Court Opinion

ID: 9640204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:01:02.58358+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:28.185336
License: Public Domain

Murphy, J.
(dissenting). Too much court time is wasted when we persist in reversing judges who have the good sense to direct verdicts in cases in which it would be necessary to set aside the verdict if the case was submitted to the jury. Bambus v. Bridgeport Gas Co., 148 Conn. 167, 171, 169 A.2d 265; *518Lurier v. Danbury Bus Corporation, 144 Conn. 544, 547,135 A.2d 597.
The majority opinion presupposes that there was-a leak in the gas service in the baker’s oven. But there was no evidence from which the jury could conclude that there was a leak in that piece of equipment. There was evidence that there had been an odor of gas in the kitchen but none in the vicinity of the baker’s oven. The plaintiff testified that she did not know whether she had turned on the gas when she went to light the pilot. Yet, she stated that the pilot key was so tight that she could not turn it with her hands but had to use a pair of pliers to do so. The gas was turned off the night before, and it was off an hour after the explosion when the gas company’s-repairmen arrived. The pliers must have acted automatically. There were no leaks in the oven pipes when they were tested after the explosion. Certainly, if there had been a leak, the force of the explosion would have enlarged it. The trial judge was fully justified in directing the verdict.