Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Baldwin
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Baldwin
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court:
The defendant filed an answer, denying the negligence-charged, and alleged that the cattle were shipped under special contracts in all respects similar to those set up in the answer of the defendant in the preceding case between the same parties, and alleged facts the purpose of which was to present the same defenses set up in that case under the contracts pleaded. To this answer the plaintiffs, filed a replication similar to the one in the preceding- case.
At the trial one of the issues was whether the shipment had been made under the special contracts set out in the answer or under on oral agreement. As the judgment must "be reversed for a reason which in no manner involves that question of fact, or the defenses interposed under the special contracts, we shall not -discuss any of- -these questions.
The original complaint was filed June 12, 1902, wherein it was charged that by reason of alleged negligence on the part of the defendant,- seventy-eight head of the cattle died and the remainder, seven hundred and eighty, were badly damaged; and that the damages, so sustained amounted to the sum of $3,387.00. On June 25th, 1903, an amended complaint was filed, which set out the acts of negligence more in detail;'and alleged that because of such negligence seventy-eight head' of the cattle died,' and the remainder, seven hundred and eighty ’in number, were badly injured, and that the value of the cattle which died was $1,350, and the damages sustained by reason
Based on this amendment, the court rendered judgment for more than three 'times the amount originally claimed; that is, rendered judgment in the sum of $11,040.00. This was clearly error. Considerable liberality should be exercised in allowing a complaint to be amended during a trial so as to correspond with the proof bearing on the subject of the quantum of damages, but this should not be permitted to the evident prejudice of the defendant. The amendment in question was not offered or made until many months after the trial had closed. The ad damnum was not only increased, but by the amendment the averments of the complaint upon which the increase was based, were changed. The excess damages based upon the increased number of cattle claimed to have died, as charged in the complaint, as well as increasing the value per head as originally charged, from about $17.30 to between $28.00 and $30.00, and also claiming damages for the cattle injured,
But there is a further reason from which it appears that the amendment was improvidently allowed. When the original complaint was filed, nearly all the cattle which there is any testimony to show had died, were then dead, and had been for almost one year, while when the first amended complaint was filed, all the cattle claimed h> have died had been dead for more than two years. The plaintiffs must be presumed to have know these facts when the amended complaint was filed in June, 1903, and certainly knew them when the •case was on trial; so that the record discloses there was no reason presented by plaintiffs which would justify the court in permitting an amendment months after the trial had closed, and on the eve of the court pronouncing judgment.
But, waiving the act of the court in allowing the amendment at the time it did, the record discloses that in no circumstances can a, judgment in the sum rendered be sustained. Fvidently the court rendered judgment upon the assumption that the testimony established the death of 552 head, worth’ the sum of $20.00 per head. The testimony disclosed, with
Among the cattle which died were twenty-six head which,, under the allegations of the complaint and the testimony, cannot be the subject of damages. Thirteen of these died September 12th, and thirteen September 14th, while in transit or in the stockyards of the defendant company. This was before La Junta was reached. According to the averments of the complaint, injury to the cattle was. occasioned by delajrsbefore La Junta was reached; but the evidence establishes there w?as no unnecessary delay up to that point. There is evidence on the part of plaintiffs to the effect that thirteen head of the cattle were thrown down when the train rounded a curve, and that thirteen head had been injured in the pens when unloaded for feed and water, by the negligence of an employe of the defendant compand; but this testimony was not competent to fix responsibility upon the defendant for the .twenty-six head so injured, which, it is claimed, caused them to die, because no such claim as that was made in the complaint. The allegata and probala must correspond.
The judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. On proper application the
Decision en banc.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I cannot agree with the majority opinion in this case. 'The able counsel for appellant has not attempted to cite a .single case, from this court, to the effect that the amendment allowed was improper, or that judgment should not have been •entered thereon; in face of the fact that counsel gave no reason to the trial court for their objections to the allowance of this amendment, or claimed surprise, or asked leave to answer it, or to be allowed further time within which to meet it, or within which to offer proof in rebuttal to that already submitted by the plaintiff, showing the increased amount of the .ad damnum, or that it be allowed upon terms, and suggesting them, which, if made, would unquestionably have been allowed. In the absence of any such requests or indications of any kind as to any desire to have anything done, or to do anything other than making the bare objection, which was •evidently done solely and entirely for the purpose of securing a reversal in this court, under this state of the record, the •amendment being eminently proper under the provisions of •our code and being sustained by former decisions of this court, as I view it, there was nothing left for the trial court to >do,'but to grant it, and enter its findings and judgment upon the pleadings as they then stood, and as the facts had been •established.
