27 Haw. 262 | Haw. | 1923
OPINION OP THE COURT BY
In tbe first of tbe above entitled causes, both being actions at law for tbe recovery of damages, tbe plaintiff sued tbe defendant upon tbe theory that in an automobile
While in one or two of the earlier Hawaiian cases there are expressions to the effect that a verdict of a jury in a law case may be set aside if it is contrary to the weight of the evidence, later Hawaiian cases make it clear, and it is now in this jurisdiction too well settled to admit of doubt, that the verdict of a jury in a law case upon a disputed issue of fact will not be set aside if there is any substantial evidence, more than a mere scintilla, sufficient to support the verdict and the findings which it indicates to have been made by the jury. See, for example, Ahmi v. Cornwell, 14 Haw. 301; Kapiolani Est. v. Cleghorn, 14 Haw. 330, 338; Smith v. Hamakua Mill Co., 14 Haw. 669, 677; Robinson v. H. R. T. & L. Co., 20 Haw. 426, 431; Holstein v. Benedict, 22 Haw. 441, 445; Martin v. Wilson, 23 Haw. 74; Makainai v. Lalakea, 25 Haw. 470, 476; Est. of Heeb, 26 Haw. 538, 539. The question is not whether there was evidence in the case sufficient to support a verdict for Peter Louis. It may
The undisputed evidence was that at a point in Kamehameha IV road in the Kalihi district a few hundred feet mauka of King street the road turns almost at right angles towards Waialua; that the Moreland truck driven by one Kaea, a servant of Maggie Victor, was proceeding mauka on Kamekameka IV road on a day named; that the Cadillac automobile, driven by one Moses Lasada, a servant of Peter Louis, was proceeding on the same road towards King street and the main portion of the city of Honolulu; that a collision between the two occurred at the above mentioned turn of the road; that both vehicles were badly damaged; that at and immediately prior to the collision a Ford automobile was parked on the Waikiki side of Kamehameha IV road at or about the turn, with its Waikiki side about one foot away from the Waikiki curbstone; that at the point where the Ford automobile was parked the road is twenty-two feet in width; that the Ford automobile was five feet wide; that the Moreland truck with its tail-board dropped is eighteen
In general the evidence on behalf of Peter Louis was to the effect that the Cadillac in approaching the corner and for some considerable distance before reaching the corner was proceeding at a speed of ten miles an hour (one of Louis’ witnesses said ten to twelve miles an hour) and that its driver tooted his horn “continuously” for a long time before reaching the corner,' — “for about half a block back” one witness said.
The driver of the truck testified that he proceeded mauka on Kamehameha IV road from King street “pretty slow in order to make that turn”, at ten miles an hour; that this was his rate of speed when approaching the Ford automobile which was parked as above stated and that he was endeavoring to pass as close as possible to the parked Ford immediately before and at the time of the accident; that his truck was noisy in operation and that he did not hear any horn sounded from beyond the turn of the road; that the Cadillac hit his truck almost immediately after he first saw the Cadillac; and that it came upon him suddenly. Another witness, Albert Silva, testified that immediately prior to the accident he proceeded mauka along Kamehameha IV road and that he
W. J. Lillis testified that he is “chief of the traffic squad,” was formerly examiner of chauffeurs, has had eighteen years of experience in handling and driving automobiles and that during that period of time he had experience “in the matter of observation of collisions and force of collisions;” that he was on the scene of the accident very shortly after its occurrence and noted the marks made on the roadway by the machines in the course of the collision; that “there was a mark showing about two feet where she” (referring to the truck) “skidded over”,— “about two feet skid-marks”; that there were no marks on the roadway to indicate that the Cadillac had been pushed backwards; that between the Waikiki end of the truck and the Waikiki curbstone there was no car when the witness arrived and that “I just barely got through myself,” meaning that there was barely room sufficient for his Essex car to pass through. This witness was asked, “From your knowledge and experience in the observation of automobile accidents, in the driving of automobiles, did the condition of those cars, the marks upon the ground, indicate anything as to the speed of the vehicles? * * * Can you give us any information from your observation as to the relative speeds of the two cars, whether one was going faster or slower than the other?”
Perhaps there is room for doubt as to whether under the circumstances an opinion from the witness was admissible. The point, however, need not be decided. If it was admissible, the jury had before it not only the evidence of Silva that the Cadillac was “going fast” and the truck “very sIoav” but the evidence of Lillis that the Cadillac was going at twenty miles per hour. If the testimony Avas not admissible, it must be on the theory that the jurors were as well qualified as the witness to draw their own inferences, from the fact of the two-foot skid-marks, as to the rate of speed that the Cadillac was going in order to push the truck for that distance; and, in the latter event, if the jurors should conclude that the Cadillac Avas traveling at the rate of twenty miles per hour immediately prior to and at the time of the collision, this court would be unable to interfere with that inference and finding. It was legally possible upon all of the evidence for the jurors to disbelieve the testimony of Lasada, the driver of the Cadillac, and of the three soldiers who testified for Peter Louis that the Cadillac was traveling at the rate of only ten or twelve miles per hour. Two of the three soldiers testified to having received repeated-favors from Lasada in the way of free rides in the automobile. It was possible for the jurors to have conscientiously found that the witnesses for Peter Louis exaggerated when they testified to repeated and “continuous” tooting of the horn by Lasada for a long distance prior to reaching the turn in the road. If, as against this testimony, they believed Silva’s evidence that there was only one
In setting aside the verdicts, the trial judge gave two main reasons: one was that the truck had no right to be on the left side of the road and that the driver of the truck did not toot his horn. The presence of the parked automobile on the right-hand side of the road, leaving at most a width of only sixteen feet of unoccupied roadway, could well have been regarded by the jury as a sufficient reason for the truck’s proceeding nearer to the left-hand side than would otherwise have been the case. The driver of the truck testified that he proceeded as close to the Ford automobile as he could. Maggie Victor was entitled to the judgment of the jury as to whether this evidence was true
Under all of the circumstances as they existed at the trial, the cases were properly submitted to the jury for the latter’s determination and the verdicts as rendered cannot be set aside. The exceptions are sustained and the orders .setting aside the verdicts and granting a neAV trial are reversed and set aside. '