Chicago & Eastern Railroad v. Holland

13 N.E. 145, 122 Ill. 461
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 26, 1887
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 13 N.E. 145 (Chicago & Eastern Railroad v. Holland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago & Eastern Railroad v. Holland, 13 N.E. 145, 122 Ill. 461 (Ill. 1887).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Craig

delivered the opinion of the Court:

On the 13th day of October, 1883, appellant appeared in court, and filed a motion, in writing, asking for an order of court that appellee submit to an examination by two physicians, who are named in the motion. The court overruled the application, and the decision is assigned for error. Whether this decision was erroneous or not, is a question which it will not be necessary here to determine. On the 15th day of December, 1884, the appellant sent two physicians of its own selection to the residence of appellee, for the purpose of making an examination of his physical condition. One of the physicians had previously made a thorough examination, and he was not admitted. The other one, however, was admitted, and made an examination. On the 20th day of December, 1884, appellant sent Dr. H. W. Lyman, who was one of the physicians named in its motion. He was admitted, and made a thorough examination of appellee. In what manner appellant was injured by the decision overruling the motion, is not apparent. Had the motion been allowed, an examination would have been made by two physicians. The motion was denied, but an examination was, in fact, made by three physicians of appellant’s own selection. Nothing was lost by the decision, as appellant was allowed an examination, which was all it asked by the motion. The fact that the examination was made at a later period than it would have been made had the court allowed the motion, so far as appears, was a matter of no moment.

It is next insisted that the court erred in the admission in evidence of the conversation of James A. Healy and James C. Heckler with the conductor of appellant’s train, which occurred a moment before the collision. The evidence of Healy was as follows: “I saw this conductor and spoke to him, and the words I spoke to him were these: ‘Where are you going to ?’ He says, ‘ Going over with my train to back into the PuEman ‘Y,’ over the Eock Island track;’ and the words I said to him were; ‘ You hadn’t ought to do any such thing; you will get catched.” I said, ‘You are doing it on short time.’ I told him we were side-tracked,—that we would not undertake to do it; and I asked him if he was flagging, and he said no,—he didn’t think it was necessary.” The witnesses testified that the conversation occurred only a moment before the eoEision. The plaintiff had a right to show the situation of appeEant’s train, and what precaution, if any, the conductor in charge of the train had taken to guard against danger, and the declarations of the conductor, made at the time they were,—on the eve of the. collision,—were admissible as a part of the res gestee.

A witness was called by plaintiff to prove the amount plaintiff had incurred for medical treatment, and gave the court, both paid and unpaid aggregation, the sum of $184.80. The plaintiff had been treated by several different physicians, and it is insisted that the evidence was incompetent, as there was no proof that these physicians-, or any of them, were entitled to practice medicine under the statute. When the evidence was offered, the objection made to it was, “that it is incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant.” If the law cast the burden upon the plaintiff to prove that the physicians who treated him were entitled to practice, (which, however, we do not decide,) appellant was bound to make the specific objection on the trial, in order that the plaintiff might have an opportunity to remove the objection by proper testimony. The general objection was not enough. It was the duty of appellant to point out the specific objection to the evidence, and a failure to do so will preclude the right to rely upon such specific objection on appeal.

Upon the cross-examination of Dr. Peck, a witness called by appellant, the witness identified a certain letter written by Dr. Durfee in regard to the physical condition of appellee, and the letter was admitted in evidence, and this decision is claimed to be erroneous. The foundation for the introduction of this letter was laid by the appellant on the direct examination of Dr. Peck. The witness stated, on his direct examination, that the letter was handed to him by appellant, and he then proceeded to give its contents to the jury. As a part of the cross-examination of the witness, appellee had the right to read, as evidence, the original letter, to the jury. If the contents were proper evidence for the appellant, which it can not now dispute, the letter itself was likewise competent for appellee.

During the examination of some of the physicians, by appellant, obtaining their opinions in regard to some of the theories advanced by medical authors, certain remarks were made by the court in relation to the practice of reading long quotations from medical works, and. asking the opinions of witnesses thereon, in which the court said: “I have a book written in Spanish, by a Mexican.lawyer, and I may as well read that to him as your reading medical books to them.” It will be observed that the court made no ruling in regard to the admission or exclusion of evidence; and as to the remark made by the court, we can not see that it injured any one, and if appellant was not injured it can not complain.

When counsel for appellant was stating the appellant’s case to the jury, having made a statement that evidence would be brought out which would prove certain facts, one of the jurymen said: “That won’t help you a hit,—that will not do you any good.” While it was improper for a juryman to make a remark of that character, and while the court might, with propriety, impose a small fine on a juryman for a disregard of duty, yet we are not-aware of any authority for reversing a judgment where an irregularity of that character has intervened on the trial of a cause.

Some other complaints have been made, in the argument, in regard to the rulings on the admission of evidence, but without going over them in detail, it is sufficient to say that none of them is of a sufficient magnitude to call upon the court to reverse the judgment.

At the request of the plaintiff, the court gave to the jury three instructions, and they are all claimed to be erroneous. The first one is as follows:

“The jury are instructed, that in determining the question® of negligence in this case they should take into consideration the conduct of both parties at the time of the alleged injury, as disclosed by the evidence; and if the jury believe, from the evidence, that the injury complained of was caused by the negligence of defendant’s servants, as described in the declaration, and if the jury further believe, from the evidence in this case, that the plaintiff was without fault, and was exer- / cising ordinary.care and prudence in the discharge of his duties as conductor of the dummy train, then the plaintiff is entitled to recover in this case such damages as the jury may believe, from all the evidence, he is entitled to «receive, as a compensation for all the damages received and suffered by said plaintiff in the premises, provided the jury find, from the evidence, that the plaintiff was injured as described in the declaration.”

The objection urged against this instruction, as we understand the argument, is, that the jury might, under the terms of the instruction, give exemplary damages. The instruction does not inform the jury that they can give exemplary damages.

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13 N.E. 145, 122 Ill. 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-eastern-railroad-v-holland-ill-1887.