City of Hattiesburg v. Jarreau
City of Hattiesburg v. Jarreau
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The appellee, plaintiff in the lower court, sued the city of Hattiesburg in the circuit court for damages for personal injuries sustained by him from the kick of a mule claimed to belong to the defendant. A verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for five hundred dollars, and judgment was entered thereon, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.
The facts necessary to an understanding of this ■opinion are: That the plaintiff, on the afternoon of his, injury, was walking diagonally across Forest street in the city of Hattiesburg, when a loose, black mule, suddenly and without warning, inflicted the injuries upon plaintiff which are herein sued for.The city of Hattiesburg has ordinances declaring unlawful the running of stock within certain portions of the city. This injury was inflicted within these limits. The only question necessary to be considered by us is whether or not the testimony in the case was sufficient to submit to the jury the fact that the defendant municipality was the owner of the trespassing mule. The testimony showed that the place of the injury was a short distance from an alley which opens onto Forest street. That the city hall is in part bounded by this alley and Forest street. That behind the city hall and also opening into the alley are some stables of the city wherein were kept some horses and mules belonging to the city. That some of these mules at least one pair of them, were in the afternoon unharnessed behind this stable and then either driven or taken to a different stable called “the ~ feeding place” or stable of the municipality, where they were fed and watered at night. That loose mules of the city had been seen on Pine street, which is not very far from the scene of the accident. That no loose mules of the city had been seen on Forest street, but that in going from the stable
Under this testimony there was nothing to be submitted to the jury as to the ownership of the mule. No one testified that this mule belonged to the city. No one identified it as a mule of the city. The nearest testimony to this was that it was a medium size black mule, and that the city owned several mules resembling it. There is no testimony whatever that the city was in the habit of allowing its mules to pass from this stable on the alley down to the lower feeding lot every afternoon unaccompanied by a driver. In fact, there is no testimony in the case to show that the city mules had ever been seen loose on this part of Forest street at any time. The plaintiff utterly failed to prove that the city owned this mule. It is unnecessary to decide any of
Reversed, and judgment here for the appellant.
Reversed.
Reference
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- Animals. Personal injury. Jury question. In a suit against a city for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff from the kick of a mule claimed to belong to the city, the court held that under the facts set out in its opinion there was no evidence that the mule was the property of the city.