Court Opinion

ID: 9943908
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-26 15:16:32.135672+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:51:51.967127
License: Public Domain

The foregoing opinion was written by Judge COLLINGS as the opinion of the court except on the question of admissibility of alleged res gestae statements. The majority agrees with his opinion except on the question of admissibility of the statements of Millard Harvey Lee. The majority opinion on that question is as follows:
Appellants contend the judgment must be reversed because of the refusal of the court to admit the testimony of an investigating officer as to statements of the negro bus driver as to the cause of the accident. To be admissible as res gestae statements they must have been made under circumstances raising a reasonable presumption that they were the spontaneous utterances of thoughts created by or springing out of the transaction itself and exclude the idea that they were the result of premeditation or design. Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California v. Schlakzug, 143 Tex. 264, 183 S.W.2d 709, 712.
In passing upon the admissibility of a statement offered as a part of the res gestae the trial court has considerable *Page 887 
discretion. Truck Insurance Exchange v. Michling, Tex., 364 S.W.2d 172, 174; Skillern Sons, Inc. v. Rosen, Tex., 359 S.W.2d 298; 56 A.L.R.2d 374, 378. Our Supreme Court has held that a party who seeks to have hearsay declarations admitted as an exception to the general rule must "clearly" show that the declarations are within the exception. Skillern Sons, Inc. v. Rosen, supra. Appellants had the burden of presenting a sufficient predicate showing the admissibility of the bus driver's statements. When such evidence has been excluded, the burden upon an appellant to show reversible error in not discharged by showing that the circumstances were such that the declarant could have been so affected by them as to make his statements spontaneous utterance of facts springing out of the accident itself. He must show that the declarant was so affected. Such a conclusion is not required by evidence that the declarant "advised" the witness of certain things; that he was "calm" and knew what he was doing. Since a sufficient predicate for its introduction was not presented, we cannot hold that the court erred in excluding it. Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California v. Schlakzug, 143 Tex. 264, 183 S.W.2d 709, 712.
Unquestionably, the statement of the bus driver that he was attempting to pass Mrs. Duncan; that he observed that the highway narrowed as he approached the bridge; that he applied his brakes but did not stop because his brakes failed to work, causing him to strike the guard rail, bounce off it and strike the rear end of the Duncan car and then have a head-on collision with the Smith truck on its right hand side of the road, were of importance to the defense of the Duncans, the bus driver and his employer. His statement that he failed to stop before the collision because his brakes failed to work was exculpatory. But, the substance of the officer's proffered testimony as to the statement by the bus driver pertinent to the question of its admissibility is that the bus driver was standing with his passengers a safe distance from the fire, at a time which could have been thirty minutes or more after the collision; that the officer asked who was driving the bus and Lee stated that he was; that the officer asked him how the accident occurred and Lee "advised" him of the matters outlined above and that the bus driver was "calm" and seemed to know what he was talking about. Certainly, this does not compel the conclusion that Lee's statements were the spontaneous utterances of facts created by or springing out of the accident itself. Therefore, they do not show that the court abused its discretion in excluding them. They do not necessarily show that the statements attributed to him were made while the bus driver was laboring under stress or excitement. On the contrary, they tend to support the conclusion that they were not spontaneous exclamations but a mere narrative of a past event made when the declarant's condition was such that it need not be concluded that it was the transaction itself speaking. "Spontaneity is a necessary and controlling factor." Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California v. Schlakzug, 143 Tex. 264,183 S.W.2d 709, 712. We conclude that appellants have not discharged the burden of presenting a sufficient predicate to require the admission of the bus driver's statements; that they did not clearly show that the proffered declarations came within the exception; and, having failed to do so, we cannot hold that the court erred in refusing to admit them. We hold that it is not shown that the court abused its discretion in excluding such testimony. Skillern Sons, Inc. v. Rosen, Tex., 359 S.W.2d 298, 305; The Texas Pacific Railway Company v. Porter, Tex.Civ.App., 360 S.W.2d 568, 571; Petroleum Casualty Company v. Harlan, Tex.Civ.App., 352 S.W.2d 342, 345.
The judgment will be affirmed if the remittiturs indicated are promptly filed. Otherwise, the judgment will be reversed and the case remanded. Affirmed conditionally. *Page 888