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CATHERINE SHORE v. HYMAN J. MINTER AND ANOTHER

Minnesota Supreme Court1924-07-18No. No. 24,081
160 Minn. 215

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the judgment for the plaintiff, holding that sufficient evidence supported the jury's verdict and that both the defendants' negligence and the plaintiff's lack of contributory negligence presented fact questions appropriately resolved by the jury.

Catherine Shore was struck by a motor truck driven by one of the defendants while she stood at the edge of a busy intersection in Minneapolis. Both Shore and the truck's driver were unaware of each other's presence at the time of the collision. The jury returned a verdict in Shore's favor, and the defendants appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict.

The court examined two key negligence issues. First, regarding the defendants' conduct, the court found that because conflicting evidence existed about the accident circumstances—including whether any warning was given—the question of defendants' negligence was properly submitted to the jury. Second, regarding Shore's potential contributory negligence, although she was standing partially in the street at the edge of a busy thoroughfare, the court determined that the light traffic conditions at the time and the circumstances of the accident created a genuine question of fact that should have been resolved by the jury rather than decided as a matter of law. The court distinguished this case from prior decisions where pedestrians attempted to cross in front of approaching vehicles without taking precautions.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Sufficiency of evidence to support a negligence verdict
  • Whether defendants' failure to give warning of approach constitutes negligence
  • Whether plaintiff's position at street edge constitutes contributory negligence as a matter of law
  • Jury's authority to decide contested factual circumstances surrounding an accident

Procedural posture

The defendants appealed from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in the plaintiff's favor after the trial court denied their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Stone, J.

Action for personal injuries wherein there was a verdict for plaintiff, a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict which was denied, and judgment accordingly for plaintiff. From that judgment defendants appeal.

The only question here is whether there was any evidence to support the verdict.

In company with her sister and a gentleman Mend, plaintiff was standing at the northwest corner of the intersection of Lyndale and Hawthorne avenues in Minneapolis at about 9 p. m. of May 29, 1922. Plaintiff, as she was standing with one foot on the curb and the other in the driveway, or as she had just started to cross Lyn-dale, was struck by a light motor truck driven by one of defendants and coming from the north.-

Plaintiff was wholly unaware of the approach of the automobile. Its driver was equally oblivious of the presence of plaintiff. There was evidence that it was raining and also that it was not. The usual claims of negligence and contributory negligence are in the case.

The question of defendants’ negligence was clearly for the jury. The conditions surrounding the accident are by no means agreed upon. There is evidence that, as the automobile approached plaintiff, no warning of its approach was given. Under such circumstances, it is not permissible for us to say, as a matter of law, that there was no proof of negligence on the part of defendants.

The issue of contributory negligence is not so easily disposed of. The plaintiff’s testimony as to her position when run down is as follows:

“A. As near as I can recall, we were standing right on the sidewalk and we turned to step around, and I stepped off the sidewalk with one foot, one foot on the street and one foot on the curb. Q. Do you know how long you had been standing in that position? A. Not over a few minutes. Q. What were you doing when the accident happened? A. Standing there talking. Q. What happened then? A. Well, I don’t know what happened. , A car came along and hit me and that was the last I know.”

A strong argument can be made to the effect that one who takes such a position and holds it, as plaintiff says she did, on the edge of a busy automobile thoroughfare like Lyndale avenue, is guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. But enough can be said to the contrary to prevent our setting aside the verdict of the jury based upon their conclusion that such conduct in this case was not negligence. At the time being, the traffic does not appear to have been at all heavy. There is a question of fact, and therefore the jury’s conclusion is controlling.

Plaintiff’s quoted testimony differentiates the case from Provinsal v. Peterson, 141 Minn. 122, 169 N. W. 481, and Feyrer v. Durbrow, 172 Wis. 71, 178 N. W. 306. In those and similar cases the plaintiff was considered guilty of contributory negligence because of an attempt to cross a street in front of approaching automobiles without taking any precautions whatsoever against being run down by them. So far as the circumstances convicted the defendants of negligence, they were at least equally condemnatory of plaintiff. Here, as already indicated, we cannot reach the same conclusion as a matter of law.

Order affirmed.