Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad v. Johnson
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
¥e have considered the motion filed by the defendant in error to dismiss the proceedings in error, and conclude that it should be overruled.The principal features of this case are as follows :
On October 27, 1891, the defendant in error and her husband were in a wagon, drawn by a horse and mule, and were going from the south part to the north part of the farm on -which they had resided for three years, to procure a load of cane. The farm was divided by the railroad of the plaintiff in error. They stopped when about sixty rods from the track for a few minutes while Johnson engaged in conversation with another man. The view of the track at this point was obstructed by a high hedge fence. Mrs. Johnson took no part in the conversation and was looking toward the track. The evidence in her behalf tended to prove that she listened for the train and did not hear it approaching; that it came suddenly into sight and frightened the team, which ran directly toward the, railroad track and, turning somewhat from a straight-line, passed around the rear of the train as the train.itself was crossing the highway; that after the team; had run quite a distance the plaintiff was thrown from, the wagon, the fall rendering her unconscious .for some time and causing severe temporary injuries. The horse they were driving belonged to Johnson while the; mule was borrowed from a neighbor. The horse had', no fear of trains, but had once run away, from some-cause. The mule was in the habit of becoming;
■ We have examined the instructions given and those refused, and find that all proper declarations of law in those refused are embodied in the instructions
Complaint is made of the court’s refusal to permitb the defendant below to introduce the testimony given by Mrs. Johnson in a former trial of the case, it being offered for the purpose of contradicting her. later testimony. The record shows that when she was testifying in her own behalf, in rebuttal, on cross-examination, she stated that she was sitting facing the track and did not recollect just what her mind was on at the moment the train came in sight. The evidence offered and refused was after she had made this statement, and tended to show that she had testified in the former trial that she-was not thinking about the train until she saw it. The court stenographer was also called to testify concerning the same point from the notes of Mrs. Johnson’s former testimony. At that stage of the trial the evidence offered was scarcely proper, and the court’s refusal to admit it was not material error.
• When the defendant in error there sought to remit the eighty dollars which the jury had allowed for mental anguish, counsel for the railroad’company insisted -that the- court should render judgment upon the verdict or grant a new trial. Accordingly the court overruled the application to remit and after overruling the motion for a new trial, entered judgment for the entire amount of tide verdict. . However, as this allowance was clearly'unauthorized, we shall direct a modification of the judgment. The judgment of the district court will be modified by ordering 'the defendant in error to remit therefrom the sum of eighty dollars, and it is affirmed as to the remainder thereof. The costs in this court will be divided.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.