Charles S. McGowan as Administrator of the Estate of Mary Louise McGowan Deceased v. Thurston M. Gillenwater and Terry L. Gillenwater
Cases that cite this one
34 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.
- William D. Johnson v. Powell F. Carter, United States of America (4th Cir. 1991)
- Atlantic Purchasers, Inc., Stella Maris Inn, Ltd. v. Aircraft Sales, Inc., Donald J. Anklin (4th Cir. 1983)
- United States v. Eric Arias, Earl Lavell Faircloth, Gerald E. Michael, Idael Manuel Jimenez-Mora, Laten Gene Reaves, and Roger Suggs (4th Cir. 1982)
- Jessie Wayne Satterfield v. Robert F. Zahradnick, Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary (4th Cir. 1978)
- Anthony Crowell v. Robert F. Zahradnick, Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary (4th Cir. 1977)
- Lawrence Whittington v. Sewer Construction Company, Inc. (4th Cir. 1976)
- Wilson Clinic & Hospital, Inc. v. Blue Cross of South Carolina (4th Cir. 1974)
- Hodges v. Thompson (4th Cir. 2002)
- Hodges v. Thompson, Sec (4th Cir. 2002)
- Zeitler v. Martel (District Court, E.D. North Carolina 1999)
- Bartsch v. Stuart (4th Cir. 1998)
- United States v. Carroll (4th Cir. 1998)
- Sylvia H. Wright v. Virginia Electric & Power Company, Now Known as Virginia Power Company (4th Cir. 1996)
- Wright v. VEPCO (4th Cir. 1996)
- Renn Ex Rel. Renn v. Garrison (4th Cir. 1996)
- In re: C. Victor Mbakpuo, Christopher E. Smith v. Us Sprint Susanne Keating Lilian Grant (4th Cir. 1995)
- Avis Construction Company, Incorporated, Palma, Incorporated (4th Cir. 1994)
- John M. Knieriem v. Csx Transportation, Incorporated (4th Cir. 1992)
- D.S. Swain Gas Company, Inc. v. Dixie Pipeline Company (4th Cir. 1990)
- Markdata, Incorporated v. Seaside Properties, Incorporated, Ronald R. Vail, Vacation Marketing, Incorporated (4th Cir. 1988)
- Horace Wilkins v. Gordon Lee Whitaker, Detective, H.P.P.D. John Faircloth, Chief of Police, H.P.P.D. (4th Cir. 1983)
- United States v. Stephen Jerome Williams (4th Cir. 1982)
- Deborah L. Bills, and Nancy D. Fahnley v. Joseph H. Hodges, Sr. (4th Cir. 1980)
- Parsons v. Hornblower & Weeks Hemphill (4th Cir. 1978)
- Belcher v. South Carolina Board of Corrections (District Court, D. South Carolina 1978)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
The appellant seeks a new trial on the issue of damages in this personal injury case. With respect to the principal assignments of error, we affirm for the reasons stated in the district judge’s opinion.
The appellant also contends that the district judge erred in striking the ad damnum clause of the complaint and in refusing to allow a per diem argument on the question of damages. We find the district judge did not abuse his discretion in barring from the jury the amount of damages alleged in the complaint. This was no part of the proof, and it had no role to play in the jury’s consideration of the case. Williams v. Nichols, 266 F.2d 389 (4th Cir. 1959); Craven v. Associated Transport, Inc., 40 F.R.D. 8 (D.S.C. 1966). Indeed the better practice ordinarily is to withhold all pleadings from the jury. The function of the pleadings is to notify court and counsel of the bare bones of the controversy, and rarely do they have any evidentiary value. The appellant’s contention concerning the per diem argument was never properly presented to the district judge, and it cannot be raised at this time.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.