Dingle v. Northwestern R. Co. of S.C.

Supreme Court of South Carolina
Dingle v. Northwestern R. Co. of S.C., 99 S.E. 828 (S.C. 1919)
112 S.C. 390; 1919 S.C. LEXIS 133
Fraser

Dingle v. Northwestern R. Co. of S.C.

Opinion of the Court

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Mr. Justice Fraser.

The plaintiff was walking on a path along the railroad track of the defendant company. The plaintiff alleges that while he was walking along this path, that had been used for many years, a train of the defendant came suddenly upon him; that he jumped out of the way and caught a limb to keep him away from the passing train; that the limb brokef and he fell against the train and was injured.

The case was tried in a magistrate’s Court. The jury found a verdict against the defendant. It appealed to the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court reversed the magistrate’s Court on the facts, and dismissed the complaint.

The plaintiff appealed with three exceptions.

1 This Court has no jurisdiction to review the findings of fact by the Circuit Court.

2 The first question of law is as to the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court to reverse the findings of fact by the magistrate’s Court.

Section 407, Code of Civil Procedure, provides: “In giving judgment, the Court may affirm or reverse the judgment of the Court below, in whole or in part, and as to any or all the parties and for errors of law or fact.”

*392 The Circuit Court had jurisdiction to reverse the findings of fact, and the findings of fact by the Circuit Court, on appeal from the magistrate’s Court, is final.

3 That the Circuit Judge erred, as a matter of law, in dismissing the complaint.

When the Circuit Judge found that the defendant was not guilty of negligence, there was nothing left in the case, and a dismissal of the complaint was the only thing he could do.

The judgment appealed from is affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Dingle v. Northwestern R. Co. of South Carolina.
Cited By
9 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Appeal and Error— Matters Reviewáble— Findings of Fact.— Findings of fact by the Circuit Court, on appeal from the magistrate’s Court, cannot be reviewed in the Supreme Court. 2. Appeal and Error — Review—Questions of Fact. — The Circuit Court his jurisdiction, under Code Civ. Proc., sec. 407, on appeal from the magistrate’s Court, to reverse the finding's of fact. 3. Appeal and Error — Determination of Cause — Dismissal.—-Where the Circuit Court Judge, on an appeal from a judgment for plaintiff in the magistrate’s Court in a personal injury action, found that defendant was not guilty of negligence, he properly dismissed the complaint.