Kveset v. Grace & Co.

150 P. 281, 77 Or. 83, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 87
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 20, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 150 P. 281 (Kveset v. Grace & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kveset v. Grace & Co., 150 P. 281, 77 Or. 83, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 87 (Or. 1915).

Opinions

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Moore.

1. The court, refusing to instruct as requested by the defendant’s counsel, told the jury, in effect, that the defenses of assumption of risk, and of injury caused by fellow-servants were not available to the facts involved, and that the averment of contributory negligence was not an absolute bar to the plaintiff’s recovery, but should be taken into account in determining the amount of his damages, if any had been sustained by him. Exceptions were taken to the court’s action in these particulars, and it is contended that errors were thereby committed, "When the plain[86]*86tiff was hurt, a great part of the work in which he was engaged was performed by machinery, and, this being so, his cause of action comes within the provisions of the Employers ’ Liability Act, and no errors were committed in charging the jury as stated: Gen. Laws Or 1911, c. 3; Dunn v. Orchard Land Co., 68 Or. 97 (136 Pac. 872); Lang v. Camden Iron Works, 77 Or. 137 (146 Pac. 964).

2. The court gave, inter alia, the following instruction :

‘ ‘ There is a request made here to charge the jury in regard to sympathy. It says that you are to ‘disregard any feeling of sympathy that you may have for the plaintiff in this case, and to base your verdict entirely upon the evidence and the instructions of the court.’ Now, that is true. The law says that a man shouldn’t give a verdict just because of sympathy, but, if the plaintiff has a good cause of action, you needn’t steel yourselves and say, ‘Here, the court said we shouldn’t give him a verdict through sympathy, and I have got to get up here and steel myself and not be sympathetic.’ If the man is entitled to recover, you will remember that you are ordinary men taken from the community; that you exercise your hearts as well as your brains, and you shouldn’t be deterred just because somebody might charge you with being sympathetic. If the testimony shows that he has a good cause of action, and you believe from the testimony that he is entitled to recover, give him a verdict. If he isn’t entitled to recover, don’t give him a verdict merely because you are sorry for him.”

The defendant’s counsel, before the jury retired, made the following statement to the court:

“I should like an exception to the refusal of the court to give those instructions asked and not given, or as given and modified. * * I should like an exception * * to the limitation placed by the court on the instruc[87]*87tion relative to sympathy, which was asked for by the defendant.”
“The trial judge,” says Mr. Justice Gose, in Wheeler v. Hotel Stevens Co., 71 Wash. 142, 146 (127 Pac. 840, 842, Ann. Cas. 1914C, 576, 578), “may, and where there is a seeming necessity should, caution the jury not to allow sympathy or prejudice to influence their verdict. ’ ’

To the same effect, see Blashfield’s Instructions to Juries, Section 344, where this author remarks:

“As regards the necessity of giving such instructions, there is some diversity of opinion. A request for a caution of this nature may, of course, be refused, if there is nothing in the circumstances of the case which would make it proper. And authority is not wanting for the position that it is within the court’s discretion whether such an instruction shall be given in any case.”

An examination of the instruction complained of will show that the use of the phrase “just because” was equivalent to telling the jury that sympathy for a person injured by the alleged negligence of another was an element to be considered in determining the damages sustained, but not the exclusive ingredient. The further declaration imputed to each juror, “I have got to get up here and steel myself and not be sympathetic,” was tantamount to a command to be compassionate. Telling the jury, “You exercise your hearts as well as your brains, ’ ’ was the same as inviting their commiseration. The word “heart,” as used in the language quoted, was undoubtedly employed to represent the seat of the affections, emotions, feelings and passions, as contradistinguished from the abode of the intellect and the will. In the trial of causes jurors should be admonished, when deemed necessary by the court, to lay aside pathos and prejudice, carefully to weigh the evidence received, and from it alone, guided [88]*88by the court’s instructions, determine the issues submitted to them. Juries are not required or even expected to “exercise their hearts” in reaching a verdict,^ and the invitation to do so, as given in the instruction challenged, was erroneous.

3. The rule formerly prevailing in this state was that, where error appeared, prejudice would be presumed, in which case a reversal of the judgment would inevitably result, unless it was manifest that no injurious consequences arose from a misapplication of the law. In the case at bar there is attached to the bill of exceptions a copy of the entire testimony received at the trial and of the instructions that were given and those that were refused. When such a transcript has been brought up it is now necessary, under an amendment to the organic law of the state, to examine the record with care and determine whether the judgment should be affirmed notwithstanding the error: Article VII, Section 3 of the .Constitution. The question to be considered is whether, from an examination of the entire testimony, it can affirmatively be said that the verdict for $3,100 is excessive by reason of any sympathy that the jury may have exercised in behalf of the plaintiff.

4. The testimony shows that the plaintiff is a longshoreman, having worked at that business 8 years prior to his injury, and for his services received $4.50 a day. If he was employed more than 9 hours in any one day, he was paid 75 cents an hour for the extra time. He was robust, and from the American Mortality Tables has an expectancy of 33 years. The plaintiff, in speaking of his injured foot, testified:

“It swells up every afternoon, * * When I work a little it swells up more.”

[89]*89In answer to the question, “Does that foot affect you now?” Kveset replied:

“Well, if I walk all day it gets weak, you know. I can walk on the level, but if I step on something round my foot turns and hurts, you know.”

Dr. B. N. Wade, who waited upon the plaintiff when he was hurt, in speaking of the injury at that time, testified:

“The outer hone was fractured just above the ankle, and it turned in an oblique direction, and the inner hone was broken, and the fracture extended down quite a little bit. That was due to the turning of the foot, somewhat.
“Q. From your examination of him recently, will you state what the condition of his foot and ankle is?
“A. There is a little swelling there yet, and it seems to come up badly evenings, and the joint is weak.
“Q. Is that ankle liable to turn on him when he walks ?
“A. It is liable to turn on him when he walks, because the ligaments are torn off, and the joint is weak, and if he got any sudden twisting of this ankle it would become dislocated again.”

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Johnson v. Ladd
24 P.2d 17 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1933)
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270 P. 759 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1928)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
150 P. 281, 77 Or. 83, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kveset-v-grace-co-or-1915.