Jeffersonville, Madison, & Indianapolis Railroad v. Bowen

40 Ind. 545
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1872
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 40 Ind. 545 (Jeffersonville, Madison, & Indianapolis Railroad v. Bowen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jeffersonville, Madison, & Indianapolis Railroad v. Bowen, 40 Ind. 545 (Ind. 1872).

Opinion

Downey, J.

The appellee sued the appellant, alleging in his complaint that William B. Bowen, five years of age, his son and servant, residing with him, was lawfully upon the railroad track upon a public street .in Madison, near the [546]*546dwelling-house of the plaintiff, without any fault or negligence of the plaintiff, when, in full sight of the servants of the defendant operating the locomotive and cars of the company, while he was standing near and behind a car that had been carelessly left standing on the track, and when it was known to the servants of the defendant that he was so standing there, and while he was in speaking distance of them, and they could easily have informed him or lifted him out of the way had they so desired, without ringing the bell, blowing the whistle, or giving any signal whatever of their approach, the said servants of defendant wrongfully, carelessly, and negligently backed and run her locomotive and cars against the car so standing on the track, and put the same in motion, and carelessly and negligently ran her cars over said child, by means of which he was so injured that he died; wherefore, etc.

The defendant demurred to the complaint, for the reason that the same did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and because the court had no jurisdiction of the parties and subject-matter. The demurrer was overruled by the court, and the defendant reserved the question.

The company then answered in two paragraphs; first, the general denial; and second, that the alleged injury was caused by the negligence and want of care of the plaintiff, because the defendant was operating its cars with due and ordinary care and skill, but the plaintiff negligently permitted his child, under the age of five years, to go and remain upon said railroad track, though he knew that trains were passing over the track every hour of the day; and being so on the track, it was run over and injured, from which injuries it died; and that its servants did not do said injury wilfully, wantonly, or purposely, but, on the contrary, with ordinary care and skill to avoid the same.

The second paragraph of the answer was, on motion o'f the plaintiff, stricken out, on the ground that it amounted only to a denial of matter already controverted by the gen[547]*547eral denial. The defendant, by bill of exceptions, reserved the question. . •

After a trial by jury, which ended in a verdict for the plaintiff the defendant moved the court to grant a new trial, assigning as reasons that the court had erred in admitting objectionable evidence; in its own instructions to the jury; in refusing to give certain instructions asked by the defendant; because the verdict was contrary to law, and not sustained by sufficient evidence.

This motion was overruled, the defendant excepted, and final judgment was rendered for the plaintiff for the amount mentioned in the verdict.

The first alleged error is the overruling of the defendant’s demurrer to the complaint. No objection to it is pointed out in the brief of counsel for the appellant, and we can see none.

It was proper to strike out the second paragraph of the answer. It put nothing in issue not already put in issue by the general denial. Coquillard's Adm’rs v. French, 19 Ind. 274.

The objectionable evidence allowed by the court to go to the jury was not pointed out particularly in the reasons fora new trial. The court erred in admitting evidence to go to the jury over the objection of the defendant,” is the language of the motion. This is too general.

It is urged that the evidence was not sufficient to justify the verdict of the jury.

But we are here met by an objection made by counsel for the appellee, that the bill of exceptions does not contain all the evidence, and that, therefore, we cannot consider this question. The jury were sent to and examined the place where the cars ran over the child, arid according to the rule established in The Evansville, etc., R. R. Co. v. Cochran, 10 Ind. 560, we could not, in such a case, regard the evidence as all in the record, for the reason that we could not know what impressions, as to the facts, were made on the minds of the jury by the examination of the place, etc., in question. It is insisted, however, by counsel for the appellant [548]*548that that case is not founded in reason, or supported by authority, and we are asked to overrule the same. It is urged that to follow that case is to say that in no case where the jury has had a view of the place in which any material fact occurred, as contemplated by the statute, 2 G. & H. 427, sec. 164, of the criminal code, or page 202, sec. 328, of the civil code, can the evidence be got into the record, as it would be impossible to put into the bill of exceptions the impressions made upon the minds of the jury by such view; and that in this way all benefit of appeal to this court, so far as any question is concerned which depends upon all the evidence being in the record, would be wholly cut off. It is further contended that whether the jury shall have a view of the place, etc., is a matter entirely in the discretion of the court, and that the court may thus, in its discretion, deprive a party of the right to have questions depending on the evidence reviewed in this court, even in cases of the greatest moment. It is urged that under the rule in that case a party might be convicted and sentenced to be hanged on wholly insufficient evidence, yet if the prosecutor has got an order for the jury to view the place, and they have done so, it would be impossible to get the judgment reversed, no matter how insufficient the evidence might have been.

These reasons have so much force in them that we feel compelled to overrule the case of The Evansville, etc., Railroad Company v. Cochran, and any other cases which have followed it, and to hold that the bill of exceptions may contain all the evidence, notwithstanding the jury may have viewed the property which is the subject of the litigation, or the place in which any material fact occurred, in accordance with the sections of the codes above cited. It is suggested by counsel for the appellee that the jurors, after they have examined the property or the place, may be examined and may state the impressions made on their minds, and that their statements on such examination may be put in the bill of exceptions. We are not inclined to adopt this view. We [549]*549do not think it practicable. In Close v. Samm, 27 Iowa, 503, this question was under consideration. The district court had instructed the jury that they should consider all the evidence in the case and all the facts and circumstances disclosed on the trial, including their personal examination, etc. The question was presented to the Supreme Court whether this instruction was correct or not, and, under a statute similar to our section found in the civil code, the court said: “The question then arises as to the purpose and intent of this statute. It seems to us that it was to enable the jury, by the view of the premises or place, to better understand and comprehend the testimony of the witnesses respecting the same, and thereby the more intelligently to apply the testimony to the issues on trial before them, and not to make them silent witnesses in the case, burdened with testimony unknown to both parties, and in respect to which no opportunity for cross examination or correction of error, if any, could be afforded either party.

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Bluebook (online)
40 Ind. 545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeffersonville-madison-indianapolis-railroad-v-bowen-ind-1872.