Court Opinion

ID: 9562657
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:32:27.165752+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:28.446500
License: Public Domain

Given, President,
dissenting:
As I understand and view the evidence, the question of negligence of defendant was definitely one for jury determination. It is well settled that questions as to credibility of witnesses, and the weight to be given their testimony, are peculiarly for jury determination. It is also well settled that where the evidence is in conflict courts should not attempt to substitute their findings for those of juries. In passing upon the sufficiency of evidence to support a verdict, a court should consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the finding of the jury, and evidence conflicting with the finding, unless clearly overwhelming, should be disregarded. To cite authorities as to these principles would be presumptive.
About eleven o’clock on the morning of Friday, July 20, 1951, plaintiff appeared at the office of defendant and paid his delinquent electric service charge. About one thirty o’clock of that day an employee of defendant proceeded to the home of plaintiff with instructions to either collect the amount of the delinquency or disconnect the service. On appearing at the home, the employee was informed by the wife of plaintiff that her husband had advised her by telephone that the delinquent bill had been paid, and requested that the employee verify the fact of payment *745by use of a telephone there available. The employee refused to do so, but went into the basement of the home and disconnected the service. The wife informed plaintiff of that fact and he again went to the office of defendant, exhibited the receipt which had been given to him that morning showing the payment of the delinquent bill, and demanded restoration of the service.
According to testimony of the wife of plaintiff, another employee of defendant, Everett Griffin, late in the afternoon of the same day, appeared at the home for the purpose of reconnecting the service lines. He attempted to do so at the meter box outside of the dwelling, but had difficulty in removing the lid from the meter box, “* * * And then he got real mad, and even braced himself with his foot against the side of the house and pulled on it real hard; and I guess about that time the cap of the meter box flew off, and the meter box — the cap flew clear over his head, and he tumbled backwards. And after the meter box came loose from the house, the wire that comes from the meter box to the ground it came loose, and the meter box went clear up in the air and went clear up against the side of the house”. The wife also testified that “This wire leading from the meter box down to the ground, that was fastened to the ground, it broke loose, it flew way up in the air.” Not being able to restore the flow of the electric current at the meter box, the employee went into the basement, made certain adjustments at the panel switch, and a very small amount of electric current was made to flow over the service lines, but not sufficient to operate any of the electric appliances in the house, such as the refrigerator, range, television and radio. Griffin, after informing the wife that defendant would make necessary repairs on the following Monday, left the premises without having satisfactorily restored service, without having secured the meter box torn loose from the house and left suspended in the air, and without having reconnected the broken ground wire.
The testimony of the wife is corroborated by plaintiff *746as to the insufficiency of the flow of electric current after Griffin had attempted to restore it, and as to the condition of the meter box, wires and the broken ground wire. Her testimony is fully corroborated by Georgia Tenney, who was present while Griffin was trying to restore the service. She testified that Griffin pulled the meter box from the wall, “* * * And the ground wire was pulled up out of the ground, and all these wires were torn loose, and the meter box was just hanging in the air swinging.” The wife is also corroborated by John W. McKinney, who testified that he arrived at the Wickline home about the time Griffin arrived, and that the meter box was attached to the side of the house at the time Griffin arrived; that he saw Griffin pounding and pulling on the meter box, saw the meter box hanging in the air supported only by wires, and saw Griffin go into the basement of the Wickline home. The testimony of the wife of plaintiff is also corroborated in part by the testimony of Thelma McKinney and of Fern Davis, offered on rebuttal by plaintiff. Her testimony is also corroborated by the testimony of Eugene Sych, an experienced electrician, who saw the meter box on Sunday and testified: “By the lid, I mean this was off, and the meter was hanging approximately in that position —something like that — and had a stick under it; and the ground, which is this, was broken off of the ground, the wire was broken off the ground.” He also testified to the effect that the condition created by the breaking of the ground wire and the meter box hanging by the wires constituted a “dangerous condition”, and a “hazardous condition”. Also, Ralph Clear, an electrical contractor engaged in such business for approximately thirty years, testified to the effect that the broken ground wire “definitely” created a “hazardous” condition. This witness further testified that “If there was sufficient force applied to the meter box on the outside of the house, it would have a tendency to pull the connections loose in the panel inside, which probably would cause a partial ground, or a ground on the panel inside the house”; and further, “If it was left on long enough, it would cause heat. It *747would cause heat at any time; but if it was left on long enough it would cause heat to heat wires, set wires afire, and in turn set anything afire that was close to it, or against it.” Some of the electric fixtures or wires concerning which the evidence related were exhibited to the jury. There is nothing in this evidence impossible of belief. The jury did believe it. While clear preponderance of evidence is not established by mere number of witnesses, the number of witnesses who testified on behalf of defendant concerning the foregoing facts did not exceed the number testifying as to the same facts on behalf of plaintiff.
I do not think it can be questioned that other evidence before, the jury was clearly sufficient to support a finding to the effect that the only electric current entering plaintiff’s home was furnished by defendant; that immediately before origin of the fire which destroyed plaintiff’s dwelling no fire, not even a match, was in the basement of the dwelling; that nothing of a combustible nature was in the basement; that the fire which destroyed the dwelling originated in the basement at or near the panel switch; and that the manner in which defendant’s employees handled the meter box, wires connected thereto, and the ground wire could have created a hazardous condition, in all probability a faulty or broken connection, which caused the fire. There is really no contradiction of the evidence of plaintiff and Frank Nagy to the effect that the fire originated at or near the panel or fuse box. Neither is it contended that prior to the time the service was disconnected by the employee of defendant the electric installations used in connection with the furnishing of the service were not operating satisfactorily, or that sufficient current was not being delivered to operate all electrical appliances in the home of plaintiff. While defendant attempted to cast doubt on the testimony of plaintiff’s witness relating to the insufficiency of the electric current flowing to the service lines, between the time Griffin attempted to reconnect the service and the time of the fire, the question was undoubtedly one for jury determi*748nation. Other evidence, circumstances and inferences favorable to plaintiff’s contentions could be detailed, but the facts recited appear sufficient.
The facts recited, I think, establish beyond any probable doubt the negligence of defendant. They exclude any probable cause of the origin of the fire other than such as could have occurred from broken or faulty connections resulting from defendant’s negligence. I do not overlook the necessity of examining very closely evidence in cases similar to the instant one. Jury verdicts, of course, are not infallible. They should, however, be respected. No doubt exists in my mind that the evidence of plaintiff, if believed, was sufficient to support the verdict, and, as before noted, the credibility of the witnesses, and the weight to be given their testimony, were for the jury.
Being of the views indicated, I respectfully dissent. I am authorized to say that Judge Biley is of the views expressed herein. We would sustain the verdict and affirm the judgment of the trial court.