Sambuck v. Southern Pacific Co.
Sambuck v. Southern Pacific Co.
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff brought this action for damages for personal injuries of a permanent nature received in a collision and train wreck while traveling as a 'passenger on defendant’s railroad train. On a trial with a jury, plaintiff had a verdict and judgment for $6,000. The defendant appeals from said judgment and from an order denying it a new trial.
1. The principal contention of appellant is based on an alleged error of the court in refusing to compel the plaintiff to submit his body to an examination, on motion of appellant. Conceding that the plaintiff refused to permit an inspection of his person at the trial, and for the purposes of the argument that the court erred in refusing to order him to submit, yet we think it is plain, from the record before us, that defendant was not injured thereby. The most that such an inspection could disclose in aid of defendant would have been to establish the fact that there was no external evidence of any injury; but this fact was subsequently fully established, and without conflict, by one of plaintiff’s own witnesses. W. .R. Congdon, the doctor who was still treating plaintiff at the time of the trial, testified that he examined him about the 5th or 6th of December, 1899, which was more than eleven weeks
2. There is some substantial evidence tending to show that plaintiff’s injuries were not slight, but severe, and of a permanent nature, and this evidence prevents us from saying that as a matter of law the verdict for $6,000 is excessive.
3. The rule that an injury to a passenger in a railroad collision is presumed in the first instance to be the result of the carrier’s negligence is well established in this state. It is equally well established that, to rebut the presumption of negligence arising from a collision, the defendant must affirmatively show, where a passenger is plaintiff, that the collision
The judgment and order appealed from are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SAMBUCK v. SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Damages for Personal Injuries — Examination of Plaintiff’s Person.—Where, in an action for injuries, plaintiff’s physician testified that on examination there were no objective signs of injury on Ms body, and no bruises, and that his injuries were subjective, rather than objective, and defendant’s physician had thoroughly examined plaintiff, and fully detailed his condition, as a witness, defendant was not prejudiced by the court’s refusal to compel plaintiff to submit to an examination of his person at the trial. Carrier of Passengers—Presumption of Negligence.—In an action for injuries to a passenger from a railroad collision, it- is presumed in the first instance that the collision was the result of the carrier’s negligence, to rebut which defendant must affirmatively show that the collision was the result of inevitable casualty, or of some cause which human care and foresight could not prevent. Carrier of Passengers—Liability for Slight Negligence.—In an action for injuries to a passenger, the carrier is liable for the slightest negligence.