Case Name: Highway Patrol, et al. v. Neal's Dependents
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1960-11-07
Citations: 239 Miss. 505
Docket Number: No. 41570
Parties: Highway Patrol, et al. v. Neal's Dependents
Judges: McGehee, G. J., and Arrington, Gillespie and McElroy, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Mississippi Reports
Volume: 239
Pages: 505–513

Head Matter:
Highway Patrol, et al. v. Neal's Dependents
No. 41570
November 7, 1960
124 So. 2d 120
Butter, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Camada, Jackson, for appellants.
Alton Massey, Kosciusko, for appellees.

Opinion:
Ethridge, J.
The Workmen's Compensation Commission awarded death benefits under the Act to appellees, dependents of Claude C. Neal, deceased. Neal was a highway patrolman, working in the drivers ' license division, examining applicants for such licenses in several counties. He had a long-standing, severe care of hypertension, and died during working hours from a cerebral hemorrage. The overwhelming weight of the evidence reflects that the activities and duties of his employment aggravated, accelerated, or combined with his pre-exist-ing disease to produce his death. Five doctors who had seen and treated deceased at various times over a period of years were of that opinion. The testimony of two specialists, who testified for appellant from hypotheti cal questions but who bad no personal knowledge of tbe employee's condition, would not warrant a finding to tbe contrary. Tbe case is controlled by a long line of decisions dealing with tbis issue. W. G. Avery Body Co. v. Hall, 224 Miss. 51, 79 So. 2d 453, 80 So. 2d 53 (1955); Insurance Dept. of Miss. v. Dinsmore, 233 Miss. 569, 102 So. 2d 691, 104 So. 2d 296 (1958); Shivers v. Biloxi-Gulfport Daily Herald, 236 Miss. 303, 110 So. 2d 359 (1959); Lewis v. Trackside Gasoline Station, 233 Miss. 663, 103 So. 2d 868 (1958); Poole v. R. F. Learned & Son, 234 Miss. 362, 103 So. 2d 396 (1958); Goodnite v. Farm Equipment Co., 234 Miss. 342, 103 So. 2d 391, 104 So. 2d 298, 106 So. 2d 383, 683 (1958); Central Electric Power Ass'n v. Hicks, 236 Miss. 378, 110 So. 2d 351, 112 So. 2d 230 (1959); see also 58 Am. Jur., Workmens' Compensation, Sec. 255.
Tbe Commission based its order upon an improper ground, a presumption, but since it reached tbe right result tbe order is affirmed. Tbe presumption of causal connection where death occurs on tbe job is a rebuttable and not a conclusive presumption. Tbe evidence fully developed tbe circumstances of Neal's death, and tbe presumption disappeared. Winters Hardwood Dimension Co. v. Harris' Dependents, 236 Miss. 757, 762, 112 So. 2d 227 (1959). The great weight of tbe evidence reflects a causal connection.
There is no merit in tbe other assignments of error.
Affirmed.
McGehee, G. J., and Arrington, Gillespie and McElroy, JJ., concur.