Case Name: H. F. Kneeland, Plaintiff in Error, v. Tampa Northern Railroad Company, a Corporation, Defendant in Error
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1927-10-19
Citations: 94 Fla. 702
Docket Number: 
Parties: H. F. Kneeland, Plaintiff in Error, v. Tampa Northern Railroad Company, a Corporation, Defendant in Error.
Judges: Ellis, C. J., and Whitfield, Terrell, Strum, Brown, and Buford, J. J., concur.
Reporter: Florida Reports
Volume: 94
Pages: 702–704

Head Matter:
H. F. Kneeland, Plaintiff in Error, v. Tampa Northern Railroad Company, a Corporation, Defendant in Error.
En Banc.
Opinion Filed October 19, 1927.
Dickenson & Diaz, for Plaintiff in Error;
Knight, Thompson & Turner, for Defendant in Error.

Opinion:
Chillingworth, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiff in error sued the railroad company for injuries-which he alleged he had received while attempting to cross the railroad right-of-way at a grade crossing in Brooksville, Florida.
A demurrer was sustained to the declaration. Plaintiff declined to amend and a final judgment was entered against him.
We believe it would be of no assistance to copy the declaration in this opinion. When a declaration states a cause of action, surplus allegations not eliminated by appropriate motion may be disregarded. Stinson v. Prevatt, 84 Fla. 416, 94 So. 656. In actions where negligence is the basis of recovery, it is not necessary for the declaration to set out the facts constituting the negligence, but an allegation of sufficient acts causing the injury, coupled with an averment that they were negligently done, will be sufficient. Seaboard Air Line Railway Co. v. Rentz, 60 Fla. 429, 54 So. 13; Seaboard Air Line Ry. Co. v. Good, 79 Fla. 589, 84 So. 733.
While the declaration contains surplusage, it does state a cause of action.
Reversed.
Per Curiam.- — Tlie record in this cause having been considered by this Court, and the foregoing opinion prepared under Chapter 7837, Acts of 1919, adopted by the Court as its opinion, it is considered, ordered and adjudged by the Court that the judgment of the Circuit Court in this cause be, and the same is hereby reversed.
Ellis, C. J., and Whitfield, Terrell, Strum, Brown, and Buford, J. J., concur.