Siegrist v. Arnot

86 Mo. 200
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 15, 1885
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 86 Mo. 200 (Siegrist v. Arnot) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Siegrist v. Arnot, 86 Mo. 200 (Mo. 1885).

Opinions

Henry, C. J.

— This is an action by plaintiff for damages for an injury to Mrs. Siegrist, which she sustained by being thrown from a carriage of' defendant, in the city of St. Louis. Defendant had a judgment in the circuit court, which was reversed by the court of appeals, and it is now here on appeal from the latter judgment.

Defendant was a livery stable keeper, and gratuitously furnished four of his carriages, and a driver for each, to carry to and from Mercantile Library Hall some young ladies and gentlemen who were to take part in a performance there for the benefit of orphans. It was [203]*203distinctly agreed between the defendant and Mrs. Harnean, who, with Miss Hopkins, managed the entertainment, that the carriages were for the nse of the ladies and gentlemen who took parts in the tableaux, and that Mrs. Garneau was to furnish to defendant the names of the parties to be carried in his vehicles, so arranging them as to make the least travel for each carriage.. This was furnished, and in one of defendant’s carriages Miss Wickham, Miss Garrison and Miss Barney were-taken to the hall, the driver calling at the residence of each of these ladies for them, neither of them directing' him whom he should go for. The testimony is uncontradicted that the names of persons to go in his carriages were furnished to defendant, and the fact equally well established that the driver of this particular carriage went for those three ladies who did perform on the occasion, corroborates the testimony of defendant, that each of his drivers had a list of the names of the-persons who were to be carried in the carriage driven by him.

After the entertainment Mrs. Siegrist, who had taken no part in the performance, but whose daughter had, got into the carriage, she says, by direction of Mr. Garneau, son of Mrs. Joseph Garneau, who hacl made the arrangement with defendant, and soon after the three young ladies who had gone there together got into the carriage in which Mrs. Siegrist had taken her seat. Young Garneau was stationed there to seat performers in the carriage. - There is not a particle of evidence tending to prove that the driver knew that Mrs. Siegrist was in the carriage; she says she did not see him,, or speak with him. He was at Ms place on the box,, outside, when she took her seat. - It was eleven o’clock at night. He had reason to suppose that he would carry those home who had gone to the hall in his carriage. After letting the three young ladies out of the carriage,, the last one at Judge Wickham’s door, his horses took [204]*204fright and ran, and Mrs. Siegrist was thrown from the carriage and the driver from his seat. It is a significant fact, that when on the ground, stunned by the fall, he said, answering a question, that there was no one in the •carriage, and this tends strongly to prove that it was the same carriage in which. the young ladies above named had gone to the hall, and that the driver did not know that Mrs. Siegrist was in his carriage. Her young son had ridden from the hall on the box with the driver, ■but had got down at Judge Wickham’s, and there is no evidence tending to prove that the driver knew that he was Mrs. Siegrist’s son, or who he was.

Mrs. Siegrist had no arrangement with Mr. Arnot, or his driven or with Mrs. Garneau, to ride in Arnot’s carriage. Neither Arnot nor his driver knew that she had taken a seat in the carriage, and she must have known that she had no right to a seat in it. On these facts, what is the law ?

The court declared it to be as follows : “The jury are instructed that if they believe from the evidence that the carriage was furnished gratuitously by the defendant under an agreement with him that it was to be used only in the conveyance to and from the library of persons who were to perform in the tableaux mentioned in the evidence, and if they further believe that the plaintiff, Mrs. Siegrist, was not one of such performers, and that she entered said carriage without the knowledge or consent of the defendant, then the defendant is not liable for any injuries she may have sustained while being driven in said carriage, even though the driver of said vehicle had undertaken to drive her to her home, unless the jury shall further find that such injuries were occasioned by gross carelessness on the part of the defendant. And in order to find the defendant liable on account of such carelessness, the jury must believe from the evidence that at the time of the accident the driver of said vehicle was so intoxicated as to be unfit [205]*205to manage the team entrusted to him, and that this fact was known to the defendant and not known to said plaintiff, or that the habits of said driver, either as to drunkenness or carelessness, were such as to render him an unsafe or unfit person to be placed in charge of a vehicle, and that such habits were known to the defendant at the time ; and further, that the injuries received: by the said plaintiff were occasioned by the drunkenness or carelessness of said driver.”

Defendant was not a common carrier. He was under no obligation to carry any one that night except those for whom the carriage was engaged, and is certainly not to be held to a stricter liability than that declared in the instruction. If neither Arnot nor his driver knew that Mrs. Siegrist had taken a seat in the carriage, upon what principle is Arnot to be held liable ? There were no contract relations betwixt himself and Mrs. Siegrist, no legal requirement that he should carry her. She knew she had no right there, and stands in some respects, so far as Arnot is concerned, as one to a railroad company, who, without right, and without the knowledge of the employes of the company, gets upon its train and is injured; the only difference being, in Arnot’s favor, that he is not, while the railroad corporation is, a common carrier.

If one gets into the vehicle of another, without his knowledge or consent, and is by careless driving of the latter injured, is it possible that the latter would be liable to him for damages, however gross the negligence is ? How is the case at bar to be distinguished from the case supposed? If Arnot had been driving, he would not have been liable to Mrs. Siegrist for negligent driving, if ignorant that she had taken a seat in his carriage. We think that the instruction given by the court was as favorable to plaintiffs as they had a right to ask, even more favorable than the facts warranted.

Of plaintiffs’ refused instructions, one of them as[206]*206■serted the liability of one who, whether a common carrier or not, undertakes to carry another, and another --declared that the ownership of the carriage and the employment of the driver constituted the latter the servant ■of Arnot, who was answerable for negligence committed •by him, within the scope of his employment. As abstract propositions of law they are correct, but have no .application to the facts of this case, because there was mo evidence that Arnot, or his driver, agreed to carry Mrs. Siegrist, or knew that she had taken a seat in the marriage. Another refused instruction declared Arnot liable if young Garneau seated Mrs. Siegrist in the carriage. Mr. Garneau did not represent either Arnot or the driver, and had no authority from any one to give her a seat in Arnot’s carriage, nor did he inform the •driver when he seated Mrs. Siegrist that it was she, and not one of the young ladies he had carried to the hall. 'The others of plaintiffs’ refused instructions predicated the right of Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
86 Mo. 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/siegrist-v-arnot-mo-1885.