The majority opinion recognizes the right and justness of this amendment and expressly states that on proper application the parties should be permitted to amend their pleadings as they may be advised, which certainly means hereafter, and, as it appears to me, it would bé just as consistent for the
Courts are created for the purpose of trying the real merits of contentions which, unfortunately, do and probably always will arise between citizens, but not for the purpose of preventing- the disposition of such contentions through the practice of technicalities. Counsel for the appellant are of such recognized ability that they need no aid or suggestions from any trial court in order to- protect the rights of their clients in, any litigation, and if there was any reason why this amendment should not have been allowed, it was their duty to have embodied that fact in their objections to it, when-made. But, as the record discloses, the only reason given is “objection by defendant.” After the granting of the motion to amend, the exception reads, as follows, “to the granting of which leave and the filing- of which amendment, the defendant, by its counsel, then and there duly objected and excepted.” A new trial was not requested at the time this amendment was allowed or any time not even after the judgment was rendered. Under these circumstances, I do not think it was prejudicial error in allowing this amendment to be filed, and in the entering of the judgment, and there has been no case of this court cited in the majority opinion so holding. By the amendment, no new cause of action was stated; a recover}/ had without the amendment would be a bar
In the case of Good et al. v. Martin, 1 Colo. 406, this court said:
“The power of courts to allow pleadings to be amended is pretty well established, and certainly cannot be denied at this day. * * *•
Authorities to support the action of the court below in allowing the ad damnum to be increased are not wanting. * * * If a new cause for action or substantive fact should be added to the declaration by amendment, the right of the defendant to meet the new case with a new defense would seem to be unquestioháFle. In this case, however, the amendment introduced no new fact into the declaration. The facts upon which appellant’s liability was founded were set out in the declaration as originally framed, and appellee did nothing more than to increase the amount of her demand upon those facts. Appellants were as well informed of the nature of the action against them before the amendment as afterward,, and it is difficult to see upon what ground the claim to change the defense, after the amendment, can rest. At all events, in the absence of any showing as to the necessity for making a new defense after the amendment, the granting or refusing leave to plead anew was in the discretion of the court below, of which appellants cannot complain in this court.”
In Sellars et al. v. Clelland et al. 2 Colo. 532, this court said:
*434 j-;;“^a^iien:(hiients-may, be made,in. the complaint.with_ thg •leave'-.of the .court after- trial begun, if. the amendment does jnot;a-dd a new cause of ^action so as to.injure the.defendants.”
In the case of Lebanon M. Co. v. Con. Rep. M. Co., 6 Colo. at page 373, this court said:
-. ,-“A-liberal allowance of amendments to the pleadings, in cases .of- this nature, due regard bejng had. for the .rights of each party .litigant, would often conduce to the furtherance .of justice. It is probable that most of the rejected testimony would have been adjudged admissiblé by the court ¡ below, upder the amended complaint, if the filing of.the same had been permitted. It is of the1 highest importance in trials involving the determination of valuable rights, that the pleadings of .the parties should be formal and sufficient, so- as to present the substantial issues to be tried. The legislature-has made ample provision for the making of necessary amendments!'to 'all- pleadings, vesting the authority for'its exercise ■in the' presiding judge, and the best interests of suitors will be advanced and much valuable time saved by a generous but wise exercise of the discretion.”
Since the rendition of these-decisions, our present code of- 1887 was adopted. Section 75 thereof reads, 'in 'part, as follows: ' •
“The court may, on motion, in furtherance of justice and oh- Such terms as may be proper, amend any pleading or' proceeding,- adding or striking out the name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a mistake in any other respect, and may, upon like terms, enlarge the time 'for ah answer, replication or demurrer. The court may likewise, upoh affidavit showing good cause therefor, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon such terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading or proceeding in'any other particular.”
Since the adoption of the code of 1887, in Saint v. Guerrerio, 17 Colo, at page 450, in commenting- .Tipoh this subject, this court said: -'■■■
*435 “The power to allow amendments is necessarily intrusted, in a large degree, to the discretion of the trial court, and should be liberally exercised in furtherance of justice. Code, sec. 75.”
In Miller v. Thorpe, 4 Colo. App. at page 561, it is said:
“The appellants are quite right in their claim that the power which the code gives to the court to permit amendments should be broadly and generously exercised to further the interests and protect the rights of litigants.”
