This matter was before this court in Boiselle v. Rogolf,
The defendant claimed that the rim, while defective when recovered by it, was properly repaired and welded and not only the inflation but also the mounting was done by Parker, the employee of the plaintiff; that the latter was negligent; and that his negligence should be imputed to the plaintiff.
In its appeal from the judgment, the defendant stresses certain rulings on evidence. These are not properly set up in the finding. Practice Book, 359. *690
Pepe Co., Inc. v. Apuzzo,
The statements objected to were made by the plaintiff and Robert E. Leslie. A number of the statements made by the plaintiff were to the effect that he informed the employee of the defendant who first brought the rim to him that if he took it back it would probably be repaired and it would kill somebody if it was used again. The trial court admitted this testimony for the purpose of showing that a statement by an experienced tire man as to the danger of using the rim even though repaired was brought to the knowledge of the defendant, and it repeatedly and emphatically cautioned the jury that the statements were not admitted to show their truth but, to quote one such caution, "merely to get home to the employer that something was said to the employee about this *691
tire, and it is not to be used by the Jury to prove that there was anything wrong with the tire." They were admissible for this purpose. Hope v. Valente,
The plaintiff and Leslie also gave their opinions as experts as to the condition of the rim, its effect, and the possible causes of the accident. The plaintiff had had twenty-three years' experience with over a thousand tires and rims of this type. Leslie's qualifications were not fully stated in the finding but appear in the evidence at length. Under such circumstances we may refer to the latter. Friedler v. Hekeler,
The defendant's brief next takes up the denial of its motion to set aside the verdict. Its only statement on this subject is that "No evidence to support the allegations of negligence contained in the complaint was introduced other than non-expert opinions referred to under point I," discussed above. This *692 statement was not amplified in oral argument. It follows that, since the evidence was properly admitted, the only foundation for this assignment of error is removed.
There remain only the fourteen exceptions to the charge. Two of these were withdrawn. The plaintiff pleaded lack of contributory negligence. One error assigned is that the trial court did not specifically charge the jury that the plaintiff had the burden of proving lack of such negligence. The court charged the jury that the plaintiff must prove by the better and more convincing evidence that the defendant was negligent and this negligence was the sole proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries, and that the latter involved proof that the plaintiff was not guilty of contributory negligence. It would have been wiser for the court to follow the usual method of treating the case as involving three principal issues upon which the plaintiff had the burden of proof: that the defendant was negligent, that this negligence was the proximate cause of the injury and that the plaintiff was not guilty of contributory negligence. But in this case the jury could only have reasonably understood the charge as placing the burden of proving lack of contributory negligence upon the plaintiff. Another assignment contains the familiar complaint that the trial court overemphasized the negligence of the defendant to the exclusion of the duty of the plaintiff to prove his own due care. In view of the full statement as to contributory negligence earlier in the charge this assignment is also without merit. The remaining assignments directed to the charge fall within the principle that, where a charge fairly presents the essential issues in a case, error will not be found in a failure to give specific instructions upon some special feature in the absence of request to do so. *693
Coy v. Milford,
The defendant assigns as error the failure of the trial court to submit to the jury two interrogatories, one addressed to the question whether the tire was mounted on the rim by an employee of the plaintiff or an employee of the defendant, and the other, whether the rim was reasonably safe for use. The record fails to show any request to the court to submit such interrogatories. They concerned subordinate issues and the trial court has a wide discretion in determining whether or not to submit such interrogatories. Miller v. Connecticut Co.,
Read as a whole, the charge was full and fair on the facts and the law and a sufficient guide to the jury. Koskoff v. Goldman,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.