160 Iowa 722 | Iowa | 1913
Plaintiff, a motorman in defendant’s employ, was injured in a street car collision happening on one of defendant’s lines of road in the city of "Waterloo, and claims that the accident occurred by reason of the negligence and
The trial court seemed to be of opinion that only the general bad moral character of the witness may be shown, evidently basing its ruling on the thought that the statute has now codified the law in this respect, and, perhaps, relying to some extent on State v. Gregory, 148 Iowa, 152. This latter ease .does not decide the question, and what is there said is no justification for the ruling. The statute was not, in our opinion, intended as a codification of the law; but to make clear for this state a rule which is much in dispute in other jurisdictions, permitting the general bad moral character of a witness to be shown for impeaching purposes. Such is the fair inference from the decision in State v. Egan, 59 Iowa, 636. The text-books and eases generally hold that general bad reputation of a witness for truth and veracity in the community in which he lives, or in which he has recently resided, is admissible for impeaching purposes. See Wigmore on Evidence, section 922; Dance v. McBride, 43 Iowa, 624; State v. Potts, 78 Iowa, 656; McGuire v. Kenefick, 111 Iowa, 147; In re Will of Brown, 143 Iowa, 649. The time and place were not too remote to justify the ruling of the trial court. Jones v. State, 104 Ala. 30 (16 South. 136); Wagoner v. Wagoner (Md.) 10 Atl. 221; McGuire v. Kenefick, supra; Douglass v. Agne, 125 Iowa, 67.
VIII. It is said that there was not enough testimony to take the ease to a jury, and that defendant’s motion for a
. . . If you find from the evidence that the plaintiff’sin-juries resulted from recklessness and imprudence of the motorman, Smith, combined with negligence of the defendant in retaining Smith in its employ, and that the plaintiff would not have been injured but for such combined incompetence and negligence, then you would be warranted in finding that such combined negligence and incompetence was the cause of plaintiff’s injuries. If you fail to so find, the plaintiff cannot recover.
This is claimed to be erroneous, because it eliminates plaintiff’s contributory negligence. In order to get the full aspect of this instruction, we here quote the remainder of it. It reads:
The plaintiff claims that the motorman, Smith, with knowledge that the signal lights indicated the track was blocked and closed to his car, and that another car was approaching, recklessly and imprudently drove his car upon such block, and thus caused the collision. The defendant denies such claim, and contends that the said Smith was operating his ear in a reasonably careful and prudent manner upon a portion of the track which the signal lights indicated was open and unblocked. On this issue you are instructed that even though you should find that the motorman, Smith, had been at other previous times reckless, or imprudent in the management of his car, such fact, if it is a fact, could not be considered by you*730 as tending to show that said Smith was reckless or imprudent at the time of the accident complained of, but the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to show, by a preponderance or greater weight of the evidence, that the accident complained of proximately and directly resulted from the imprudence and recklessness of the said Smith at that particular time in operating his ear, and that but for such recklessness and imprudence of said Smith, combined with negligence of the defendant in retaining said Smith in its employ, such accident would not have happened.
Taken together, there was no error because the instruction related wholly to the one question of defendant’s negligence, and must have been so understood by the. jury. No error appears in the other instructions.
. For the errors pointed out, the judgment must be, and it is, Reversed.