Sedlmeyr v. City of Fitzgerald
Sedlmeyr v. City of Fitzgerald
Opinion of the Court
The following is a summary of the material allegations in the petition of the plaintiff, as set forth in the statement of facts made when the case was here before. Petitioner brings suit against the City of Fitzgerald to recover damages on account of the homicide of her 16-year old unmarried son, upon whom she was dependent and who contributed substantially to her support. The defendant owned and operated an electric-light system, and maintained certain electric wires stretched on poles along a designated alley, twenty feet and four inches above and parallel with the ground, which wires on a designated day were heavily charged with electricity. J. J. Terry owned a house, twenty feet high, which he decided to remove to a new location, and in order to do so it was necessary to cross the alley at a designated place. He obtained permission from the defendant through its mayor, “who was authorized to grant such permission,” to move the house across the alley to the new location. - Plaintiff’s son was employed by Terry’s contractor, as a common laborer, to assist in moving the house. In moving the house across the alloy the chimney came in contact with the wires, and it became necessary to lift them over the chimney. The contractor furnished plaintiff’s son with a wooden stick about three feet long, and directed him to go upon the house and lift the wires above the chimney. He proceeded to execute the command, and touched the wires with the stick, releasing them, whereupon they rebounded and came in contact with him, and an electric current passed through his body, killing him
It was held that the petition set forth a cause of action and was not subject to a general demurrer. Sedlmeyr v. Fitzgerald, 140 Ga. 614 (79 S. E. 469). When the case was tried the last time the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. The plaintiff made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled. The motion for a new trial contains the general grounds only, complaining that the verdict was contrary to law and was without evidence to support it. We are of the opinion that the verdict is not without evidence to support it. In the petition,' which was held to be good as against a general demurrer when the case was formerly here, one of the allegations, and a very material one, was that the owner of a house that was being moved across an alley in the City of Fitzgerald had obtained permission from the city through its mayor, “who was authorized to grant such permission,” to move the house across the alley to a new location. On the trial of the case the plaintiff failed to show that the owner had obtained permission from the municipal authorities having control of the streets to move the house across the alley, which would, of course, temporarily obstruct the way. There was some evidence tending to show that the mayor had given permission for the moving of the building across the alley, but there was no evidence to show that the municipality, through its proper authorities, had
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.