Lamar v. Panhandle & S. F. Ry. Co.

234 S.W. 605, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 1032
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 19, 1921
DocketNo. 1823.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 234 S.W. 605 (Lamar v. Panhandle & S. F. Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lamar v. Panhandle & S. F. Ry. Co., 234 S.W. 605, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 1032 (Tex. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

HUFF, C. J.

This action was brought by appellant Lamar against appellee railway company for damages occasioned by injuries received by his wife on a passenger train of appellee and while she was a passenger thereon, between Lubbock and Farwell, near Lariat. “Through some negligence not definitely known to plaintiff, said train had a collision, and was negligently wrecked and jolted and jarred and partially derailed, and *606 shook to such an extent that it threw plaintiff’s said wife down against the- floor and seats of said train and car in which she was riding as such passenger,” inflicting injuries for which damage is sought. The defendant railway company answered by general denial, alleging specially that the wife of appellant was herself negligent, which contributed to her injuries, and that they were negligent in treating her injuries afterwards, and that her present condition, if diseased, was not caused by the injuries received on the train, but was from prior causes which she had sustained perhaps in earlier life, etc. It is alleged that the jar or jolt was caused by the striking of two of defendant’s engines, one of which was pulling the passenger train in question, which was occasioned by or occurred in a blinding snowstorm of a nature unprecedented in that section of the country, and which could not have been in any manner anticipated. They further allege a settlement with the wife by paying her $50, which she and her husband accepted as full settlement of the injuries sustained, The plaintiff, by supplemental petition, pleaded that the settlement was procured by fraud, and' that the wife was induced to sign it by false and fraudulent representation and at a time when she was mentally incapacitated from entering into such arrangement, and further pleadSd cov-erture; that is, that her husband did, not join with her in the making of the settlement. The railway company by supplement in answer to plaintiff’s last plea set up es-toppel against the plaintiff, the husband, to deny the validity of the release, in that he accepted the $50 paid in settlement to his wife, and received the benefit with full knowledge of the source and refused to turn it back, etc. ' The ease was submitted to a jury upon a general charge, and a general verdict was rendered for the defendant, and judgment entered accordingly. The facts show that Mrs. Lamar was a passenger on the train in which she was injured; that the passenger train upon which she was riding was traveling east, and there was a freight train on the same track, traveling west'; that at the time of the injury there was a severe snowstorm prevailing, and that the freight train had been stalled in a cut, and the engine of that train cut loose, and, as described, was “bucking” the snow, and it seems had gone forward when the collision occurred between the passenger engine and the freight engine, knocking the freight engine some distance down the track and demolishing the other engine. The mail car seems to have been partially turned over, and the coach in which Mrs. Lamar was riding apparently was lifted off the track or tilted, but settled back on the track, and she was thrown from her Seat into the aisle, and apparently rendered unconscious at the time. There is some evidence to the effect that a flagman had been stationed in order to flag the train, but on account of the snow the engine passed the flagman without seeing him. The facts' in this particular are very meager, and evidently not fully developed by either party. At this time we will not state the facts further, but in considering some of the assignments we will call attention to the necessary facts.

- The first assignment is to the effect that the trial court erred in submitting the question of wreck of the train in which Mrs. Lamar was a passenger, and the question as to her being a passenger because the facts were not disputed on these points. The second assignment is the court was in error in his charge in placing the burden of proof on the plaintiff to prove negligence and the wreck of the train, for the reason after he had established the wreck the burden was on defendant to , show the train was not wrecked by the negligence of defendant The appellee insists the assignments should not be considered for the reason that no objection is shown to have been made to the charge of the court before it was read to the jury by the court. In this we think the appellee is sustained by the record. The appellant presented an instrument, .requesting the court to withdraw the charge objected to and submit the requested charge thereto appended, and in the same instrument presented certain objections to the court’s charge. This was signed by counsel for the plaintiff, and marked “Refused” and “Plaintiff excepts,” signed by the trial judge. The same method was used as to both grounds set up in the two assignments. It is not shown when this was presented to the trial court, but indications are that it was after the charge had been read to the jury. Objections to the charge of the court cannot be reviewed where the record does not show they were presented before the charge was read to the jury. Such objections will be considered as waived, where objections are not shown to have been made and presented in proper time. This, we think, is the unanimous holding of the courts. Railway Co. v. Culver, 168 S. W. 514; Electric Express, etc., v. Ablon, 218 S. W. 1030; Midkiff v. Benson, 225 S. W. 186; Ball v. Henderson, 228 S. W. 361. It is not necessary to take a formal bill of exceptions, but it should appear from the record the objections were presented to the court before the charge was read to the jury. Railway Co. v. Dickey, 108 Tex. 126, 187 S. W. 184. The objection to the charge of the court should be regarded as waived under the statute.

The fourth assignment asserts error in refusing special charge No. 1, which is:

“The court withdraws from your consideration subdivision 5, under paragraph 1 of his main charge herein, and substitutes therefor *607 the following: ‘It is undisputed by the facts of this case that there was a wreck, and that plaintiff’s wife was a passenger on the train of defendant at the time of said wreck, and you will so find, but the burden was on the plaintiff to prove that as a proximate result of such wreck plaintiff’s wife received some or all of the injuries set up in her petition, and if plaintiff has not discharged this burden, you will find for the defendant. In this connection you may consider all the evidence, whether introduced by the.plaintiff or the defendant. But if the evidence shows by a preponderance thereof that the wreck occurred without negligence on the part of the defendants, its agents or servants, then you will find for the defendant. But if defendant has failed, considering all the evidence, to show that the wreck occurred without its negligence, and you further find that plaintiff’s wife was injured in whole or in part, as alleged, as the proximate result of such wreck, and you fail to find she was guilty of contributory negligence, you will find for the plaintiff.’ ”

The trial court instructed on the burden or proof that the burden was on the plaintiff to show his wife was a passenger on the train; that the car in which she was riding was wrecked, jolted, jarred, etc., as alleged, and that the same was caused by the defendant’s negligence and that the wife’s injuries was the proximate result of such negligence, and further instructed the jury they could consider all the evidence introduced by either party in connection therewith.

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Related

Continental Casualty Co. v. Canales
100 S.W.2d 797 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1936)
Dallas Ry. Co. v. Skorodynski
292 S.W. 638 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)
Lamar v. Panhandle & S. F. Ry. Co.
248 S.W. 34 (Texas Commission of Appeals, 1923)

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Bluebook (online)
234 S.W. 605, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 1032, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lamar-v-panhandle-s-f-ry-co-texapp-1921.