Fort Worth Belt Ry. Co. v. Davis

254 S.W. 219, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 474
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 30, 1923
DocketNo. 2753. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 254 S.W. 219 (Fort Worth Belt Ry. Co. v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fort Worth Belt Ry. Co. v. Davis, 254 S.W. 219, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 474 (Tex. Ct. App. 1923).

Opinion

WILLSON, C. J.

(after stating the facts as above). A great part of appellant’s brief is devoted to its • contention that the trial court erred when he submitted to the jury the special issues numbered 18 and 19, as follows:

“18. Erom the evidence in this case, was the plaintiff in this case injured as alleged in plaintiff’s petition, as the result of the collision in question?” (Which the jury answered in the affirmative.)
“19. If you answer the above question in *221 the affirmative, then state: What amount, if any, do you find that the plaintiff was damaged by reason of the injuries, if any, she received at the time of the collision in question?
“In arriving at the amount you will take into consideration the following elements, to wit: The physical pain and mental suffering, if any, already experienced by her as a result of said injuries up to this time, and the physical pain and mental suffering which she will, with reasonable probability, experience in the future as a result of isuch injuries, if you find from the evidence that she will experience the same; and you may also take into consideration the reasonable value, if any, of the necessary expenses, if any, incurred by plaintiff for the services of physicians.”

In support of its contention appellant asserts that appellees, in their petition, alleged “injuries specifically and generally,” and that all the injuries were “permanent.” It urges that, “under the well-known rules of law and pleading,” appellee was entitled to recover only for the specific injuries alleged, and that it was the duty of the court to construe the petition, and in his instructions to the jury confine them to a consideration of specific injuries alleged, which the testimony indicated Mrs. Davis had suffered. It insists the court not only failed to discharge that duty, but, by the instructions in question, authorized the jury to consider Injuries alleged hut not proven, and injuries proven but not alleged. That there was no substantial difference between the injuries alleged and those proven by testimony the jury had a right to believe, will sufficiently appear, we think, from parts of the record now to be set out. With reference to injuries suffered by Mrs. Davis, appel-lees in their petition alleged as follows:

“Said plaintiff’s body was severely cut and bruised over almost all portions thereof, from her head to her feet and particularly was said plaintiff severely cut and bruised about the'head and face and her shoulders and arms, sides and back, and her hips and lower limbs were cut and bruised, strained and sprained, all of which injuries were and are very serious, very painful, permanent, and lasting in their character, and plaintiff has suffered in the past and will continue to suffer in the future and for the balance of her life, great physical pain and mental anguish.”

Testifying as a witness, Mrs. Davis, said:

“I was injured in that accident. I was bruised about the body; face and head were bruised and cut; all over my limbs and were bruised; my legs and feet and left arm and shoulder and back; and I suffered terribly with my back ever since, and with my left shoulder and arm— haven’t any use of it much yet. I was confined to my bed with those injuries. I was for six weeks on the bed and for three months before I was able to do anything, and really am not able to do much yet, but of course I c^n get around. * * * I have not much use of this shoulder and arm yet. It just pains me so I can’t use it, and I can’t get my hand back of me at all, up to my waist. I have lost the motion of my shoulder, can’t use that hand back that way at all. * * * My lower limbs were injured, bruised all over and cut. My feet were bruised. My knees were bruised — still stiff in my knees. My back was bruised considerably. I suffered from those bruises about my back. I am still suffering, but of course it is better. * * * I am not suffering from my left arm and back. The bruises have passed away of course. My limbs are still stiff, and I suffer a great deal with them; yet I suffer more with my back and this arm and shoulder, and my knees are mighty stiff.”

Appellant complains because the court refused to give to the jury a special charge requested by it, as follows:

“You are instructed that there is insufficient evidence showing that plaintiff’s sides, back, hips, or lower limbs have been permanent (permanently) injured, and you are, therefore^ instructed that, in answering special issue No. — in the court’s main charge, and in determining the amount therein inquired about, you will not allow any sum of money for alleged personal (permanent?) injuries to the plaintiff’s sides, back, hips, and lower limbs.”

That it was not error of which appellant has a right to complain to refuse to instruct the jury as requested is apparent, we think. In the instructions he gave, the court did not say anything to the jury about “permanent” injuries, but, in effect, told them to consider, in determining the amount appellees were entitled to recover, only physical pain and mental suffering which Mrs. Davis, had endured, and which they believed from the testimony she would endure in the future. In the light of testimony of Mrs. Davis set out above the instruction given was proper, and the instruction refused was not called for. Du Cate v. Town of Brighton, 133 Wis 628, 114 N. W. 103. Its effect, had' it been given, might have been prejudicial instead of beneficial to appellant, in that it might have ■suggested to the jury that the court thought there was testimony authorizing them to find that injuries suffered by Mrs. Davis, other than those to her “sides, back, hips and lower limbs” were permanent.

We do not think appellant is entitled to a reversal of the judgment, because of the refusal of the trial court to grant it a new trial for alleged misconduct of the jury, in that one of them, after they had retired to the jury room and were considering what their verdict should be, stated that he had passed over the crossing in question and “saw lint cotton on the wire fence south of the oil mill,” and another one of them stated that he had passed over the crossing and that “a flagman never flagged him.” At the hearing of the motion, the juror Justiss, one of six of the jurymen who testified, said the statements were made as alleged in the motion, hilt that they did not influence him in the verdict reached. The juror Pulliam testified he heard juror .Applivhite say, “There *222 might have been cotton lint on the fence.” bnt that he did not consider what he heard “as evidence in the case.” The juror Ford said after the jury reached a verdict he heard one of them say he had passed over the crossing and saw cotton on the fence. The juror Sitthler said he 'thought some of the jurymen mentioned something about cotton being on the fence, or that lint cotton might have been on it. The juror Wilkinson did not hear the statements in question, if they were made, and the juror Osterman did not remember hearing them.

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Bluebook (online)
254 S.W. 219, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fort-worth-belt-ry-co-v-davis-texapp-1923.