Court Opinion

ID: 9606067
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:46:20.753828+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:32.166396
License: Public Domain

Felton, Chief Judge,
dissenting. The plaintiff alleged in his amended petition that entry to the safe was made by actual force and violence of which there were visible marks upon the exterior of all doors of such safe. While there is evidence of visible marks on certain portions of the safe, in my opinion the plaintiff has not proved that entry to the safe was made by actual force and violence and has therefore failed to prove his case as laid. The sum and substance of the evidence is that on the evening of May 2, 1959, the inner and outer doors of the safe were locked by an employee of the plaintiff who left the premises about 7:30 p.m.; that when the store was opened the next morning the safe had been moved 12 to 18 inches from the wall; there was a small dent or scratch on the dial which is located on the outside door; the inner door was open and the key to it *640was broken off; that the knob on the outside was absolutely clean before this occasion and had no scratches on it at all. There were also some scratches around the hinges and the edge of the outer door. The plaintiff’s manager had the combination to the safe changed immediately after this occurrence and about a -week or ten days later he noticed that the knob did not twirl freely as it had done previously and that there was a sort of bind in it.
While there is no precise precedent in Georgia, a number of decisions from other jurisdictions support the proposition that the mere presence of marks or scratches upon a safe which has been opened in some manner is not sufficient, in and of itself, to satisfy the policy provisions requiring the showing of an entry by actual force and violence. See in this connection Newark Dance Palace v. Maryland Cas. Co., 125 Misc. Rep. 869 (212 N.Y.S. 286); Brill v. Metropolitan Surety Co., 113 N.Y.S. 476; Wagner v. London Guar. Co., 86 Pa. Super. Ct. 542; Grayson v. Maryland Cas. Co., 110 Neb. 354 (160 N.W. 85); Inglis v. General Cas. Co., 211 Ore. 116 (316 P. 2d 546). We are not called upon to decide in this case the quantum of evidence necessary to make a juiy question on this point, except as to whether the evidence set forth above makes' out a prima facia case of entry by actual force and violence as alleged in the petition, so as to withstand the motion for a nonsuit. Code § 110-310.
The plaintiff’s evidence is circumstantial, and in order to withstand a nonsuit, it not only must reasonably tend to establish the theory of the case made by the petition, but must also preponderate to that theory rather than to any other reasonable hypothesis. Callaway v. Hall, 58 Ga. App. 795 (199 S.E. 899). While the evidence of marks and scratches is consistent with the theory of entiy by actual force and violence, as alleged, it certainly does not preponderate towards that theory rather than to any other, particularly in the absence of evidence indicating that the outside lock was damaged in any manner. There is nothing to show that the lock was not in proper working order when the combination was changed on May 3rd by a locksmith. The probability that a successful opening of the safe by means of manipulating the combination was a result of violence is too *641remote to be considered, especially when the violence did not damage the combination or lock. To my mind, a construction of the policy to the effect that coverage applies where there are signs of violence on the combination knob whether the; violence effected or helped effect the entrance into the safe is a most farfetched and unreasonable interpretation, if such is given in this case expressly or impliedly. The petition alleges that in making the entry to the building the burglars caused damage to the roof in the amount of $45.52. The plaintiff’s president testified that the roof had been repaired by two companies and “I believe the total cost of that repair was forty-five dollars and some cents. The cost of that repair has not been paid for. It was billed to us.” Even if this evidence is sufficient to support this allegation of damage the policy specifically covers “damage to the premises by such safe burglarly or attempt thereat, provided . . . the insured is owner thereof or is liable for such damage.” There is certainly no evidence that the plaintiff was the owner of the premises or was for any reason legally liable for this damage, despite the fact that repair charges were billed to it.
The plaintiff’s evidence is of the weakest kind and in my opinion is manifestly insufficient to establish a prima facie case of entry by force and violence or for recoverable damage to the premises as laid in the petition. I therefore think that the court did not err in granting defendant’s motion for a nonsuit.
Bell, J., concurs in the foregoing dissent.