Florida District Courts of Appeal, 1967

Turman v. Florida East Coast Railway Co.

Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided February 14, 1967 · Andrews, Lee, McDonald, Walden

195 So. 2d 604; 1967 Fla. App. LEXIS 5364 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

Box v. South Georgia Railway Company (5th Cir. 1970)
Box v. South Georgia Railway Co. (5th Cir. 1970)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, Betty Turman, widow of Harley E. Turman, Jr., appeals a judgment entered upon a jury verdict for the defendant, Florida East Coast Railway Company, in an action for wrongful death of her husband arising out of a railroad crossing accident.

The accident occurred on June 1, 1962. The suit was filed on October 4, 1963. The trial of the case before the court began- on July 6, 1965. The judgment was entered on July 14, 1965. The decision of the Supreme Court holding unconstitutional the comparative negligence statute, F.S.A. § 768.06, was filed on May 12, 1965. Georgia Southern & Florida Ry. Co. v. Seven Up Bottling Co., Fla.1965, 175 So.2d 39.

The trial judge refused the request of the plaintiff that the jury be instructed on the comparative negligence *605statute, F.S.A. § 768.06. This ruling was correct. A trial judge must apply the law as it exists at the time of trial.

The plaintiff urges this court to hold that the decision in Georgia Southern & Florida Ry. Co. v. Seven Up Bottling Co., supra, applies only to actions for property damage. The Supreme Court held F.S.A. § 768.06 invalid in its entirety. Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Rouse, Fla.1967, 194 So.2d 260.

Affirmed.

WALDEN, C. J., ANDREWS, J., and McDONALD, PARKER LEE, Associate Judge, concur.

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