Court Opinion

ID: 9753360
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:10:49.636556+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:34.934217
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Bell:
I dissent. The jury returned a verdict for defendant and the sole issue raised on this appeal is whether the trial judge committed prejudicial error in his charge to the jury.
The facts show that appellee’s car struck the child when he was at a point in the street approximately ten feet from the curb. Both sides agree that the factual determination for the jury was “whether . . . the child was in the highway such a length of time before the accident occurred that defendant in the exercise of due care [a] should have seen him and [b] avoided the accident.” Flagiello v. Crilly, 409 Pa. 389, 392, 187 A. 2d 289; Gatens v. Vrable, 393 Pa. 155, 142 A. 2d 287; Derr v. Rich, 331 Pa. 502, 505, 200 A. 599. The evidence as to how the child entered the intersection and whether a parked automobile obstructed defendant’s view was conflicting, although the weight of the evidence certainly favored defendant’s version of the facts. Considering the charge in its entirety and in its application to the facts which were disclosed by the testimony — as of course we must — the charge of the trial Judge was devoid of error.
I would affirm the judgment.
Mr. Justice Benjamin R. Jones joins in this dissenting opinion.