Court Opinion

ID: 9452443
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 17:40:53.857643+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:33:13.179765
License: Public Domain

VAN OOSTERHOUT, Circuit Judge
(dissenting in part).
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion to the extent that it holds the trial court erred in sustaining defendant’s motion for judgment n. o. v. I have no quarrel with the basic legal principles set out in the majority opinion. The difficulty arises in the application of the law to the facts. I would affirm upon this issue upon the ground that the plaintiff has failed to establish defendant was guilty of any negligence proximately causing plaintiff’s injuries. I agree with the reasoning set forth in the trial court’s unreported memorandum opinion. In my view there is no substantial evidence to support a finding that a leak existed in the tee-joint (which was not installed by the defendant) on May 11, the date of the alleged inspection. The only gas odor detection by plaintiff occurred three or four weeks before May 11. On that occasion plaintiff lit the heater without incident. While there is testimony of sensory adjustment, the expert testimony is that the olfactory sense is restored upon leaving the exposed area. Plaintiff was in and out of the house many times after May 11 and there is no testimony that he smelled gas odor on any subsequent occasion. It is undisputed that the gas was properly treated to give off an offensive, readily defectible odor.
There is no testimony as to the precise nature of the break discovered subsequent to the accident nor is there any expert testimony as to whether the break appeared to be new or old. In my opinion, there is neither direct nor adequate circumstantial evidence to support a find*571ing that the break in the pipe existed on May 11, the date of the inspection.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court sustaining the motion for judgment n. o. v. and dismissing the complaint.
I concur with the majority view that the defendant is entitled to a new trial.