Rochester v. Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway Co.
Rochester v. Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by G. A. C. Rochester, as administrator of the estate of W. C. Bell, deceased, for the purpose of recovering damages for the death of the deceased caused by the wrongful act of the defendant.
On April 30, 1910, W. C. Bell was killed in a collision which occurred on the street railway line owned by the defendant. Thereafter the plaintiff brought this action to recover damages for the benefit of the wife of the deceased, and also for a minor son, W. Con Bell. Before the time of the trial, the wife died, and the action was prosecuted for the benefit of the son only. Upon the trial, the negligence of the defendant was admitted. The only question submitted to the jury was the amount of damages which should be awarded. The jury returned a verdict in the sum of $17,500. The defendant thereafter made and filed its motion for a new trial based upon all the statutory grounds. The trial court, upon consideration of the motion, concluded that error had been committed in not limiting the amount of recovery to such damages as the surviving son would suffer prior to his majority, and thereupon granted the motion. The order granting the new trial shows that the court considered all of the grounds stated in the motion, and overruled and denied all of them except the one above stated. From this order, the plaintiff appealed, and this court held that the instruction which the trial court believed to be erroneous and on account of which it granted the motion was correct, and reversed the order granting a new trial and directed the superior court to enter a judgment upon the verdict. That decision is reported in 67 Wash. 545, 122 Pac. 23, 39 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1156. On April 29, 1912, the trial court, in conformity with the direction of this court, entered a judgment on the verdict in favor of the plaintiff
The respondent moves the court to dismiss this appeal for the reason that the judgment appealed from was entered by the superior court in obedience to the judgment or order of this court.
The general rule is that no appeal will lie from a judgment entered' by the trial or subordinate court in accordance with a mandate or direction from the appellate or reviewing court. 2 Cyc. 608; Krantz v. Rio Grande W. R. Co., 13 Utah 1, 43 Pac. 623, 32 L. R. A. 828; Heinlen v. Beans, 73 Cal. 240, 14 Pac. 855; Albin v. Seattle Elec. Co., 46 Wash. 420, 90 Pac. 435; State v. Boyce, 25 Wash. 422, 65 Pac. 763; Apex Transp. Co. v. Garbade, 32 Ore. 582, 52 Pac. 573, 54 Pac. 367, 882, 62 L. R. A. 513; Ex parte Dubuque & P. R., 1 Wall. 69; Gaines v. Rugg, 148 U. S. 228; Kimpton v. Jubilee Placer Min. Co., 22 Mont. 107, 55 Pac. 918.
In Krantz v. Rio Grande W. R. Co., supra, it is said:
“All the alleged errors now complained of occurred during the proceedings of the trial court before the motion for a new trial was heard, and there is no question made as to any errors having been committed in the proceedings subsequent to the mandate. Nor are we asked to review such proceedings. It is evident that this is an attempt to have another review of the rights of the parties on the same record which was reviewed on the former appeal, when it was held that the plaintiff had the right to recover. Under such circumstances, an appeal from a judgment entered by an inferior court in pursuance of a mandate of the appellate court cannot be sustained; and this rule is not only in accordance with authority, but is founded on reason and justice, for if successive appeals were allowed on the same state of the record, there would be no end to litigation and appeals, and the courts themselves could be turned into instruments of injustice by an obstinate litigant.”
In cases where the subordinate or trial court upon motion has entered an order granting a new trial upon a specific ground and an appeal follows, the great weight of authority
Error is assigned in that the trial court gave to the jury the following instruction:
“In estimating the value, the money or pecuniary value of the father’s life to this boy, you can consider not only, not alone, the father’s habits in life, and mental qualifications and capacity for accumulating property or earning, but you also have a right to consider any pecuniary loss, if this boy has sustained any such, which the evidence may show he has sustained by a preponderance of the evidence by reason of the loss of the care or society, training, guidance and counsel of this father, which, as I have instructed you, he had a right to expect.”
“An expectation of inheritance is not properly one of the elements of loss to children in a case of this kind, [damages for death caused by wrongful act] and should not be allowed to enter into the question, in any way whatever.”
The instruction complained of does not violate this rule. It goes no further than to submit to the jury the pecuniary value of the father’s life to the boy, which is the recognized correct rule. The clause in the instruction “capacity for accumulating property” is not apt, but when read in connection with the context, it seems plain that the jury could not have understood that they were to consider the expectation of inheritance as an element of damage.
It is finally urged that the verdict is excessive. From a review of the entire record, we think that this contention is well founded. For this reason, however, the judgment should not be reversed in the first instance. It is therefore ordered that, if within thirty days after the going down of the remittitur, the respondent shall in writing filed in the cause elect to accept a judgment for $12,000, and remit the excess above this amount, the judgment be affirmed; otherwise, it will be reversed and a new trial ordered.
Crow, C. J., Ellis, Fullerton, and Morris, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- G. A. C. Rochester, as Administrator etc. v. Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway Company
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- 34 cases
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- Syllabus
- Appeal — Decisions Appealable — Judgment on Mandate. The general rule is that no appeal lies from a judgment entered by the trial court in accordance with a mandate from the appellate court. Appeal — Review—Order Granting New Trial — Questions Considered — Second Appeal. Where a new trial is expressly granted upon one specific ground, after considering and denying all the other grounds of the motion, and the adverse party appeals, the respondent may, to sustain the order, urge all the grounds covered in his motion below; hence he cannot take a second appeal, after reversal of the order and remand for judgment on the verdict. Appeal — Decisions Appealable — Second Appeal — Practice— Change in Practice. Upon overruling the practice of requiring the respondent, on appeal from an order granting a new trial on one express ground, to take a second appeal to review error in denying his motion on other grounds, such second appeal will not be denied to a party who had followed the practice as established by the supreme court. Death — Wrongful Death — Damages— Elements —■ Expectation of Inheritance — Instructions. In an action for the wrongful death of a father, brought on behalf of a minor son, an instruction that the jury may consider not only the father’s habits and mental qualifications and “capacity for accumulating property,” but any pecuniary loss by reason of loss of care, society, training, etc., is not objectionable as submitting as an element of damage the son’s expectation of inheritance; since, in connection with the context, the inapt clause quoted goes no further than to submit the pecuniary value of the father’s life to the boy. Death- — Wrongful Death — Excessive Damages. A verdict for $17,500 for the death of a father, in an action on behalf of a minor son, held excessive unless reduced to $12,000.