Davis v. Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad

Mississippi Supreme Court March 15, 1909

Davis v. Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, 95 Miss. 540 (Miss. 1909)

49 So. 179

Whitsteld

Opinion of the Court

Whitsteld, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

This was manifestly a case in which the jury should have 'been allowed to say whether, under all the circumstances, there .was such gross negligence on the part of the railroad company, .such conscious indifference to the rights of the plaintiff and the public, as warranted the imposition of punitive damages, and, ■of course, as a consequence, if punitive damages were allowed, •■such a case as warranted damages for mental suffering. The *543principles controlling are set forth in the cases of Yazoo, etc., R. Co. v. White, 82 Miss. 120, 33 South. 970; Yazoo, etc., R. Co. v. Mitchell, 83 Miss. 179, 35 South. 339; and in Illinois, etc., R. Co. v. Harper, 83 Miss. 560, 35 South. 764.

Beversed and remanded.

Reference

Full Case Name: White D. Davis v. Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company
Cited By: 2 cases
Status: Published
Syllabus: Railroads. Passengers. Induced to leave train at wrong station. Gross negligence. Wilfulness. Punitive damages. Where a railroad company ran a passenger train over a new line of road, in charge of servants wholly unacquainted with the stations thereon, and the conductor caused plaintiff, a passenger who had never been over the road before, to leave the train during the night at a place other than his destination, where there were no accommodations, and plaintiff wandering became lost in the woods, but finally reached a highway and walked seven miles, unarmed through a dangerous country, to his home, the question of punitive damages should be left to the jury.