Dixon v. Great Falls & Old Dominion Railway Co.
Dixon v. Great Falls & Old Dominion Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The first assignment of error is to the refusal of the court to grant the folloAA'ing prayer requested by counsel for plaintiff: “You are instructed, as a matter of law, that it Avas the duty of the defendant railway company to have its platform reasonably sufficient and safe in all respects for the use of its plaintiff passenger on August 25, 1907; if, therefore, you find from all the
The object aimed at by the prayer, however, was fully covered by the general charge of the court, and also by the first prayer of plaintiff, which was granted, as follows: “You are instructed, as a matter of law, that the plaintiff, Mary L. Dixon, was a passenger when standing on the defendant railway company’s station platform at Great Nalls, and as such passenger was entitled to the highest degree of care for her safety and protection from hurt or injury; and if you find that while such a passenger she was injured by being pushed off said defendant railway company’s platform, by reason of the failure on the part of the said defendant company to exercise such care and protection, under all the facts and circumstances of the case, your verdict should be for the plaintiff.” It was also covered by the fourth prayer of defendant, which was conceded by plaintiff’s counsel and granted, as follows: “The jury are instructed, as a matter of law, that before they can find for the. plaintiffs, they must find by a preponderance of the evidence, not only that the plaintiff, Mary L. Dixon, was pushed and shoved in such a manner as that she was jostled, pushed, or thrown violently from the top of the station platform, but they must also find as a fact that the defendant was guilty of negligence in maintaining the platform described in these cases, or
Plaintiff’s second assignment of error relates to the refusal of the trial court to allow plaintiff to show' by the testimony of certain witnesses that defendant had no guards in uniform around the station platform at the time of the accident. Three witnesses were interrogated by counsel for plaintiff on this point, to which objection was interposed and sustained by the court. It appears that four witnesses were subsequently examined, who testified that there were no persons on guard on and around the platform at the time of the accident. Plaintiff herself testified that she saw no guards nor any person attempting to control the crowd on the platform. Plaintiff could not have been prejudiced by the ruling of the court, since it was conceded that no guards were on and about the platform, except two, one on the front and one on the rear of each car as it came in, to look after the safety of passengers while alighting from and boarding the cars. The evidence offered only amounted to proving a conceded fact. Besides, plaintiff was permitted to fully develop this line of testimony. Taken in connection with the general charge of the court to the jury as to the duty of the defendant company to furnish a safe place for the protection of passengers boarding and alighting from its cars, the whole ¡••sue as to the condition of the platform'and surroundings at the time of the accident went to the jury.
Plaintiff’s third assignment of error is to the action of the
The fourth assignment of error relates to the refusal of the court to permit counsel for plaintiff to cross-examine two of defendant’s witnesses, employees of defendant company, as to their instructions from the company not to permit crowding upon the platform. . These witnesses were the two guards whose duty it was to ride on the front and rear platforms of incoming
The seventh assignment- of error is to the following prayer given at the request of counsel for defendant: “The jury are instructed, as a matter of law, that the burden of establishing negligence on the part of the defendant as alleged by the plaintiff's is upon the plaintiffs, and that if the testimony in these cases should be such as to leave the minds of the jury in a state of' equipoise as to negligence of the defendant, their verdict should be for the defendant.” Plaintiff’s action is based entirely upon the charge of negligence of the defendant in failing to maintain a reasonably safe condition in and about the place where the accident Occurred. This instruction states an elementary principle as to the burden of proof. Ohlendorf v. Kanne, 66 Md. 495, 8 Atl. 351.
The eighth assignment of error is to the granting of the following prayer at the request of counsel for defendant: “The jury are instructed, as a matter of law, that if they find that
The ninth assignment of error relates to the admission in evidence, over the objection of counsel for plaintiff, of a map or plat showing the conditions existing at the point where the accident occurred. The plat offered in evidence was made from the blueprint of a plat used at the former trial, but it is claimed that it was not properly connected up as showing the actual conditions existing at the time of the accident. While there appears to have been some difference on immaterial points, it clearly appears that it disclosed a correct representation of the material points for which it was introduced, and could not, in any view of the case, have misled the jury to plaintiff’s prejudice.
