Court Opinion

ID: 9520628
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:45:47.917209+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:46:33.515714
License: Public Domain

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER
DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
The Court directs a judgment to be rendered for the defendant in the court below. The Court takes this action based upon its view of the evidence as being without dispute and leading to but one conclusion which is that it establishes negligence on the part of the plaintiff as a matter of law. I disagree on both scores. In mandating a judgment to be entered rather than a new trial, the Court commits error. Those characteristics of this case and the cireumstanc-es which serve to set it apart from those cases which might arguably support the direction of a judgment for the defendant are the following:
1. The case was fully tried before a jury in the court below.
2. At the trial the burden rested with the defendant to prove the plaintiff's negligence by a preponderance of the evidence. Ind.R.Tr.P. 9.1(4).
3. The presiding judge ruled twice that the evidence presented genuine triable issues and that there was nothing determinable as a matter of law.
4. The jury returned a verdict against the party bearing the burden of proof upon the issue of the plaintiff's negligence, le., a verdict for the plaintiff.
5. The verdict was a general one which included no special verdicts or jury interrogatories. Ind.R.Tr.P. 49.
6. There is no error in the conduct of the trial proceedings which provides a basis for the decision of this Court to grant judgment for the defendants.
The profundity of the majority action in this case to the future course of the law is apparent. The strongest presumption in the law must be that justice is done by the decision of an impartial trier of fact in an error free trial presided over by a judge in a duly constituted court where the parties are represented by counsel. All those criteria are present here. In my opinion, it would only be in the most extraordinary and bizarre circumstances that an appellate tribunal would be rationally justified in a civil case in supplanting its view of the evidence for that of a jury and the presiding judge. Yet there are no such cireum-stances approaching that here. The jury awarded $25,000 to the plaintiff for injuries received when he fell down some steps constructed in a manner condemned by specific safety laws in more than one respect. More disturbing than the lack of such extraordinary cireumstances is the prospect that under the aegis of the majority view, an appellate court can now lawfully grant a judgment for the plaintiff in the aftermath of a trial in which no special defenses are raised and the jury has returned a verdict for the defendant.
Indiana R.App.P. 15(N) governs the appellate remedy. It recognizes that an appellate court may direct entry of a final judgment "unless such relief is shown to be *331impracticable or unfair to any of the parties or is otherwise improper." One must look beyond the rule criteria to determine the propriety of the grant in any particular case. None of the recent cases relied upon by the majority in which an appellate court found negligence as a matter of law resulted in the direction of a judgment for the party bearing the burden of proof. Standard Oil v. Henninger, (1985) 100 Ind.App. 674, 196 N.E. 706, a case where according to the majority "the facts are undisputed and are almost identical ... in which the court found contributory negligence as a matter of law", did not result in the direction of a judgment for the defendant. Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc. v. Scott, (1973) 261 Ind. 27, 300 N.E.2d 50, involved the affirmance of the grant of a new trial by the trial court. The recent case of Bemis Co. Inc. v. Rubush, (1982) Ind., 427 N.E.2d 1058, involved the direction of a judgment for the defendant after a plaintiff's verdict, but it is clearly different from the case at bar since there the judgment for the plaintiff was reversed because of a failure of the plaintiff to sustain his burden of proof by sufficient evidence upon an element of his claim. Here the judgment being ordered for the defendant stems from the success of the defendant in sustaining his burden to prove plaintiff's negligence.
The case of New York, etc. R. Co. v. Hamlin, (1907) 170 Ind. 20, 83 N.E. 343, and cases in its posture would be compelling were it not for the fact that they involve special verdicts and jury interrogatories. This Court concluded as follows:
"The judgment is therefore reversed, with instruction to sustain appellant's motion for judgment in its favor on the interrogatories, and to render judgment in favor of appellant for costs." 170 Ind. at 37, 83 N.E. 343.
In such cases an appropriate respect for the function of the trier of fact is shown. It will be most difficult to maintain even due regard for that function in a system in which an appellate court can direct the entry of judgment for the party bearing the burden of proof because of its view of the evidence, after the judge and jury found that such party had failed to sustain that burden. It cannot but be concluded that the direction of entry of judgment for the defendants is improper. - Ind.R.App.P. 15(N).
Turning to the evidence in this case, one finds that there is a special peril presented to one about to descend this basement stairway. It is created by at least three separate defects which are functionally related. They are: the inward opening door at the top, the lack of a landing inside the door at the top, and the lack of a hand railing. The door which is described by the majority as "guarding" the entrance can also be reasonably viewed as enhancing the peril to the user in at least two respects. First, in use by one who will descend the stairway, it, as it is gradually opened inwardly, blocks a clear and complete view of the steps and thus prevents the senses from making a complete, quick and accurate assessment of spatial relationships. - Second, simultaneously as the user maintains a grip on the door handle and thrusts the door open, his center of gravity is necessarily shifted forward, thus creating the likelihood of a reflexive response of a first step forward and down the steps. Even a person well-ac quainted with such an arrangement could easily become unsteadied at the very top. The enhancing effect upon the peril to such a person by the lack of a railing, becomes evident at this point. A railing would provide one with the means of steadying oneself so as to prevent stumbling and falling. I believe that the jury, upon considering these defects in the construction of the steps and stairway within the realm of its function as trier of fact, could reasonably have concluded that the defendants failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the special danger created by them was, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have been appreciated by the plaintiff. Such was their burden, and the jury was so properly instructed.
Another facet of the case is that the jury may have concluded that the evidence was evenly balanced with regard to whether the plaintiff's mistaken belief that the wash*332room was behind the door was causally related to his subsequent fall. He could thus be reasonably treated as one who knew that there was a stairway behind the door leading to the basement, or one who was totally ignorant of what was behind the door. The jury may have concluded that his conduct in failing to realize that he was entering the basement door rather than the men's room door did not show a failure to use reasonsa-ble care, in light of the fact that he was in a hurry as many people are in these circumstances, and the door had the same general appearance, even given the fact that the men's room door was marked. As I see it, the jury, and each member of it is to make reasonable inferences from the testimony, give those inferences great or little weight, give meaning to words and phrases, and to believe or disbelieve witnesses. I believe this case presents issues triable only by a judge or jury which can exercise those faculties.