Cummings v. Railway Mail Ass'n
Cummings v. Railway Mail Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
— I. The error points and brief points are in compliance with rule, and are not affected by what we held in State v. Burley, 181 Iowa 981; McNamara v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 183 Iowa 577; Snyder v. Heuer, 184 Iowa 538; and Loving v. Atlantic So. R. Co., 184 Iowa 435.
II. Our decision must depend upon whether we agree with the following statement made by appellee :
The jury could in reason believe that, while decedent was not a well man for years preceding his fall, he was, at the time of the fall, in better condition than he had been for a long time prior; that, before his fall, he needed no help to get out of bed, but afterwards, this was no longer true; that before, he walked without assistance, while afterward, he could not walk without it; that, a month before the fall, he played ball, and after the fall, he was, as said, unable to as much as get out of bed or walk, without help; that before, he never complained of his back, while afterwards, he had constant pain there: could find that a chiropractor attended, the day after the fall, and found a misalignment of the lumbar vertebra; and that there was a bruise on the back, close to the spine. And there were still other changes in condition which the jury might reasonably find.
This, in effect, was the state of the evidence when the court overruled motion to direct a verdict for defendant. And we hold it did not err in overruling the motion at that time. Under the said rule as to the treatment of evidence in favor of one against whom a directed verdict is asked, we are of opinion that, when the testimony for the plaintiff closed, the jury might reasonably have found that the death was caused by the fall; and that it might have applied the rule that, where something appears that can have caused a death, and other adequate cause for it is not made to appear, it may be found that the cause appearing to which the death might be due was the cause of it. See George v. Iowa & S. W. R. Co., 183 Iowa 994.
III. Ordinarily, if plaintiff has enough to go to the jury, the case remains for the jury, no matter what evidence the defendant puts in. But, of course, this statement has its limitations, and counter testimony may be so conclusive as to demand a directed verdict against the party having the burden, when all the evidence is in, though such verdict was not warranted at the time when plaintiff closed. Have we here such a case? It is true physicians produced by defendant testified that they
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.