Hilley v. Central of Georgia Railway Co.
Hilley v. Central of Georgia Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
The appellant brought suit against defendant railroad company, alleging that she was a passenger on defendant’s train from Opelika, Ala., to Jackson’s Gap, Ala., and that before reaching the.latter station she was negligently misled by defendant’s servants or agents in charge of the train, and thereby caused
There is nothing in the case to lead us to a conclusion that, under the rules of law governing reviewing courts, we should disturb the lower court’s ruling on the motion for a new trial. The plaintiff, it appears, sustained no damages of a character susceptible of a pecuniary measurement in any wise exact, other than the value of the ride, which she lost, from the siding to Jackson’s Gap (about 600 yards). After leaving the train, she was met by her friends and relatives, who, upon finding, when the train arrived at Jackson’s Gap, where they were waiting for her, that she had disembarked at the siding mentioned, proceeded on down the railroad track to meet her and did meet her promptly as she was coming on up the track towards Jackson’s Gap. Whether, in the interim, she suffered mental pain, and whether, as a proximate result, of the exposure, she was subsequently made sick and sore, was a question of fact for the determination of the jury, and, in the event they found that she did, it was likewise peculiarly their province to ascertain the extent of it and to determine the amount of damages to be awarded therefor; since the law furnishes no standard for measuring the damages in such matters, but leaves it largely to the judgment and discretion of the jury. We infer, from the size of the verdict rendered, either that they found that she had sustained neither class of such injuries, or, if otherwise, that they were so slight that the jury were of opinion that nominal damages would be sufficient compensation.
If the fact be that the first stated as an inference that might be drawn from the verdict is the correct one (that is, that the jury found that the plaintiff had suffered neither kind of such injuries), then the rules gov
On the other band, if the fact be that the second stated as an inference that might be drawn from the verdict is the correct one (that is, that the jury, though finding plaintiff bad suffered injury in the two particulars mentioned were of opinion that they were so slight that nominal damages would be adequate compensation), then the rules governing us in reviewing the court’s action in overruling the motion for a new trial based on the ground- that the damages assessed were inadequate are thus stated by our Supreme Court in Central of Ga. Ry. Co. v. White, 175 Ala. 60, 56 South. 574 (quoting approvingly 8 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law, 628) : Where damages are susceptible of pecuniary estimate, and can be assessed with reference .to or even limited by fixed standards and established values, the question of their excessiveness or inadequateness in not usually one of difficulty. But when the damages cannot be estimated in this way the question is not so easily decided. “As the quantum of damages is in such cases a matter of discretion for the jury, the trial court will not set aside a verdict for damages merely because of its opinion that the jury gave too much or too little. And, when a trial court has refused to disturb a verdict on account of the amount of the recovery, the appellate court is very re
Under these rules — whichever way of the two ways mentioned the verdict may be construed — we are not of opinion that there is anything in the evidence that would justify us in reversing the trial court’s action in overruling the motion for a new trial.
The written charge refused to appellant by the court was the affirmative charge. Even if there was error in refusing such charge, it was cured by the verdict of the jury returned, as stated, in plaintiff’s (appellant’s) favor.
For the like reason, any rulings on the evidence adverse to plaintiff, even if erroneous, would be without injury (she having recovered notwithstanding), unless those rulings resulted in the exclusion of evidence that if admitted would have afforded ground for the enhancement of the damages recovered. — Garrett v. Sewell, 108 Ala. 521, 18 South. 737. It cannot, we think, be rationally contended that any of the evidence excluded bore on any issue other than the issue of plaintiff’s right to recover vel non, except the fact, if it be a fact, that plaintiff, recently before the trip, had been in a sanatorium (the proffered proof of which fact was. designed, we presume, to furnish basis for an infer
There is nothing in the case before us to warrant the infliction of punitive damages (Wilkinson v. Searcy, 76 Ala. 176); and, if there was, such fact would not authorize a reversal, as the infliction or not of punitive damages, in cases where the law permits them to be awarded, is a matter exclusively for the jury.
It follows that the judgment appealed from is affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.