The tenth assignment of error relates to the refusal of the court to require the defendant company to produce its records showing the number of people at Great Falls throughout and during the day the accident happened. This evidence could not, in any aspect of the case, have been material. It was a matter of no concern how many people were present at Great Falls on the day of the accident. The case turns upon a situation existing at the station at the time that defendant was injured. Besides, it is proper to call attention here to the point that there was a sharp issue of fact as to whether or not there
The fifth, sixth, and eleventh assignments of error relate to the testimony of certain witnesses, given on behalf of defendant over the objection of plaintiff. While, in our opinion, there was no error committed in the admission of the testimony, we will call attention again to the fact that a mere objection to the admission of evidence, without stating the ground of objection, as was the case here, is not sufficient to sustain an assignment of error in this court. In District of Columbia v. Duryee,. 29 App. D. C. 327, 10 Ann. Cas. 675, the court said: “The ground of objection does not appear to have been stated. An appellate court should not consider an objection which does not state the ground, nor cover the competency of the evidence, nor point out some definite and specific defect in the proffer. District of Columbia v. Woodbury, 136 U. S. 450, 452, 34 L. ed. 472, 473, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 990.”
The judgments are affirmed, with costs. Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DIXON v. GREAT FALLS & OLD DOMINION RAILWAY COMPANY DIXON v. GREAT FALLS & OLD DOMINION RAILWAY COMPANY
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- Published
- Syllabus
- Trial; Appeal and Error; Instructions to Jury; Evidence; Variance; WITNESSES; CROSS-EXAMINATION; RAILROADS; NEGLIGENCE; BURDEN oí- Proof; Maps; Motion to Produce; Objections and Exceptions. 1. It is not error for tlie trial court to refuse requested prayers for instructions to the jury, where all that is properly contained in them is covered by the instructions granted. (Following Columbia Heights Realty Co. v. Macfarland, 31 App. D. C. 112; Cooper v. Sillers, 30 App. D. C. 567; and Sullivan v. Capital Traction Co. 34 App. D. C. 358.) 2. It is not error for the trial court to refuse to permit evidence to be offered to prove a conceded fact. ■ 3. Where an action by a passenger to recover damages from a railroad company is based upon the theory that the plaintiff was injured by being shoved or pushed from the defendant’s platform by a crowd seeking, like herself, to board a car of the defendant, and that the defendant did not furnish a sufficient number of competent employees to control the crowd, it is not prejudicial error for the trial court to instruct the jury that they cannot find that the plaintiff's injury was the result of the defendant's failing to properly light up the platform, — especially where there is little or no contradiction of the testimony of a large number of witnesses that the place was well lighted, and no reasonable ground for a difference of opinion on that subject can exist. 4. Where the plaintiff's case in an action against a railroad company is based upon the alleged negligence of the defendant in not furnishing employees to control persons crowding on the defendant’s station platform between trains, whereby the plaintiff was shoved from the platform and injured, it is not error for the trial court to refuse to allow the plaintiff to cross-examine certain of defendant’s employees as to their instructions from the defendant company not to permit crowding upon the platform, where such employees were not on the platform when the accident happened, but were on an approaching ear which had not reached the platform. 5. In a personal injury ease based upon the alleged negligence of the defendant in failing to maintain a reasonably safe condition in and about the place where and at the time the plaintiff was injured, it is not error for the trial court, at the request of the defendant, to instruct the jury that the burden of showing the defendant’s negligence is on the plaintiff', and that, if the testimony is such as to leave the minds of the jury in a state of equipoise as to the negligence of the defendant, their verdict should be for the defendant. 6. Where in an action to recover damages from a railroad company for having failed to properly control a crowd on a station platform, whereby the plaintiff was pushed or shoved from the platform and injured, there is evidence on behalf of the defendant that the plaintiff, instead of being pushed from the platform, stepped therefrom down onto the. track, where she fell and was injured, which evidence is corroborated by other circumstances, it is not error for the trial court to instruct the jury that if they find the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence their verdict should be for the defendant. 7. A map or plat, or blueprint thereof, showing the condition existing at the point where an injury was received by a passenger of a railroad, is admissible in evidence in an action for damages for the injury by the passenger against the. railroad company, although there is shown to be some difference on immaterial points between the actual conditions and those shown on the map or plat, where the latter discloses a correct reproduction of material points for which it is introdueed, and cannot mislead the jury to the prejudice of the opposite party. 8. In an action against a railroad company by a former passenger who claims to have been injured by being shoved oil a station platform by a crowd seeking to board a car of the defendant at a pleasure resort, it is not error for the trial court to deny a request of the plaintiff to require the defendant to produce its records showing the number of people at the resort during the day the accident happened. 9. An objection to evidence, which fails to show the ground of objection, is not sufficient to sustain an assignment of error. (Following District of Columbia v. Duryee, 29 App. D. C. 327.)