In. the case of Davis v. Johnson, 4 Colo. App. at page 550, where the amendment was granted after the submission of the evidence, the court said:
■ “It is further objected that the amendment was permitted without cause shown. It is recited in defendant Johnson's bill of exceptions that after the conclusion of the testimony, and after argument by counsel, the court, without any cause shown, granted leave to the plaintiff to amend his complaint so as to conform with the proof adduced at the trial, with leave, to the defendants to answer should a new cause of action be -stated in the amendment. In support of this obj ection counsel rely upon section 78 of the civil code. That section provides that the ■ court shall in every stage of. an action, disregard any error or defect in the pleadings or proceedings which shall not affect the substantial rights of the. parties, and that no judgment shall be reversed or affected by reason of such error or defect; and that, if, upon the trial of an action before the court or jury, the evidence shall vary from the allegations of the pleadings, and either party is surprised thereby, he shall be allowed, on motion, and showing cause therefor, and on such terms as the court may prescribe, to amend his pleadings to conform to the proofs. Technically, in such a-case,-cause should be shown; but in this instance, it-was -not required by the court. The amendment was not resisted on the ground that cause was not shown, and the court perhaps. deemed the cause sufficiently apparent without a formal showing. The granting of leave to- amend is within
In the case of Harris v. Harris, 9 Colo. App. at page 216, it is said: “And by the code the power to amend continues until after the evidence is concluded, enabling a party to make his pleadings conform to the facts proved.”
In the case of Johnson v. Johnson, 30 Colo, page 402, it was held that the court has authority to grant leavq fo amend any pleading or proceeding in any cause, before final judgment, so long as it retains jurisdiction of the cause, in which case the amendment was allowed after the return of the verdict of the jury. This ruling was affirmed by this court.
In the case of Jordan et al. v. Grieg, 33 Colo. 360, it was held, where, after hearing the evidence, the court, upon motion of plaintiff reopened the case for the hearing of further testimony, and continued it until the next term, and the court further ordered that the plaintiff be allowed to file an amended complaint based upon the evidence heard, that it was not error to allow such amendment without a motion and affidavit showing good cause therefor; that the allowance of the amendment was within the sound discretion of the court and where the adverse party was not prejudiced and is given ample opportunity to meet its allegations the allowance of such amendment was not grounds for reversal. -
In the case of Klippel et al. v. Oppenstein, 8 Colo. App. 187, it was held that the granting or refusing of amendments to pleadings rests almost entirely in the discretion of the trial court, and will not be reversed unless there was an abuse of discretion and injustice done. Practically the same language is used in the case of Cascade Ice Company v. Water Company, 23 Colo. 292. To the same effect is, Buno v. Gomer, 3 Colo. App. 456; Hyman v. The Jockey Club etc. Co., 9 Colo. App. 299; Gambrill et al. v. The Brown Hotel Co., 11 Colo. App. 529.
It is further stated in the majority opinion as a reason why the last amendment should not have been granted that by it the ad damnum was not only increased, but the averments of the complaint upon which the increase was based were changed; that the excess damages are based upon the increase number of cattle claimed to have died as charged in the complaint, as well as increasing the value per head, as originally charged, and also' in claiming damages for the cattle injured, but which did not die, for which reasons the opinion concludes that these matters were not issues in the case when it was tried, or when submitted to the court for judgment; that the defendant was thus deprived of an opportunity to controvert them or take issue on the number of cattle which died, their value as changed by t'he amendment, and the extent of the injury for those which did not die, as presented by the amendment; for these reasons it is stated, the amendment, if allowed at all, should only have been upon terms, one of which at least should have been that the plaintiff submit to a new trial. As previously stated, the defendant should not have been granted something which it did not ask for. At no time in the proceedings of this case is it disclosed by the record that the defendant asked for a new trial, not even after the final judgment was rendered. From this record it is quite evident that a new trial is what it did not want. To my mind it is very evident that that is the one thing that the defendant was fighting at all times to evade, to-wit, a trial upon the merits, but I cannot agree with the conclusion that the amendment in any manner changed the issues or presented' a new cause of action. The complaint as it stood when the evidence was admitted, after stating the acts which caused the damage, among other things, alleged, that by rea
I also disagree with the majority opinion in its conclusion that the amount of the judgment was not proper. The evidence is overwhelming to the many acts of negligence which caused the damage. This is not seriously disputed. To my mind the record does not establish that the court rendered judgment upon the assumption that the testimony established the death of five hundred fifty-two head, worth the sum of $20 per head. The trial court did not so- state, and the record does not disclose that he rendered his judgment upon the basis of damage for only those which had died. The defendant did not see fit to introduce any evidence, hence the test is whether the record discloses evidence sufficient to sustain the findings. I think when considered in its entirety, it is sufficient for this purpose.
