Opinion

Tews ex rel. Tews v. Bamrick

  • 148 Neb. 59
  • 26 N.W.2d 499
  • 1947 Neb. LEXIS 25
Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
Filed
Mar 7, 1947
Status
Published
Author
Yeager
On the bench
Carter, Chappell, Messmore, Paine, Wenke, Yeager
Cited by
31 cases

The opinion

Yeager, J.,

dissenting.

In this case I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. I am convinced that on the record a verdict should have been directed in favor of the defendants.

I am not complaining of the propositions of law set forth in the opinion. My contention is that the facts when weighed in the light of the principles of law announced do not support a verdict favorable to the plaintiff.

It is a fact that the plaintiff collided with the side of the truck and some considerable distance back from the front end. He walked, ran, or skipped into the side of it. The front end was well past him when this happened. If he did not see the 19,000-pound truck immediately in front of him could a jury, can this court, say with any degree of assurance or positiveness that his attention would have been attracted to the 19,000-pound truck which was already in front of him? If the truck had been moving slower or faster can it be reasonably inferred that the boy. would not have run into it?

Affirmative verdicts in negligence cases must depend upon direct evidence or evidence from which reasonable inferences may flow, and not upon conjecture and speculation.

The verdict of the jury and the majority opinion are grounded on speculative inference flowing from speed and from failure to sound a- horn. These speculative inferences are in my opinion insufficient to sustain the verdict.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.