Court Opinion

ID: 9826189
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 15:30:44.768795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:09.538843
License: Public Domain

The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Mr. Justice Fraser.
This is an action for actual and punitive damages. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is a commercial traveler, selling goods by sample on commission and in the discharge of his regular business was on March 3, 1909, at Fountain Inn, which was a town situated along the route between Greenville and Laurens, over which the defendant operates its train; that having paid his fare, plaintiff took passage at Fountain Inn on a mixed train to go to Laurens; that between Fountain Inn and Owens Station, a flag station, the train was wrecked because of a breakdown of a freight car which was a part of the train of cars; that by reason of the wreck thus caused, the plaintiff was injured in his person painfully and permanently.
5th. “That because of the said acts of the defendant this plaintiff was bruised and injured about the body and made sick, so that he was unable for many days to prosecute his regular or other business, and was caused to spend money for medical and other attention; all to his serious damage.
6th. “That defendant was careless, wanton, wilful and negligent in its conduct towards this plaintiff in the particulars hereinafter mentioned:
“(a) That defendant knowingly permitted an overloaded and defective freight car to be hauled along in said train at a high and dangerous rate of speed, the breaking of which freight car caused the wreck.
“(b) That after the wreck had occurred and plain,tiff had been dragged in a rough and dangerous manner and injured, as above described, and had gotten out of the passenger car, *162at the suggestion of defendant, he walked towards Owings Station, which was less than a mile ahead of the wreck, with the understanding with defendant that if the engine and certain box cars which were not thrown from the track pulled loose and came on towards Laurens, the said engine and box cars would be stopped in order to take plaintiff up and carry him to his destination; that it was promised by defendant that if the engine should overtake plaintiff before reaching said station, it would stop and take him up; that when within about one hundred yards of said station said engine, with two or more box cars, did overtake plaintiff, who signalled same to stop, but defendant paid no attention and failed and refused to take plaintiff on board and left him.
“(c) That plaintiff is informed and believes. that said engine and box cars at that time went only to Gray Court, a mile' or two below; but they soon came back to the place of the wreck, and upon its return from said place, going towards Laurens, plaintiff again signalled the train to stop at Owings Station in order that he might get aboard; but defendant failed and refused so to stop, and the train again left him twelve or fourteen miles from his destination; though plaintiff is informed and believes that said train did go through to Laurens and carried other passengers than himself; that it then being night, plaintiff was compelled to hire a conveyance and travel twelve or fourteen miles through the country to his destination on a very cold night, which might easily have been prevented if the defendant had discharged its duty towards this plaintiff.
7th. “That said conduct of defendant towards this plaintiff was wilful, high-handed and a reckless disregard' of plaintiff’s rights as defendant’s passenger and much to his damage.”
The defendant admits that plaintiff was a passenger and that there was a wreck, but denies that plaintiff was injured by reason of the wreck, and alleges that if plaintiff subse*163quently became sick, it was due to his own conduct and was not due to any agency or instrumentality of the defendant.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for five hundred dollars;
There are fifteen exceptions (which will be reported), but the appellant groups them under nine heads.
1 1. The first group complains of error in the admission of the statements of witnesses, Mrs. DuBose and W. H. Hinds, over objection of defendant’s counsel, in which they were permitted to testify that in their opinion the train was running fast and too fast without any facts upon which they based such opinions.
This testimony was more an estimate of speed than an opinion. The rate of speed was testified to by the plaintiff, the conductor, the engineer and the fireman. To allow the witness to state whether the train was running fast or too fast, is fully authorized by the rule laid down in Jones v. Fuller, 19 S. C., page 70, where the Court says: “While it is necessary that the witness should first state the facts upon which he bases his opinion, where the facts are such as are capable of being reproduced in language, it is not necessary to do so where the facts are not capable of reproduction in such a way as to bring before the minds of the jury the condition of things upon which the witness bases his opinion.”
2 It is by no means clear from the record that the evidence objected to was not brought out by defendant’s counsel. If it was, then defendant could not object to the testimony brought out by its own counsel. It is, however, stated in argument, that the record must be erroneous as an attorney of Mr. Cooper’s ability would not have asked such a question. The presumption is very strong, as Mr. Cooper is a very able lawyer, but, however strong, it cannot be allowed to contradict the record. To allow it to do so would give to able and experienced counsel an advantage over their less able and experienced brethren *164that the law does not allow. In the Courts at least “all men are equal.” These exceptions are overruled.
