Pyatt's Administrator v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.
Pyatt's Administrator v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion of the Court by
Affirming.
Thirteen-year-old Gertrude Pyatt, after paying a visit to a friend in Maysville, started on her way home carrying with her a small child. When she came to the railroad crossing she encountered an embankment up which she climbed to the tracks on the street. The child was quite a heavy load for her to carry up so steep an incline. When she came to the tracks she stepped upon the ends of the cross-ties and started walking towards her home, at the time looking down at the child in her arms. At that moment a freight train of thirteen cars, pushed by an
The objection to this instruction is directed at the last clause in which it is stated: “Unless the jury further believe that the defendants and those in charge of the train saw, or could by the exercise of ordinary care have discovered decedent’s peril in time to have avoided the injury to her, and negligently failed to do so, in which event the jury will find for the plaintiff.” It is the contention of appellant that the instruction should have directed the jury to find for the plaintiff if it believed from the evidence that the servants of defendant, or any one or more of them, in charge of the train saw the peril of decedent and neglected to perform the duty which was then incumbent upon the train crew, the verdict must be for plaintiff. While it is insisted that this instruction put a greater burden upon the plaintiff than the law enjoins in that it requires all of the members of the crew to have known of the peril of the decedent instead of one or more of them, we are of opinion that the jury was not misled by this expression, nor could reasonable men be so misled. To be sure, it would have been more explicit and somewhat clearer had the court used the expression suggested -by counsel for appellant, but this court in several cases has approved instructions practically in the same form as the one given in this case.
“Q. The violent stop signal, what was that for?
“A. On account of the girl coming’ up back of the Signal post on the track just like a mushroom coming up out of the ground.”
It is insisted that this evidence was highly prejudicial, because it was based on expressions of hearsay. The figure of speech employed .by the witness in making his answer was rather inapt. To say that the child came upon the track like a mushroom coming up out of the ground 'would indicate she came up very slowly which, if so, would not have been to her prejudice. We can not agree with counsel that this evidence was prejudicial.
The third ground alleged for reversal is the misconduct of the foreman of the jury that tried the case. In the motion and grounds for new trial, it is charged that a member of the jury, who acted as foreman, in company with a civil engineer, a witness in the case, visited the scene of the accident during an intermission in the trial and took measurements upon the ground and examined the objects thereabout, and that the juryman,- after the case was submitted to the jury, made a map of the premises and argued the case for the defendant company from the standpoint .of facts obtained from an examination of the premises. Tins’ charge against the integrity of the jury was based upon the affidavit of counsel to the effect that they were informed and believed that the juryman had so acted during the trial. Had evidence sufficient to sustain the charge been adduced, no doubt the trial court would have granted a new trial, and should have done so; but upon the hearing before the court on the question of the conduct of the juror, it was shown that counsel had been misinformed and that in truth and in fact the-juror had not examined the premises, took measurements, made a map, or argued in the jury room facts obtained in this manner. The court, therefore, properly overruled the motion and grounds for a new trial.
Upon the whole, we are of opinion the instructions given the jury properly presented the law of the case; that there was no incompetent evidence introduced on behalf of the company that was prejudicial to the rights
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.