HENRY JUNIOR CHOWNING, APPELLANT,
v.
RUTH MALONEY PIERCE, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1965-04-06
No. 64-699
Before BARKDULL, C. J., and CARROLL and HENDRY, JJ.
174 So. 2d 42 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1965) Negative Treatment
Cited by 36 cases

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Synopsis

In this negligence action arising from an automobile accident at a traffic-controlled intersection, the defendant-appellant challenged the judgment entered on a jury verdict for the plaintiff. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, finding that the trial court properly denied summary judgment and directed verdict motions and that the evidence presented genuine issues of negligence for jury determination.


Holding

The appellate court held that the trial court properly denied the defendant's summary judgment and directed verdict motions because the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the party moved against (the plaintiff), presented genuine issues of negligence for jury determination. The court found no reversible error in the trial court's evidentiary rulings, jury charge decisions, or the verdict itself.


Key Quotes

“In considering motions of the defendant for summary judgment and for directed verdict the trial judge was required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party moved against.”

Establishes the standard of review for evaluating summary judgment and directed verdict motions on appeal.

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Facts & Procedural History

Two vehicles collided at the intersection of Northwest 119th Street and 17th Avenue, controlled by a traffic light. The plaintiff was a passenger in h…

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Opinion of the Court
CARROLL, Judge.

CARROLL, Judge.

This is an appeal by the defendant below from an adverse judgment rendered on a jury verdict in an action for damages for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident.

The two motor vehicles involved collided at the intersection of Northwest 119th Street and 17th Avenue. The intersection was controlled by a traffic light. Plaintiff was a passenger in an automobile being driven by her husband, who was traveling east on 119th Street, which had four lanes for traffic. Plaintiff’s husband was in the inner or north lane of the two lanes furnished for eastbound traffic, intending to turn left and proceed north on 17th Avenue. He stopped at the intersection for a red light. Opposite him, facing west there was a truck, which also had stopped for the light and the driver of which intended to turn left and go south on 17th Avenue. The defendant’s vehicle was proceeding west on 119th Street at 30 to 35 miles per hour in the outer or north lane of the two lanes provided for westbound traffic. When the light changed the plaintiff’s husband signaled for his turn and proceeded to make a left turn in the intersection, passing in front of the truck which was about to turn to the south. The collision occurred when the defendant’s vehicle struck the side of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The point of the impact was in the north sector of the intersection. There was a conflict as to whether the impact point was in the northeast quadrant or northwest quadrant. One of the material questions relating to negligence of the drivers was whether, and to what extent the presence of the truck at the intersection operated to prevent the drivers from seeing one another; and if the truck was a visual obstruction, whether and to what extent either or both drivers may have been negligent for not exercising caution by not making allowance for the possible existence of the other in or at the intersection.

It was the appellant’s contention, in arguing that the trial court was in error in refusing to grant defendant a summary judgment or a directed verdict, that the facts disclosed established as a matter of law that the plaintiff’s husband was guilty of negligence which was the sole proximate cause of her injuries and that the defendant was free of any negligence proximately contributing thereto. In considering motions of the defendant for summary judgment and for directed verdict the trial judge was required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party moved against. On the facts disclosed we can not fault the trial judge for having concluded that the evidence presented issues *44relating to negligence which were questions for jury determination.

We have considered other contentions presented by the appellant, dealing with certain rulings on the admission or exclusion of evidence, and refusal to give certain requested charges, and find those contentions to be without merit, as we hold also with reference to the final two points or contentions made by the appellant that the verdict was based on matters outside the evidence and was a quotient verdict. The record on which appellant relies to establish the latter contentions does not support them.

No reversible error having been made to appear the judgment appealed from is affirmed.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By (18 total)

  • Tiny's Liquors, Inc. v. Davis, 353 So. 2d 168 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
    …. Put another way, such motions should not be granted when there is any reasonable evidence upon which a jury could legally predicate a verdict in favor of the non-moving party. McCabe v. Watson, 225 So. 2d 346 (Fla.3d DCA 1969); Chowning v. Pierce, 174 So. 2d 42 (Fla.3d DCA 1965); and Deese v. White Belt Dairy Farms, Inc., 160 So. 2d 543 (Fla.2d DCA 1964). Further, in testing a motion, the movant admits all of the facts shown in the evidence and admits to every reasonable inference favorable to the adverse…
  • …where the judge has ruled as a matter of law that the plaintiff’s evidence is insufficient to go to the jury. . Motions for summary judgments and directed verdicts require the same judicial evaluation of factual allegations. See Chowning v. Pierce, 174 So. 2d 42 (3d Dist.Ct.App.Fla.1965). . A motion for directed verdict is granted only when plaintiff’s case is essentially devoid of probative evidence. McCabe v. Watson, 225 So. 2d 346 (3d Dist.Ct.App.Fla.1969), cert. denied, 232 So. 2d 739 (Fla.1970); Deese…
  • McCABE v. Watson, 225 So. 2d 346 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)
    …avorable to the non-moving party, concludes that the jury could not reasonably differ as to the existence of a material fact or material inference, and that the movant is entitled to the judgment as a matter of law. Chowning v. Pierce, Fla.App.1965, 174 So. 2d 42; Deese v. White Belt Dairy Farms, Inc., Fla.App.1964, 160 So. 2d 543. Moreover, the validity of an order granting either the motion in accord with directed verdict, or granting the motion for judgment n. o. v., should be tested by thé rules applicab…

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