give justice to any litigant, merely because of a jury verdict, when such jury verdict is obviously predicated upon an erroneous construction of the facts.
Because of the foregoing errors, facts and circumstances and in order that the plaintiff may have a fair and lawful trial, I would reverse the judgment of the district court and direct a new trial.