City of Holton v. Hicks
City of Holton v. Hicks
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This action was brought in the district court of Jackson county by Maggie M. Hicks against the city of Holton to recover damages for personal injuries which she alleged she had sustained by
The amended petition alleged that the sidewalk in •question was about twelve feet wide, constructed many years before by parties unknown to plaintiff; that there was an area way underneath the sidewalk constructed about the same time; that coal holes or openings were constructed in said sidewalk, which were covered by movable trap-doors; that the trapdoor in question was supported by cleats of wood nailed underneath; that the walk and trap-door had been in use many years, had become rotten, defective, and unsafe, and that the cleats had become rotten, defective, and unsafe ; that at the time the sidewalk, trap-doors and area way were constructed the city knew of their construction, knew tlie manner of their construction, and knew that the supports, trap-doors and walk had become rotten, defective, and unsafe ; that the city had actual notice of the defects in the walk, trap-doors, and supports thereto, and that the defects had existed for such'time that by the exercise of reasonable diligence said defects could have been discovered and remedied; that the walk in question was one of the principal traveled walks in the city; that her injuries were such that she was compelled to keep her bed for a period of about six weeks thereafter ; that she was permanently injured, rendered incapable of performing her household duties, and was permanently crippled; that she suffered great bodily pain ; that she had been compelled to expend for medical assistance $130, and had expended for nurses in her sickness $50 ; and that by reason of her injuries she suffered great pain in body' and mind, and had sustained damages in the sum of $5183.
The answer of the defendant was (1) a general de
The plaintiff replied, admitting the passage and taking effect .of three ordinances as alleged, and denying all other allegations of the answer except such as were in plaintiff’s petition alleged or admitted to be true.
The jury returned a general verdict in favor of the plaintiff; the defendant filed‘its motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and the court rendered judgment against the defendant city for $1500 and costs. To all of which proceedings the defendant city duly excepted. The defendant, as plaintiff in error, presents the case to this court for review, and alleges error in the proceedings of the trial court. .
First. That the court erred in the admission of incompetent testimony. The manner in which the sidewalk, trap-door and area way in question were originally constructed was not in dispute. There was no conflict in the evidence concerning that question,
The court at the trial, over the objection of the defendant city, permitted a number of witnesses on behalf of plaintiff to give their opinions as to whether the area way, sidewalk and trap-door in question were originally constructed in a safe and proper manner, and to give their opinions as to whether the trap-door appeared to be in a safe condition a short time before the date of plaintiff’s injuries. Four of these witnesses were carpenters; they each detailed the manner of construction, situation and condition of the trap-door and area way, and stated that "it was not properly constructed,” that "the plan of construction was not right,” that "the cover should have rested on joists,” that "it was an improper manner in which to make a support for a covering to a scuttle-hole to nail cleats upon joists underneath and permit the covering to rest only upon these cleats,” that "the trap-door should rest upon the joists,” that "it would do a little while, but would be liable to give out in a
Where the relation of facts and their probable result can be determined without special skill or study, the facts must be given and the jury left to draw their own conclusions. The plaintiff was permitted to introduce witnesses, some of whom were expert carpenters, and others not shown to be experts or possessed of any peculiar skill, but who had seen the street, area way and trap-door at which the accident in question occurred. The court permitted the plaintiff, over the objection of the defendant, to introduce in evidence the opinions of such witnesses, that in their opinion “the trap-door was not properly constructed,” that “it was in a bad condition,” that “it was not constructed right,” it “seemed to be unsafe,” that “it was an improper manner to make a support for a covering to a scuttle-hole to nail cleats upon joists underneath and permit the covering to rest only upon those cleats.” The admission of su'ch testimony calling for the opinion or conclusion of the witness was prejudicial error. The defects as described in detail by the witnesses were capable of being understood by the jurors., as well as by the witnesses. The witnesses ought not to have been permitted to give their conclusions, but this testimony should have been confined to a detailed statement of the facts showing the condition which would tend to support the claim of the plaintiff. (Junction City v. Blades, 1 Kan. App.
The case of Sherwood, supra, was an action for personal injury. The court permitted one Smith to testify:
“ Q,. I will ask you to state, from your own observation of the condition of that walk, up to the time of its repair, whether that walk was in a safe condition, or in a dangerous condition. A. I considered it in a dangerous condition all the time until it was repaired.”
The court held the testimony incompetent, but from the fact that the witness minutely set forth the conditions of the walk and described the same so that the only reasonable deduction necessarily followed that the walk was dangerous, and from the fact that a great preponderance of the evidence tended to prove that the sidewalk was dangerous, the court reluctantly held it error without prejudice.
The testimony was incompetent, improperly admitted, and we are unable to say that the defendant was not prejudicially affected thereby.
Second. That the court erred in refusing to instruct the jury “that the plaintiff is not, under the
The undisputed testimony shows that plaintiff was a married woman; that her only occupation was that of housekeeping for her husband and family ; hence, any loss of time belonged to her husband and he alone could recover therefor. The above instruction should have been given to the jury. The instructions given upon the measure of damages were not very clear, and were likely to mislead the jury. The instructions given upon the measure of damages should been modified by the instruction requested by the defendant above set out.
It is unnecessary to comment upon- the other assignments of error; they are without special merit. On account of the errors hereinbefore noted the judgment must be reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.