(DOWNLOAD) "Hixson v. Barrow Et Al. Barrow v. Barrow" by Court of Appeals of Georgia " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Hixson v. Barrow Et Al. Barrow v. Barrow
- Author : Court of Appeals of Georgia
- Release Date : January 02, 1975
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 64 KB
Description
John Barrow was a guest passenger in a car driven by his brother, Roy Barrow, which was involved in an intersection collision with an automobile owned and operated by Jessie Hixson. John Barrow and his wife sued the drivers of both vehicles, alleging gross negligence against John Barrow's host driver, Roy Barrow, and ordinary negligence against the driver of the other vehicle, Jessie Hixson. As part of the same action, Jessie Hixson sued his co-defendant, Roy Barrow, for damages to his automobile. The cases were tried together. The jury returned verdicts in favor of both plaintiffs (John Barrow and wife) against both defendants (Roy Barrow and Jessie Hixson) in the main action. The same jury returned the maximum possible verdict in favor of Jessie Hixson against Roy Barrow. 1. This case is controlled by Jarrett v. Parker, 135 Ga. App. 195. Jarrett, supra, held that where two cases arising out of the same occurrence are tried by the same jury, if the two verdicts cannot be reconciled with each other, both must be set aside. There is simply no distinguishing difference between the facts in Jarrett, supra, and those in the case before us. In Jarrett, supra, the wife (Mrs. Parker) sued for personal injuries she sustained while driving her husband's automobile when it was involved in a collision with an automobile driven by Mr. Jarrett. Mr. Parker sued Mr. Jarrett for damages done to his car, medical expenses, and loss of consortium. The two cases were tried together. The jury returned a defendant's verdict in the case brought by Mrs. Parker, but returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Parker in his case. This court affirmed the trial Judge's grant of plaintiffs' motions for new trials, holding the judgments to be inconsistent, irreconcilable and illegal. In this case, in order to find in favor of both plaintiffs against both defendants, the jury had to find that both defendants were guilty of certain degrees of negligence which were the proximate cause of the collision and John Barrow's injuries and damages. In returning a verdict in favor of Jessie Hixson against Roy Barrow for the maximum amount allowed under the evidence, the jury, in effect, held that, under the doctrine of comparative negligence, Jessie Hixson was not guilty of any negligence which was the proximate cause of the collision. The same jury simply cannot find Hixson guilty of negligence which is a part of the proximate cause of a collision in one breath and in the next completely exonerate him by returning a maximum verdict in his favor. Such is completely inconsistent and irreconcilable.