Mr. Harper, who accompanied the cattle, testified that he had intended purchasing them, to be delivered to him in Kansas; that there were eight hundred fifty-eight head; that he had had much experience in taking care of cattle on trains; that the condition óf these cattle when loaded at Holbrook, Arizona, was good; that twenty-six head died before reaching La Junta; that about one-half of them were down before they reached Scott City; that he did not buy the cattle for the reason they were not in a fit condition to buy; that he could not handle them; that when unloaded at Scott City there were fifty-four more that were dead and down, which they could not do anything with at all, and others were crippled up; that they did not seem to eat or drink; that they were not in a fit condition to sell or do anything with whatever; that others died within the next few days. Then follows the portion of this testimony from which it is assumed that only two hundred thirty-one head in all died, he was asked, “Have you any memorandum that you made at the time by which you can tell just how many of these cattle died at different times?” He commenced to answer as follows, “Yes sir, September
Mr. C. O'. Howe, one of the plaintiffs, testified to his knowledge of values and that the value of these cattle at Scott City, Kansas, had .they been delivered there within the usual time required, when properly fed and watered, would have been from $25 to $28 per head. While Mr. Harper, a disinterested witness, gave the value at $28 to $30 per head, so that assuming that only one hundred thirty-one head had (died, as contended for by the appellant, at $28 per head, this would have made $6,268; this left six hundred twenty-seven head, which the undisputed* testimony shows were, in their then condition, not worth over $15 per head, or were damaged to the extent of $13 per head, a total of $8,151; add to this the $6,268 for those which died, as admitted by the company, and we have a total of $14,419 clearly established by the evidence, and still a greater amount by the testimony of Mr. Harper; yet the court only gave judgment for $11,040, nearly $3,000 less than he could have done, and yet been within the limits of undisputed testimony. I think where there is competent evidence to thus sustain the findings of the trial court it is proper to assume that he based his judgment upon such findings, instead of assuming that it was upon another theory, which is not so clearly sustained. To assume that the judgment is based solely for the damage occasioned by the death of a certain number is to entirely disregard the evidence of the damage to those which survived this treatment, and some of which ultimately recovered. This evidence was both competent and material,' and I find no support in any authorities cited for disregarding it. Again, to assume that the judgment was based upon the death of five hundred fifty-two cattle at $20 per head is to asspme that the court arbitrarily fixed the damage at $20 per head, when there is no evidence that this was the amount of damage for each; no witness so testified or even estimated it at that amount. The
The fact that Mr. C. O. Howe testified that during the next spring and summer following they sold some of them for $40 per head, is no evidence that they were not damaged in September to the extent testified to by Mr. Harper. This Mr. Howe did not see these cattle in Kansas during- the fall or winter, and he stated that he knew nothing about their condition at that time, and did not pretend to state the condition they were-then in; all he knew about it was from his ■examination of the hides of those which had died, and his personal observation of those still living, when examined by him during the following spring- and summer.
The evidence discloses that the plaintiffs lost the sale of them at that time upon account of their injuries, and that they were put to a large expense in keeping them over the fall, winter and spring, and also in' getting- any of them 'fit for a market during the coming season, and I am unable to appreciate the correctness of the majority opinion in this respect, when it states that there was no- damage to those living for the reason that some of the steers were in good enough condition so that they sold for $40 per head during the following spring and summer. As I view it, the test was the damage to these cattle at the time of this shipment, and the result thereof.' The evidence ivas clear, convincing,- and undisputed, upon this question, and I think should have been given the weight to which it ivas entitled.
I am also of the opinion that the loss of the twenty-six head which died upon September 12th and 13th while in transit or in the stock yards of the defendant company before La Junta was reached, is proper to be considered in fixing the measure of damages. I also disagree with the statement that the evidence fails to establish that there ivas’ no unnecessary delays up to that point.
The complaint specifically alleges these delays, likewise allowing them to stand in the cars at different stations for
It will be observed that this testimony had reference to conditions prior to reaching La Junta. It was also shown that cattle stand such trips better when the cars are kept running than when they stand still. Certainly, testimony upon these subjects was competent to sustain the allegations of the complaint, and to fix the responsibility upon the defendant for the loss of the twenty-six head, which acts of the defendant it is claimed caused them to die. Under this pleading, supported by this line of evidence, I am unable to find any justification for the rejection of the claim for the twenty-six head which died prior to reaching La Junta and I think it is beyond, even any technical rule, when applied to these facts, to hold that in this respect the allegata and probata did not correspond.
Reference
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- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. D. P. Baldwin
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