Citations
- 131 S.W.2d 165
Full opinion text
WALKER, Chief Justice.
This suit was brought by appellee, Willie Thomas Martin, a minor, by his father, L. A. Martin, as next friend, against appellant, Ed Holder, for damages for personal injuries sustained by him on the 11th day of October, 1937, while riding in a school bus of the Leggett Independent School District; appellant was the driver of the bus. On a trial to a jury, he was convicted of negligence, as charged by ap-pellee in his petition, and appellee’s damages were assessed at $4,750. Appellant has duly prosecuted his appeal to this court from the judgment rendered against him in favor of appellee on the verdict of the jury.
No attack is made on the jury’s findings, convicting appellee of negligence. Appellant assigns error that the verdict, in the sum of $4,750, was excessive. We overrule this assignment without reviewing the evidence. It is sufficient to say that the evidence overwhelmingly supports the amount of damages assessed against appellant.
Appellant was one of the school bus drivers of Leggett Independent School District, and also a farmer. The record indicates that he was a poor man. One of appellant’s attorneys, on the voir dire examination «f the jury, asked one of the jurors, in the presence and hearing of the entire panel, whether he would be prejudiced against appellant because members of the Board of Trustees of Leggett Independent School District “were down here interested in the case”; he also asked one of the jurors, in the presence and hearing of the others, whether he would be prejudiced against appellant or -the Board of Trustees because they “had seen fit to go to Houston and employ Mr. Gresham to assist him in the case.” On this statement, the following proceedings did not constitute error:
(a) While appellant was on the witness stand, appellee’s counsel asked him whether he had ever been in Mr. Gresham’s office in Houston, to which appellant answered, “No, sir.” On appellant’s exception that the question suggested to the jury “that an insurance company, or someone else, not a party to the suit, and not the defendant, would have to pay-the judgment the plaintiff might recover against the defendant”, the court struck out the question and the answer.
(b) On their voir dire examination, ap-pellee’s counsel asked one member of the jury panel, in the presence and hearing