Court Opinion

ID: 9755899
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:58:36.193539+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:12.753692
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Musmanno:
If the defendant saw the 11-year old plaintiff Robert Allen Finnin climb over the railing bordering the thoroughfare on which he was driving his car, a duty devolved upon him to exercise extraordinary caution to avoid colliding with the child in the event the child proceeded into the cartway of the street. The police officer testified that the defendant admitted that he saw that “Finnin jumped the rail.”
It is to be noted also that the defendant himself testified that his wife warned him to “look out for that kid.” This warning from his wife, the officer’s testimony that he (the defendant) saw the child sufficiently in advance to have anticipated the possible passing of the child into the street, the testimony of the witness Cable that the child was struck with such violence that his body was thrown into the air like a “cardboard,” and the fact that the accident occurred at a street intersection were all factors which, taken together, would, in my opinion, support a prima facie case of negligence. It was for the jury to determine whether the testimony supporting the prima facie negligence was credible.
*48Because of that conclusion on my part, I would lift the nonsuit and award a procedendo.