Scholwin v. Wilbanks
Scholwin v. Wilbanks
Opinion of the Court
The petition as amended does not entitle the plaintiff to the recovery of the damages sought. While a carrier owes to his passenger the duty of protecting him from insult, injury, and mortification, the carrier is not liable where the passenger is arrested by a sheriff under a valid process. See Bright v. Central of Ga. Ry. Co., 12 Ga. App. 364 (77 S. E. 372); Baldwin v. Seaboard Air Line Ry., 128 Ga. 567 (58 S. E. 35); Brunswick & W. R. Co. v. Ponder, 117 Ga. 63 (43 S. E. 430, 60 L.R.A. 713, 97 Am. St. R. 152). The fact that the ticket agent of the defendant carrier at Eastman had a personal grievance against the plaintiff and, after the plaintiff had purchased his ticket to Miami, telephoned the sheriff as to the whereabouts of the plaintiff, so that the sheriff could serve a warrant taken out by the ticket agent against the plaintiff earlier that day, does not render the carrier liable where the act of the agent in calling the sheriff was purely a personal one, and the carrier had no interest therein, one way or the other.
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant Wilbanks acted wilfully and wantonly, and that the plaintiff is entitled to punitive damages. The fact that the plaintiff alleges that the defendant Wilbanks had no reason to cause the plaintiff’s arrest, and acted wantonly and wilfully, does not alter the case. The plaintiff’s right of action, if any he had, for false imprisonment or malicious prosecution, for an arrest under an apparently valid warrant but illegally obtained, and where the plaintiff has been acquitted of the charges against him, was disclaimed by the plaintiff in paragraph 16 of the petition. He states that he is not bringing a suit for malicious prosecution, but is bringing
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.