Whitmer v. Marcum

Beverly I. Whitmer appeals from an adverse judgment rendered in his suit for damages arising out of a collision between his automobile and a tractor-trailer driven by defendant’s deceased, Fred Roy Marcum. We granted a writ of error solely to determine if the trial judge erred in submitting to the jury an instruction based on the “dead man” statute, Code § 8-286.

The accident occurred on the night of October 16, 1968, at the intersection of Routes 7 and 28 near Leesburg. Whitmer, a Virginia state trooper, was seriously injured and Marcum was killed in the accident.

Whitmer testified that just…