Opinion
No. 35154
Decided December 4, 1957.
Motor vehicles — Suit to recover for damage to automobile — Ownership in plaintiff — Proof necessary to sustain judgment for plaintiff.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County.
This action was brought to recover for damages to an automobile resulting from a collision between a streetcar of the defendant and such automobile, while the latter was being operated in the city of Cleveland by plaintiff Veltri. Defendant's motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence was overruled, and the trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for plaintiff. Thereafter, defendant's motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial were overruled.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment.
The allowance of a motion to certify the record brings the cause to this court for review.
Messrs. Payne Hermann, for appellees.
Mr. Robert F. Mooney and Mr. Robert Fletcher, for appellant.
There is no admission in the record as to the ownership of the automobile, and plaintiff failed to offer in evidence any certificate of title or manufacturer's or importer's certificate. Plaintiff contends that, since he was in possession of the automobile, his right to sue and recover for damage to it was not a right that hinged upon proof of title; and that, as apparently held in Pietmeyer v. Omar Baking Co., 95 Ohio App. 37, 117 N.E.2d 184, the possessory right of the driver of an automobile is sufficient to furnish a right to recover for damages to it. However, since the enactment of Section 4505.04, Revised Code, the mere possession of an automobile no longer carries with it any right or interest in that automobile which a court can recognize.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed and final judgment is rendered for defendant under authority of Mielke v. Leeberson, 150 Ohio St. 528, 83 N.E.2d 209, 7 A.L.R. (2d), 1342.
Judgment reversed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, STEWART, BELL, TAFT, MATTHIAS and HERBERT, JJ., concur.