Lauer v. Palms

58 L.R.A. 67, 89 N.W. 694, 129 Mich. 671, 1902 Mich. LEXIS 533
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 18, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 58 L.R.A. 67 (Lauer v. Palms) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lauer v. Palms, 58 L.R.A. 67, 89 N.W. 694, 129 Mich. 671, 1902 Mich. LEXIS 533 (Mich. 1902).

Opinion

Moore, J.

The plaintiff obtained a judgment against the defendants, who have brought the case here by writ of error. A large number of the assignments of error grow out of the charge of the judge, and his refusal to give certain requests of defendants; so that it becomes important to know what the court charged the jury. His charge was as follows:

[673]*673“This action is brought by Nicholas Lauer against the ’ defendants for damages resulting from an injury which • happened to the plaintiff on the 12th day of December, 11899, on Woodbridge street west, by reason of the collapse of the east wall of the so-called Palms or Krolik building. It appears from the testimony that there had been a fire some time previous to the day on which the wall fell. The wall fell December 12, 1899. The fire had taken place on the 24th day of November of the same year. The defendants in this case, as trustees of the Palms estate, were the owners of this building. It also appears that the plaintiff was, on the 12th day of December, and for about a year prior thereto, in the employ of Bloom-garden & Ellenstein, commission merchants, in a building directly adjoining the Krolik building on the east. As I said, the fire happened on the 24th day of November, and left the building in a condition which you will determine from the testimony which has been given here. Defendants were not responsible for the fire; they were not responsible for the condition in which the building was on the morning after the fire; so that, if this accident had happened on the morning after the fire, I should probably have directed a verdict for the defendants; but, as it happened some time after the fire, other questions arise, which are to be submitted to you for determination as questions of fact.
“Although the defendants were not responsible for the condition in which the fire left the building, they, however, did owe a certain duty to the public and to the adjoining owners, and that duty was to correct any dangerous condition in which the building might have been, and, if they neglected or delayed unnecessarily the performance of that duty, they are chargeable with negligence; so that the first question for you to determine is, What was the condition of the east wall of that building on the morning after the fire, and for all the mornings after that up to the 11th day of December, — the day prior to the time that the east wall fell? In this connection, if you find that the east wall was in a safe condition up to the night of December 11th, then defendants would not be chargeable with negligence by reason of any delay in taking down the wall or fixing the building. In determining this question, you will consider all the evidence of the people 'who have testified, both from personal examination or as to facts in relation to the condition of the wall, and upon [674]*674hypothetical questions based upon facts in the case. If, however, you find that the east wall after the fire, and up to the 11th day of December, was in an unsafe condition, and liable to fall or be blown down (and by being ‘blown down’ I mean blown down by reason of its not being in a reasonably safe or strong condition to resist the strain upon the supporting timbers, or that it was blown down by reason of its not being of a proper and safe construction, sufficient to resist the elements at all seasons and in all ordinary weather, and under such extraordinary occurrences as are likely to arise in that locality, based upon past experience in that locality), you will find for the plaintiff. I charge you that if the defendants were guilty of negligence in allowing such a wall to stand in a condition which you find was unsafe, either to adjoining buildings or the public on the street, you should find for the plaintiff, if by the exercise of reasonable diligence you believe the defendants could have put the wall in a safe condition at the time it became unsafe, or between that time and the time it fell. I am speaking now of the time between the fire and the 11th of December. An unsafe condition would be such a condition that it would not be able to resist the elements under the ordinary circumstances which might exist in that locality, or under such extraordinary circumstances as might happen in that locality, judging from past experience. That is, if this blow which arose and resulted in the throwing down of the wall caused it to fall because of the weak condition of that wall, which had existed prior to December 11th, these remarks apply. If it was an extraordinary blow, such - as experience in that locality would not have forecast as possible, then the liability would not attach. If you believe that the east wall was in a dangerous and unsafe condition, and was liable to fall under such a blow, then such a wall would be a public and private nuisance as to, those owning adjoining property; and, if you believe that by reason of such unsafe condition the walls fell and caused this injury, the owner is liable for all the consequences arising therefrom. I am speaking now of a condition existing between the time of the fire and December 11th. I shall come hereafter to conditions which may have existed after December 11th, caused by the falling of the west wall. If you find that, after the fire, the wall was in a safe condition, you will not charge the defendants with anything which might have been done before December 11th to put it in a safer condition.
[675]*675“ It became the duty of defendants, after the fire, to see to it that the premises or walls of this building were in a safe condition, — in such a condition that people would not he hurt therefrom, and to withstand the elements in all ordinary weather, and under such extraordinary occurrences as are likely to happen in that locality, based on past experience. And I charge you, further, that they were not relieved from this duty by the employment of architects or builders, if the architects and builders have been negligent in the performance of their duty. In considering the condition of the wall during that period, and in considering the degree of care that it was necessary for the defendants to exercise in and about the repairing of the building in question after the fire, you have the right to consider that the defendants and their agents were not architects and contractors; also the fact that, immediately after the fire, they consulted competent architects and builders. You are to judge of the competency of these men, and you will consider the fact that they were guided entirely by their judgment as to what was necessary to be done, and acted entirely in accordance with the suggestions of such builders. That is, not being architects or builders themselves, it was the duty of the defendants, under the circumstances, to consult competent architects and builders, and to take such action as was necessary.
“In considering the matter whether the walls were in a dangerous condition after the fire, you have the right to consider that the building was examined by competent architects and masons and builders, who examined it not only with reference to its present safety, but also • with reference to its capacity to bear a new roof.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 L.R.A. 67, 89 N.W. 694, 129 Mich. 671, 1902 Mich. LEXIS 533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lauer-v-palms-mich-1902.