Opinion
The court concluded, on conflicting evidence and its own observation of the premises, that the plaintiff failed to prove that the claimed damage to her house was caused by the defendant's blasting operations. Since the trier determines the question of credibility and since the finding was not subject to correction, the conclusions of the court could not be disturbed.
Argued February 8, 1967
Decided March 8, 1967
Action to recover damages for injury to property, alleged to have been caused by the defendant's blasting operations, brought to the Court of Common Pleas for the judicial district of Waterbury and tried to the court, Wall, J.; judgment for the defendant and appeal by the plaintiff. No error.
Walter R. Griffin, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Kevin T. Gormley, with whom, on the brief, were Martin E. Gormley and Gerald P. Dwyer, for the appellee (defendant).
In this action the plaintiff sought to recover for damage, consisting mainly of plaster and mortar cracks, claimed to have been caused to her house and its appurtenances by the defendant's blasting operations. On conflicting evidence, and after inspecting the premises, the court rendered judgment for the defendant. In this appeal from the judgment the plaintiff claims that the court "failed to give the proper weight to the testimony" of her witnesses.
We do not retry the facts or pass upon the credibility of the witnesses. Triano v. Brodowy, 151 Conn. 445, 446, 199 A.2d 164. The trial court determines the credibility of the witnesses. Jarrett v. Jarrett, 151 Conn. 180, 181, 195 A.2d 430. The plaintiff assigns no error in the trial court's conclusion that the defendant's witnesses were more credible and trustworthy than her own.
The plaintiff seeks no correction of the subordinate facts found by the court. Consequently they cannot be changed. Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. v. Sciortino, 138 Conn. 690, 692, 88 A.2d 379. Instead, she would have us add to the finding the fact that her husband and two other witnesses observed no cracks until after the blasting. A fact cannot be added to a finding merely because it is not contradicted. Shakro v. Haddad, 149 Conn. 160, 162, 177 A.2d 221. Moreover, the court has found the uncontested fact that the plaintiff's husband had repaired various cracks in the house a year or two before the blasting.
The court's observation of the premises is evidence supplementing that offered through witnesses in the case. Houston v. Highway Commissioner, 152 Conn. 557, 558, 210 A.2d 176. From the conflicting testimony and its own observations the court has found subordinate facts which fully support its conclusions, the basic one being that the plaintiff failed to prove that the blasting caused the claimed damage.