Reed v. Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. of Texas
Reed v. Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. of Texas
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff in error, hereinafter called plaintiff, sued the defendant in error, who will hereinafter be referred to as defendant, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been received by him through the negligence of the defendant. It is alleged, in substance, that on the 23d day of July, 1912, about 10 o’clock at night, plaintiff went to defendant’s passenger station at Greenville, Tex., intending to take passage to Pickton, Tex.; that when he arrived at said station one of defendant’s passenger trains was waiting to receive passengers and he attempted to board the same for the purpose of becoming a passenger; that it was usual and customary for persons intending to board defendant’s trains at Green-ville to enter the same on either side thereof; that plaintiff attempted to board the train in question on the opposite side thereof from the depot house while said train was standing still and at a point where the gate of one of the coaches was open; that while in the act of boarding said train the agents and servants of defendant, knowing that plaintiff was in the act of doing so, or chargeable with notice thereof, negligently caused said train to start suddenly and without warning with a quick, unusual, and unnecessary jerk or lurch, whereby plaintiff was violently thrown to the ground, one of his feet crushed by the wheels of the car, and amputation thereof made necessary. The defendant denied the allegations of the plaintiff’s petition and answered specially that at the time he was attempting to board the train on the opposite side thereof from the passenger station, and at a place not designated,, .prepared, or used for entering and leaving the .train, and without knowledge of the defendant’s servants, and. also that plaintiff was boarding said train for the purpose of riding to a point near his home where said train stopped, and without any intention or purpose to become a passenger, and that plaintiff was a trespasser. The defendant also specially answered that plaintiff negligently attempted to board the train while intoxicated, thereby causing his injuries; also by special answer averred that plaintiff was an epiletic, and that by reason of said affliction fell under the wheels of the car and was injured. The ease was tried before the court and a jury, and the trial resulted in a verdict for the defendant.
“Either party may present to the judge, in writing, such instructions as he desires to be given to the jury; and the judge may give such instructions, or a part thereof, or he may refuse to give them, as he may see proper, and he shall read to the jury such of them as he may give; provided, such instructions shall be prepared and presented to the court and submitted to opposing counsel for examination and objection within a reasonable time after the charge is given to the parties or their attorneys for examination.”
The bills of exception reserved by appellant to the refusal of the special charges show upon their face that this statute was not complied with in presenting said charges. The statute quoted requires that special charges requested shall be prepared and presented to the court and submitted to opposing counsel for examination and objection within a reasonable time after the main charge is given to the parties or their attorneys for examination. This clearly means before the main charge is read to the jury. 'Otherwise the purposes of the statute could not well be accomplished. The bills of exception show that the special charges were not presented to the court with the request that they be given until after the general charge was delivered to the jury. In regard to the requirement of the statute just mentioned, this court, in Railway v. Eogleman, supra, speaking through Associate Justice Rasbury, said:
“The necessity and importance of showing such facts affirmatively by the bill is obvious from an inspection of article 1971, relating to the court’s general change, and article 2061, relating to the giving or refusing of special charges, both amended at the same time that article 1973 was amended. By the two articles it is contemplated clearly that all attacks upon the charge to be given to the jury, whether by the general charge or by specially requested charge, shall be submitted to the trial judge in advance of reading same to the jury, in order that he may add to or correct same, if erroneous. Failing to do so, ‘all objections not so made and presented shall be considered as waived,’ as relates to the general charge; and, as relates to the giving or refusing of special charges, the court’s action ‘shall be regarded as approved, unless excepted to’ in the manner stated,” Horton v. Railway Co., 171 S. W. 1023; W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. v. A. I. Folsom, 170 S. W. 1066.
The evidence warrants the verdict rendered, and, no fundamental error appearing, the judgment entered thereon is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.