Jose R. Mass v. Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc.

577 F.2d 665 Jose R. MASS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. BRASWELL MOTOR FREIGHT LINES, INC., Defendant-Appellant. No. 77-1162. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. July 5, 1978. Robert Nash, Los Angeles, Cal. (appeared), of Spray, Gould & Bowers, Orange, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Newton Kalman (appeared), of Caidin, Kalman & Sampsen, Beverly Hills, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before TRASK and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges, and SOLOMON, * District Judge. PER CURIAM: 1 Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc. (Braswell) appeals from an adverse judgment based on a jury verdict which granted appellee Jose Mass $18,229.87 under the Motor Carrier Act, 49 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., for the loss of a carton of valuable movie posters. 2 Braswell contends that the district court erred when it ruled as a matter of law that: 3 (1) Mass did not mislead Braswell about the contents of the carton in order to obtain a low freight rate;(2) Mass was not bound by the exclusion from liability provision in Braswell's bill of lading; and 4 (3) Braswell was a common carrier. 5 Mass was a designer of movie…