2. Exceptions 4, 5 and 9 are combined.
These exceptions complain of error in allowing the testimony as to what the conductor said the next day.
3 The testimony tended to show that the conductor, who certainly was the agent of the company, was still engaged in the business óf the wreck and went to the'plaintiff for the purpose of getting a statement from him as a part of his official duties in connection with the wreck. An agent is rarely if ever commissioned expressly to make admissions of responsibilty, but it would be monstrous to hold that an agent to get admissions could make none. These exceptions are overruled.
4 3. The next exception, No. 6, complains that his Honor, the presiding Judge, erred in his modification of plaintiff’s third request to charge, as follows: Where a passenger is on a railroad train and gets hurt and it is shown that he is hurt on the railroad train, then the presumption is that it was done through the negligence of the railroad company, in -that his Honor omitted the important requirement that the evidence must show that the injury was caused by the agency or instrumentality of -the company. The plaintiff’s request contained the words “agency or instrumentality.” This was a serious omission and would have entitled the defendant to a new trial if the defendant had not made a request to charge that embodied the same omission.
The sixth request to charge was as follows: “6. The fact, if it be a fact, that the plaintiff is in a railroad wreck, does not at all entitle him to a verdict. (By the Court: That is just simply from that fact, nothing else appearing.) He must not only show that he was in a wrecked train, but must go further and prove to your satisfaction by a preponderance of the evidence that he was injured, and the extent of his injtiries. There is no presumption of law that a party *165has been injured because he was in a wreck; that is a matter of proof, the burden being on the plaintiff in all cases to establish his injury and the extent of it.”
In a wreck, as at other times, the injury must be through the agency or instrumentality of the defendant. When a party has asked the Court to charge an erroneous proposition of law, he cannot be heard to complain that the Court has followed him into error. This exception is overruled.
5 á. The tenth exception complains of error upon the part of the trial Court in charging the jury that a wreck is not one of the inconveniences which a passenger assumes and where it is shown that a passenger is injured by that cause, it is a natural and reasonable inference that the injury was the result of negligence inferred from the mere fact that the wreck occurred, in that this was a charge on the facts in violation of the Constitution. This exception is overruled.
It is true in a case of a wreck, as in all other cases, that where a passenger is injured by an agency or instrumentality of the company, the fact raises a presumption of negligence on the part of the company. There is no intimation here that any part of the wreck was not an instrumentality of the railroad company.
This exception is overruled.
6 5. The seventh exception complains of error in that his Honor charged as follows: • “If an engineer wilfully or intentionally fails, or refuses to see a passenger at a flag-station, the passenger may recover punitive damages. Also if the conductor promises to hold the train and does not.” The appellant admits in argument that while this as a general proposition may be correct, yet under the extraordinary condition of affairs, it was error. The extraordinary condition being the wreck. Appellant says it was the first duty of the train crew to have the obstruction removed and this they were bound to discharge and did discharge. This position is wholly unten*166able. The first duty of the train crew was to the passengers and this first duty they neglected absolutely, although one of the passengers was a lady, traveling alone in search of medical help, and it was known to the conductor by his own testimony.
This exception is overruled.
6. The eighth and thirteenth exceptions complain that there was no evidence upon which to base a verdict for punitive damages. These exceptions are overruled. There was evidence sufficient.
7 7. Exception 14 complains of error in not charging that plaintiff could not recover for loss of commissions. This was practically charged under defendant’s twelfth request to charge, where his Honor charged the jury “that the plaintiff cannot recover any alleged pecuniary loss except such as he proved to you in dollars and cents; he cannot leave you to speculate and you cannot arrive at your verdict as to such items by speculation if he claims any such loss and has failed to give you evidence as to the items and amounts thereof or such facts as would enable the jury to ascertain same, you cannot include same in your verdict.”
8 8. The twelfth exception complains of error in not charging without explanation the following: “There is no statute law in this State regulating the speed at which a train shall be run and the mere fast running of a train is not negligence per se and .cannot be held to be wilful.”
The Court said: “That is for the jury to say in each case, whether under the circumstances, whether a train running at a certain speed under certain circumstances, was negligent running or not. You are to be the judges of that particular case.”
That explanation submitted to the jury only the question of negligence and eliminated wilfulness from any speed however great.
*167This exception is overruled.
9 9. The fifteenth exception complains of error in the refusal of a new trial upon the ground that the verdict was excessive.
This exception is overruled because this Court cannot consider the question of excessive verdicts.
The judgment of this Court is that the judgment of the Circuit Court be affirmed.
Mr. Justice Hydrick concurs in the result.