Spain v. Oregon-Washington R. & N. Co.

153 P. 470, 78 Or. 355, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 59
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 7, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 153 P. 470 (Spain v. Oregon-Washington R. & N. 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
Spain v. Oregon-Washington R. & N. Co., 153 P. 470, 78 Or. 355, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 59 (Or. 1915).

Opinion

Mr. Justice McBride

delivered the opinion of the court.

1, 2. The question as to whether plaintiff was intoxicated or drinking intoxicating liquor is foreclosed by the verdict of the jury so far as this court is concerned. If plaintiff and his witness are to be believed, he was [360]*360utterly innocent of drinking any intoxicating liquor and was duly sober; while, on the other hand, several apparently reputable witnesses testified that he was not only drinking liquor, but was exceedingly drunk. The jury evidently accepted the testimony of plaintiff and his witness, and we must therefore assume that plaintiff was peacefully and soberly traveling on defendant’s train, and that defendant’s conductor seeing him drink ginger ale from a bottle assumed at once it was beer, and calling a deputy sheriff, who was also a watchman employed by defendant, to his assistance, had plaintiff ejected from the train and put under arrest. If plaintiff was drunk or drinking intoxicating liquor on the train, or if his conduct was such as to have induced a reasonable man to believe him drunk, it was not only his right but the duty of the conductor to place him under arrest. To be intoxicated or to drink intoxicating liquor in an ordinary passenger-car is a crime made punishable by Chapter 135, Laws of 1911, while Section 6959, L. O. L., declares that the conductor of a railroad train, while actually engaged as such, shall have the power of a sheriff in each county through which the train passes for the purpose of protecting the public peace and arresting violators thereof on or near such train. Accepting plaintiff’s testimony as true, as we must after verdict, it appears that the conductor, without stopping to investigate or ascertain the contents of the bottle, called an officer and caused a perfectly sober passenger to be put under arrest, as a consequence of which he was incarcerated in a cold and filthy prison, detained from his business, and suffered slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as detailed in the Iliad of his woes given in the preliminary statement. Whether the conductor acted in good faith was a question for the jury, [361]*361and it was fairly submitted by tbe instruction given by tbe court.

3-6. It is contended that the court erred in admitting testimony to tbe effect that plaintiff’s companions, who drank with bim from, tbe same bottle, were not disturbed by tbe conductor; but we think this is admissible, both as a part of tbe res gestae and as showing tbe good faith of tbe conductor in making the arrest. Tbe bearing of this testimony upon any phase of tbe case would necessarily be slight in any event if it bad any at all, but, while remote, we do not think it incompetent. Tbe testimony in regard to tbe condition of tbe Huntington jail was not improper. If defendant by its agents, tbe conductor and watchman, unlawfully or maliciously caused plaintiff’s arrest and incarceration, it was a continuing tort for tbe consequences of which tbe original wrongdoer should be held responsible. Tbe defendant’s trespass, if it was one, did not end when tbe plaintiff was banded over to its watchman, but continued during bis incarceration and up to bis release. Tbe complaint was drawn upon this theory, and tbe conditions in tbe jail are fully set forth as an element of plaintiff’s damage. While it is true that tbe conductor is given by tbe statute tbe powers of a sheriff, it is not conceived that when executing tbe duty of preserving order on tbe train be ceases to be a servant of bis company, or that tbe statute invests bim with any other or different power than that already possessed by bim as conductor beyond that of calling upon tbe bystanders for assistance in making an arrest, which but for tbe statute be would have no legal right to require. It is impossible to separate tbe peace officer from tbe conductor when the duties of both are vested in tbe same person, and practically tbe same duty, is required in each capacity. “I swear [362]*362as a private person and not as a bishop,” said a cleric when reproved by the king for profanity. “But,” said the king, “if the private person goes to hell for swearing, what becomes of the bishop?” So, if.the conductor negligently or willfully assaults a passenger or expels him from the train, what becomes of the peace officer wearing the same skin? The powers given by statute to the conductor are not for the purpose of enabling his employer to escape liability for his acts, but to enable him better to protect its property and passengers from the unlawful acts of others. The same may be said of Rooney, the man actually making the arrest. If, as he says, he saw plaintiff drinking beer on the train and found him on the train drunk, he was justified in arresting him and taking him to jail; but, while he had incidentally a deputy sheriff’s appointment, he was nevertheless an employee of defendant and in its service for the purpose of protecting its trains and depots from lawlessness. The deputyship and badge were, no doubt, given him for the purpose of enabling him the more efficiently to perform the duties of his employment. When Rooney, the deputy sheriff, led plaintiff from the train to the street and thence to the jail, Rooney, the watchman of defendant, also led him there, and it was Rooney the agent of defendant, who consented that plaintiff might be charged with a municipal offense instead of a violation of the state law. So that if these employees of defendant acted negligently or willfully in the premises and ejected and imprisoned a sober man who had not violated any law of the state, which fact they might have ascertained by reasonable diligence, the tort was a continuing one including all the discomforts of the jail in which he was confined; and the mere fact that the conductor and watchman were [363]*363also peace officers will not relieve the defendant of liability for their tortious acts. Another objection was to the ruling of the court permitting plaintiff to testify as to his sense of humiliation and mortification on account of being publicly ejected from the car. It is well settled that except in cases of slander, breach of promise and the like, a recovery for mental suffering unaccompanied by physical injury will not be permitted: Adams v. Brosius, 69 Or. 513 (139 Pac. 729, 51 L. R. A. (N. S.) 36). But the same authorities cited in the case last referred to hold, also, that where the tort is accompanied by physical injury mental suffering may be taken into account. In the case at bar the ejection was accompanied with some degree of physical force, and, if this was not justified, it constituted an assault and involved a false imprisonment of the plaintiff. Under these circumstances the testimony was relevant: 19 Cyc. 368.

7. Another alleged error was the ruling of the court permitting one Workman to answer the following question: ‘‘What are your habits as to the use of intoxicating liquor!” The witness replied: “I claim to be a good, clean athlete, and I don’t drink any liquor.” Ordinarily the question would have been irrelevant, though it can hardly be seen how the answer could have affected the case one way or the other; but in this particular instance the witness had testified that he was the person who furnished a bottle of ginger ale from which plaintiff drank and which the conductor claimed to have been beer.

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Bluebook (online)
153 P. 470, 78 Or. 355, 1915 Ore. LEXIS 59, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spain-v-oregon-washington-r-n-co-or-1915.