Court Opinion

ID: 9863172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:09:38.541211+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:47:49.125651
License: Public Domain

J. Fred Jones, Justice, concurring, I would reverse the trial court but I would remand for a new trial rather than for entry of verdict. When this accident occurred, the appellee was traveling in a southerly direction on blacktop Highway 25. He was driving a Chevy II stationwagon weighing 3,020 pounds and was pulling a boat and trailer weighing over half as much as the stationwagon. When about 150 or 200 yards distance from the Blackshear residence, he saw Ella Jo, an older sister of Phyllis, come from the driveway of her home onto the highway and cross the highway from east to west. Appellee did not recall seeing or meeting other traffic in the vicinity of the accident. Appellee testified that just seconds after he saw Ella Jo cross the highway, he saw Phyllis about eight or ten feet before she entered the highway, or just after she entered the highway. She had her head turned toward her left looking south on the highway when he saw her. She entered the highway running diagonally from east northwesterly across the highway and appellee applied his brakes when he first saw Phyllis. The automobile skidded 153 feet south, all on the west side of the highway, and struck Phyllis near the west edge of the blacktop. With this testimony from the appellee himself, I am of the opinion that the trial court was attempting to set aside the jury verdict on the interrogatories and grant a new trial in the proper exercise of its discretion. If this was the intention of the trial court, it, of course, committed error in the manner it went about accomplishing its purpose. Even though the trial court may still set aside the verdict and grant a new trial if it feels such procedure necessary and justified by the record in this case, I would reverse and remand for a new trial. Byrd, J., concurs.