Hobart v. Illinois Cent. R.

81 F. 5, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2612
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern Iowa
DecidedJune 3, 1897
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 81 F. 5 (Hobart v. Illinois Cent. R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hobart v. Illinois Cent. R., 81 F. 5, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2612 (circtnia 1897).

Opinion

SHIRAS, District Judge.

This action was brought originally in the district court of Cherokee county, Iowa, by the plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of George O. Parker, deceased; the cause of action alleged being that Parker, while employed as brakem.au by the defendant corporation, met Ms death at Doran Station, in the state of Illinois, being run over by the cars when engaged in coupling the same; it being averred that the accident was due to the negligence of the railway company in not furnishing proper coupling pins, and in leaving the frogs at the switch in bad condition. To this petition a demurrer was interposed, presenting the question whether the petition showed on its face a cause of action; the accident having occurred in the state of Illinois. The court sustained the demurrer, and thereupon the plaintiff took leave to amend Ms petition, and amended by getting forth, as part of the petition, sections 1, 2, c. 70, Rev. St. Ill., which give a right of action for death resulting from the wrongful or negligent acts of another; this amendment being filed December 31, 1896. On the 2d day of January, 1897, a petition for removal of the case to this court on the ground of local prejudice was filed and submitted, and an order was made for the removal of the case, and a transcript of the record having been filed in this court the plaintiff now moves for an order remanding the case; and the question for decision is ivheiher the filing and submission to the state court of the demurrer to the original petition, and taking the ruling of the court thereon, was a trial of the case, in such sense as to defeat a subsequent removal on the ground of local prejudice.

In the case of Fisk v. Henarie, 142 U. S. 459, 12 Sup. Ct. 207, it is [6]*6held that the acts of 1887-88 repealed subdivision 3 of section 639 of the Revised Statutes, and therefore the right of removal on the ground of local prejudice or influence is dependent upon the provisions of the acts of 1887-88, and that, as those acts declare that a removal on the ground of prejudice must be applied for before the trial of the case, the same construction must be given to these words as is given to the -'same words in the act of 1875, under which it is held that a hearing had upon a demurrer flled to a petition on the ground that it does not state facts sufficient to show a cause of action against the defendant is a trial of the case, in such sense as to preclude a removal thereof subsequent to the ruling upon the demurrer. Alley v. Nott, 111 U. S. 472, 4 Sup. Ct. 495; Laidly v. Huntington, 121 U. S. 179, 7 Sup. Ct. 855. Upon the authority of these cases, it must be held that under the provisions of the acts of 1887-88 a removal on the ground of local prejudice or undue influence can only be had before a trial of the case, and that the submission of a demurrer to the petition, based upon the ground that the petition fails to show a cause of action, and the ruling of the court thereon, constitute a trial of the case, so that thereafter the right of removal cannot be exercised.

On behalf of the defendant company it is urged that this general rule does not apply to this case, for the reason that the amendment to the petition filed after the ruling upon the demurrer sets up a new cause of action, based upon the statute of Illinois, and that it is this action which it is sought to remove, and which must be distinguished from the cause of action set up in the original petition, and which alone was put upon trial by the hearing upon the demurrer filed thereto. In support of this contention, counsel cite the case of Railway Co. v. Wyler, 158 U. S. 285, 15 Sup. Ct. 877. The question for decision in that case was-when the running of the statute of limitations was interrupted, the facts being that in 1885 Wyler sued the railway company in the circuit court of Jackson county, Mo., for personal injuries received in 1883, when in the employ of the company in the state of Kansas. The suit was removed to the federal court, and was first heard upon a general demurrer to the petition, which was sustained upon the ground that the petition was based upon the general rule governing the relation of master and servant, and the petition showed upon its face that the injuries complained of resulted from the negligence of a co-servant, for which the master was not liable. More than five years after the happening of the accident, an amended petition was filed, setting forth the statute of Kansas which makes railroad companies doing business in that state liable for all damages caused to employés by the negligence of the other agents or servants of the company. A demurrer to the amended petition was interposed on the ground that it appeared that the action based upon the statute was barred because not brought within five years, the period fixed by the statute of Missouri. The supreme court sustained the demurrer, holding that the amended petition was based upon the right of action created by the statute; that the amended petition presented a new cause of action, which was in law a departure from the cause originally declared on, and therefore the action based upon the statute was not commenced, so as to interrupt the running of the period of [7]*7limitation, until the amended petition based thereon was filed. In that ease the bar of the statute applied to the right of action based upon the statute of Kansas making railway companies liable to an employé for injuries caused by the negligence of a co-employé; and, it is clear that it could not be said, in any just sense, that the running of the limitation period applicable to the right of action created by the statute of Kansas, and which period began to run when the accident happened, could be interrupted or suspended until the party injured sought to enforce the right of action created by the statute. The lapse of the period of time fixed by the statute of limitations bars the remedy or right of action. It does not destroy the cause of action. The right to remove a suit pending in a state court, upon the ground of local prejudice, has no necessary connection with the light of action sought to be enforced therein. The- removal, if had, affects the suit or action as an eutirety. In the strict sense of the words, the cause of action in the present case has not been changed or varied by the amendment setting forth the statute of Illinois, although there has been a change in the right of action relied upon. The plaintiff, in the amended petition as well as in the original petition, is seeking to recover the same damages, to wit, those caused by the injuries received at Doran Station, and resulting in the death of George O. Parker. In the sense of the removal statute, the case now pending is the same that was submitted and heard upon demurrer in the slate court. In tlie original petition submitted on demurrer, the plaintiff sought to hold the defendant company liable for the death of George 'C. Parker, caused by the injuries received by him at Doran Station, and the defendant denied liability therefor. In the amended petition, plaintiff seeks to hold the defendant company liable for the death of George O. Parker, resulting from the injuries received at Doran Station, and the defendant denies liability therefor. Under the ruling of the supreme court in Alley v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lantz v. Fretts
173 F. 1007 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern West Virginia, 1909)
Maher v. Tower Hotel Co.
94 F. 225 (U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois, 1899)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 F. 5, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hobart-v-illinois-cent-r-circtnia-1897.