Indiana Union Traction Co. v. Heller

89 N.E. 419, 44 Ind. App. 385, 1909 Ind. App. LEXIS 186
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided October 15, 1909·No. No. 6,680·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Roby, P. J.

Appellee, with ten other persons having tickets which entitled them to transportation, went upon a platform, provided for the purpose, with the intention of taking passage upon one of appellant’s .cars, which was scheduled to make a “flag stop” at said place. The time was about midnight. The car approached rapidly, was signaled and stopped, but overran the platform from one hundred fifty to two hundred feet. The conductor, standing on the rear platform, almost immediately gave the signal to go ahead, and the car proceeded on its way without returning to the platform, or otherwise giving the appellee an opportunity to board it. Appellant does not dispute its liability, but addresses itself in this court to the amount of damages awarded, which was $100.

[387] Appellee’s first point is that appellant’s brief should not be considered, because of noneompliance with section five of rule twenty-two, requiring a concise statement of so much of the record as is necessary to present the error complained of.

1. 2. 3. [388]*3884. [387] The Constitution of Indiana recites, among other things, that it is adopted “to the end that justice be established.” Constitution, 1851, Preamble. The highest conception of justice has to do only with verities. The Searcher of human hearts could not be imagined as hampered by forms. Human justice is, of necessity, subject to human limitation,- but society demands that the courts shall, in their procedure and judgments, approximate toward the ideal, and do justice to its members according to their deserts, exhausting all reasonable means to ascertain what that truth is, and rejecting whatever obscures it. The rules of the Supreme Court, which are by statute made obligatory upon this court (§1419 Burns 1908, Acts 1891, p. 39, §15), are designed to advance justice, and not to defeat it. They could lawfully be made to no other end, for to do so would be but an indirect method of doing that which if done directly would be maladministration of office. These rules indicate an orderly and uniform method of presenting the conflicting claims of litigants. That they should be observed, goes without saying. The only difficulties connected with their observance have had to do with the interpretation given to, and placed upon them by the bar and the courts. The conclusions reached by the courts are quickly adopted by the bar, when it learns them. Those considerations before mentioned, which apply to the making of rules, apply with equal force to their interpretation and application. If a rule shall ever be interpreted or applied to the end that truth be obscured, such fact will be a public misfortune. By a rigid interpretation of these very reasonable rules, it would be possible to [388] preservé the form of judicial consideration and abandon the substance thereof in any given case wherein partiality or interest might operate. Such a state of affairs would be unendurable. It follows, therefore, that in determining whether the appellant’s brief shall be rejected for noncomplianee with said rule, an important consideration is the fact that if so rejected it will thereby be deprived of its appeal without any fault, but solely because of alleged literary shortcomings on the part of its representatives. A liberal construction must always be made to avoid such a result. Appellant’s brief is sufficient to advise this court, without delay or difficulty, of the questions involved in this appeal and of the facts out of which such questions arose. It is therefore in exact accordance with the rule.

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Indiana Union Traction Co. v. Heller, 89 N.E. 419, 44 Ind. App. 385, 1909 Ind. App. LEXIS 186 (Ind. Ct. App. 1909).

89 N.E. 419 (Indiana Union Traction Co. v. Heller) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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