Sullivan v. Charleston & Western Car. Ry.
Sullivan v. Charleston & Western Car. Ry.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The plaintiff recovered damages of defendant for injuries sustained by him while a passenger on defendant’s railroad. While in the act of sitting down on one of the seats in the car, the back of the seat gave way and he fell backwards and sustained an injury to his spine, which paralyzed his lower limbs. The screws which held the back of the seat in position had, in some way been removed, whether by the plaintiff himself, or by some third person, or by some of the defendant’s servants, was one of the issues on the trial.
It is contended that was error to charge that, if one is badly injured, his damages should be heavy, and that the object of the law, in awarding damages, is to put one who has been injured, as near as dollars and cents can, in the position in which he would have been, if the injury had not occurred — such damages as will make him whole.
These expressions, when disconnected from the context, do seem to go rather too far; for instance, the Judge ought not, in any case, to intimate to the jury that the damages should be slight or heavy — not even on the hypothesis that the. party was slightly or badily injured, for the amount of damages, in a case like this, must be left solely to the wise discretion and enlightened judgment of the jury, subject, of course, to the supervisory power of the Judge on motipn for new trial. But, of course, there is no impropriety in the Judge instructing the jury that the amount of damages should! be in proportion to the character and extent of the injury, and such as will fairly and adequately compensate the injured party, and it will be seen that those expressions were used merely to illustrate that idea. It is argued that it would take more than the value of defendant’s railroad to put one who had lost his sight by the negligence of the def endant, by awarding him dollars and cents; in the position he would be in, if he had not been injured, — and that it'would be impossible to make him whole. In one sense that is true, and, in the same sense, no amount of money would compensate one for the loss of sight; yet, in the sense in which the words used in the law as a measure of damages, in such cases, one may be compensated even' for the loss of sight, though his sight could not be restored.
*537 We think, upon the whole, the rule was stated with substantial correctness. When the expressions complained of are read in the connection in which they were used, and modified!, as they were, by such expressions as, “the damages should be in proportion to the injuries,” and “such damages as will compensate him,” we do not think the jury Were misled into an erroneous or false standard for the measurement of the damages which plaintiff was entitled to recover.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- 1. Attorneys — “Case.”—The attention of the bar is called to Rule S of this Court, which • prescribes what the “Case” shall contain, and attorneys are admonished that it should contain nothing more nor less than the rule requires.- Obiter dicta. 3. Witnesses. — One physician should not be permitted to testify as to , the skill and ability of another physician who has testified in the case, who is unknown to the jury and whose reputation has not been attacked. 3. Carrier — Passenger.—Upon proof of injury to a passenger by some agency, or instrumentality of the carrier the law raises a presumption that carrier was guilty of negligence, and burden is then shifted to. carrier to show that the injury did not result from its negligence.. 4¡. -Charge — Damages.—It is proper to instruct the jury that the amount of damages should be-in proportion to the character and extent of the injury and such as will fairly compensate the injured party, but it is best for the Judge not to instruct that the damages should be .heavy or light, as the party was badly or slightly injured, but this instruction held here to be harmless when considered with its connections and modifications.