Court Opinion

ID: 9585818
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:04:11.121848+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:15.332605
License: Public Domain

Felton, C. J.,
concurring specially. While the petition does not mention negligence eo nomine, I think that the action is based on negligence, and that, therefore, on the one act of negligence alleged, proof of the exercise of ordinary care on the part of the defendant in constructing and repairing the culvert, which is tantamount to proof that the injuries were caused by an act of God, would absolve the defendant of liability as against the act of negligence alleged. In such circumstances the defendant would not be required to not only rebut the one act of negligence charged, but to go further and exclude other possible negligence which might possibly have contributed to the damages but which was not alleged in the petition as an act of negligence.
The evidence was uncontradieted and showed conclusively that the flood was unprecedented, and the evidence did not authorize a finding that the damages would have resulted even if the flood had not been unprecedented. It follows, therefore, that *287it was not incumbent on the defendant to prove, that it was free from other negligence which might have contributed to the injuries. See Goble v. L. & N. R. Co., 187 Ga. 243, supra, headnote 4; 27 R. C. L. 1107, § 40. In the Goble case it was alleged that debris, sand, and logs collected on the upper side of the trestle, causing partial obstruction of the flow of the stream, which could possibly have made it necessary for the defendant to prove not only an act of God but that the defendant was not negligent in permitting the opening to be obstructed as alleged. That case was on demurrer and can only be dealt with as such. The evidence in the case before us demanded a verdict for the defendant. The court charged the correct law to the effect that the flood had to be unprecedented for the defendant to be relieved. In the first two excerpts from the charge complained of, the trial judge charged an erroneous principle of law, in that they were susceptible to the construction that proof of an unprecedented flood would authorize recovery (Doster v. Brown, 25 Ga. 24, supra), and nowhere in .the charge did he call attention to the erroneous excerpts and withdraw or correct them. The third excerpt complained of was error because there was no evidence that the culvert would not take care of a rain that could have been anticipated. The principles involved in this case as to the burden on the defendant to prove additional diligence as well as an act of God differ from the principles in cases where a carrier is sued for loss or 'damage to freight. In those cases the railroad is an insurer, and upon proof of loss or damage must not only prove an act of God, if relied on by the carrier, but must exclude all negligence. The reason for this requirement in such cases is that the carrier is an insurer and must not only exclude liability as to ordinary care on the question of an act of God, but must go further and exclude the possibility of damage from its negligence entirely, as it seems to be too well settled for discussion that injuries and damage can be attributable to the combination of an act of God and the negligence of a defendant.