Court Opinion

ID: 9794894
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:13:48.197863+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:22:01.991334
License: Public Domain

HENRIOD, Chief Justice
(concurring in the result).
I concur in the result for reasons other than those stated in the main opinion.
In our former case we said there could be no review where the depositions were unpublished, and suggested that if the facts assumed in the previous case were supported by the depositions, when and if opened, the case would be one for the jury. Knifing the manila folders and examining the depositions revealed nothing substantially different. I am of the opinion, therefore, that this case should be given to a fact arbiter in consonance with our suggestion. Most of what is said in the main opinion consequently is unnecessary in this case, which, I think, should be in the per curiam area.
Furthermore, in my opinion, this case should be based solely on the question of contributory negligence as a matter of fact, and not because of violation of a statute. The statute involved obviously was passed to protect persons other than the driver of garbage or other trucks. Thompson, the driver here, clearly violated the statute. He did not park the truck according to its terms, yet seeks refuge behind it on some sort of “proximate cause” theory. Nobody made a point of contributory negligence aside from statutory violation, so that this court has nothing to review on that score. Nonetheless, Thompson, who is not in the class which the statute seeks to protect, invokes it under a highly technical discussion about what is an “unattended” truck. He says it was “attended,” but if it were, how can he claim anything, one might ask ? It seems to. me to be a problem of whether Ford was negligent because of a defective vehicle, or Thompson negligent because he did not use due care, — not whether anyone violated a statute.
I can see merit to an argument for summary judgment if the statute were not involved, but this court having said there was a jury question if the secrets buried in the manila envelopes developed nothing new on disinterment, it is my opinion that a trial should be indulged for that reason, and that reason alone.