Myrtle Mary Miller, Infant by Edward Miller Her Guardian Ad Litem, and Edward Miller, Individually v. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, 241 F.2d 116, 2d Cir. (1957)

241 F.
2d 116
Myrtle Mary MILLER, Infant by Edward Miller her Guardian

ad
Litem, and Edward Miller, Individually,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
The DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA AND WESTERN
RAILROAD COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 197, Docket 24315.
United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued Jan. 23, 1957.
Decided Feb. 14, 1957.
John Francis Noonan, Rochester, N.Y., for plaintiff-appellants.

Sayles & Evans, and Pierre W. Evans, Elmira, N.Y., for defendantappellee.
Before CLARK, Chief Judge, and LUMBARD and WATERMAN,
Circuit Judges.
LUMBARD, Circuit Judge.
The guardian and father of a nine year old girl sues on behalf of himself and his
daughter for injuries which the child sustained when she was struck by a Diesel
locomotive on the railroad's right of way near Perkinsville, New York. The
railroad is a Pennsylvania corporation and was sued in the federal court because
of diversity of citizenship.
There is substantial evidence in the record from which the jury could have
found these facts: Accompanied by her brother, Myrtle Miller was walking
along the eastbound track journeying from her home westward toward
Perkinsville, N.Y. The freight train which struck the child had just left a siding
traveling on the westbound track at a speed of about 5 miles per hour. When
she saw the train approaching, the girl attempted to cross the tracks in front of it
while it was only 20 feet away. She tripped on the outside rail and the freight
struck her leg.
3
Testimony was introduced to show that because of the construction of the

Diesel locomotive the engineer would be unable to see anyone of the girl's size
for a distance of 50 feet from the front of the locomotive.
This appeal is based on several grounds: That the verdict is not supported by
the evidence; that the trial judge committed error in his charge; and that the
plaintiff's motion for a new trial should have been granted because two jurors
were guilty of concealment in not relating, when questioned on the voir dire,
that their fathers were retired New York Central employees.
That the evidence supported the verdict of the jury is too clear to require further
comment.
Nor do we find error in the charge of the district judge for it correctly stated the
applicable law of New York regarding the duty which the railroad owed to
Myrtle Miller under the circumstances. Clearly the infant was a trespasser,
Zambardi v. South Brooklyn Ry. Co., 1939, 281 N.Y. 516, 24 N.E.2d 312, and
the only duty which the railroad owed her was to abstain from affirmative acts
of negligence. Mayer v. Temple Properties, 1954, 307 N.Y. 559, 122 N.E.2d
909. And the 'Last Clear Chance' doctrine, contrary to appellant's contention,
would be inapplicable unless the jury found that the engineer had actual
knowledge, or negligence so reckless as to betoken indifference to knowledge
of the infant's danger at a time when the accident could have been averted.
Chadwick v. City of New York, 1950, 301 N.Y. 176, 93 N.E.2d 625;
Kumkumian v. City of New York, 1953, 305 N.Y. 167, 111 N.E.2d 865.
In any event, since the appellants lodged only the most general objection to the
charge, not specifying their reason for it then, nor making their position known
to the district judge at any other time, Rule 51 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., would preclude them from raising these issues here.
In support of his motion for a new trial, the plaintiff's attorney submitted his
own affidavit in which he claimed that he had asked the prospective jurors
whether any members of their families were or ever had been employed by any
railroad company. On the other hand, two of the defendant's attorneys swore
that the examination of the jurors had related only to relatives who were
employed by the Lackawanna Railroad. Judge Burke in his decision denying
the motion expressly found that the two jurors were not guilty of concealment
or evasion in answering questions propounded to them by plaintiff's counsel.
Where no stenographic record was made of what transpired, we must give
controlling weight to the trial judge's decision on the conflicting affidavits.
Federal Practice, Moore (2d ed.) Vol. 6 59.15(4) p. 3913; cf. also United
States v. Johnson, 1946, 327 U.S. 106, 111 et seq., 66 S.Ct. 464, 90 L.Ed. 562.
9
Affirmed.

Myrtle Mary Miller, Infant by Edward Miller Her Guardian Ad Litem, and Edward Miller, Individually v. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, 241 F.2d 116, 2d Cir. (1957)

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241 F.

Myrtle Mary MILLER, Infant by Edward Miller her Guardian

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

John Francis Noonan, Rochester, N.Y., for plaintiff-appellants.

Testimony was introduced to show that because of the construction of the

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