Jordan v. Cedar Rapids & Marion City Railway Co.

99 N.W. 693, 124 Iowa 177
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided May 10, 1904·Published·Cited by 19 cases

Opinion

Sherwin, J.

The-plaintiff’s injuries were received in a collision between cars on the appellant’s electric railway. At the close of the evidence on the trial, the defendant admitted of record that the plaintiff was entitled to recover, that there was no claim of contributory negligence on his part, and that the only question in the case was the measure of damages. The petition alleged that at the time of his injury the plaintiff was 54 years old, sound and healthy, and capable, of and actually earning large sums of money for his personal services and exertions, and in the management of his business. In stating the issues, the trial court copied this paragraph of the petition almost literally, and the appellant now says that by so doing it assumed and asserted the truth of the facts therein pleaded. There is no merit in the contention, however, for the court simply recited the claims made by the [179] plaintiff, and its statement could not have been misunderstood by the jury.

i. damages: mstructions. In the first clause of its second instruction, the court told the jury to award the plaintiff “ such further sum as is shown hy evidence to be an amount that will reasonak]y compensate him for the pain and suffering that, as shown by the evidence, it is reasonably certain he will incur and suffer in the future because of his injuries.” It is said that the court assumed therein that it was reasonably certain that the plaintiff would suffer pain in the future. The construction of the sentence may not be above criticism, but, considered in connection with the entire charge, its meaning was not doubtful, and we do not believe that the jury construed it as counsel does.

•2. Same. The court instructed that, if the jury found from the evidence future disability, the plaintiff should be allowed a sum that would reasonably compensate him for his impaired ability to labor and earn money and manage and pursue his business in the future,” and he further told the jury that its inquiries “ should be directed to the value of the personal services of the plaintiff in the management and pursuit of his business.” Complaint is made of these instructions, grounded upon the claim that there was no competent evidence of the value of the plaintiff’s time or services. The plaintiff testified on this subject, however, without any objection as to his competency. If the witness was competent, the testimony certainly was, because it tended to support one of the vital issues in the case; hence we thin 1c the court rightly instructed on the subject.

3. Evidence: Pr°fits. It is said that there was error in receiving evidence of the profits of the plaintiff’s business as a dealer in live stock, because it was outside of the issues tendered by the pleadings. It is undoubtedly true that profits were not specifically pleaded as the measure of the plaintiff’s damages, nor is it so claimed by him. .But the petition alleged that he had lost much valuable time on account [180] of Ms injuries, and would be compelled to lose further time in the future, and that his ability to labor, earn money, and manage and pursue his business had been permanently injured and impaired. We think this allegation was broad enough to let in tire testimony complained of. Bailey v. City of Centerville, 108 Iowa, 20. No objection was made to it because it was irrelevant to the 'issue, and the point cannot be first raised in this court. Iselin v. Griffith, 62 Iowa, 668. It is the well-settled rule in this State, and in most of the other States, that there can be no recovery for profits which are of such a remote and speculative character that they cannot be legally proved. Bank v. Thurman, 69 Iowa, 693; Hichborn, Mack & Co. v. Bradley, 117 Iowa, 130. But in this ease no such claim was made, nor was it tried or submitted to the jury on the theory that there -might be a recovery for profits.

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Jordan v. Cedar Rapids & Marion City Railway Co., 99 N.W. 693, 124 Iowa 177 (iowa 1904).

99 N.W. 693 (Jordan v. Cedar Rapids & Marion City Railway Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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