Court Opinion

ID: 9829175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 19:02:49.29822+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:42:57.902799
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
[5] Appellee presents a very earnest, ingenious, and lengthy motion for rehearing, endeavoring to sustain the verdict of the jury for $25,000 for loss of part of the arm of appellee. The appellee cites many authorities sustaining large verdicts, and contrasts this decision with other decisions in which large verdicts are sustained by the courts, but fails to exhibit any precisely similar to this case with so large a recovery for like injuries. The appellant, likewise, has filed a very complete and full reply, and equally as lengthy. They both confine themselyes to a discussion of the authorities of the courts in passing on large and excessive damages, with a comparison of the decisions of the courts thereon, contrasting the amounts with each other and the nature and character of the injuries with each other and the amounts allowed to stand, in comparison to the action •of this court herein.
We have examined all the authorities cited accessible, and many others besides. In the hope to satisfy appellee’s counsel, as well as ■ourselves, we have given much time to considering the questions and authorities presented. It is no easy matter to fix a correct standard to govern in such cases, and no attempt will be made to depart from that already established and understood. It would be far better for the trial judges to give the subject their careful consideration, to the end that appellate courts be relieved of that duty. At no time was there any disposition shown on the part of the courts to evade their duty when called upon to reform judgments excessive in amounts, or indicating that they were the result of passion or prejudice, when properly presented or too apparent to avoid. See a few cases: Houston & Great Northern Ry. Go. v. Randall, 50 Tex. 254; Darcy v. Turner, 46 Tex. 30; I. & G. N. Ry. Co. v. Underwood, 64 Tex. 463; G., G. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Dorsey, 66 Tex. 148, 18 S. W. 444; G., C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Gordon, 70 Tex. 80, 7 S. W. 695; Texas & Ft. Smifh Ry. Co. v. Hart-nett, 33 Tex. Civ. App. 103, 75 S. W. 809; G., H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Pigott, 54 Tex. Civ. App. 367, 116 S. W. 841; G., H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Stevens, 94 S. W. 397.
Por instance, in Railway v. Pigott, supra, in an opinion of this court by Justice Neill, he did not hesitate to declare the verdict excessive and required a remittitur.
In Railway v. Hartnett, supra, Mr. Justice Neill said:
“We have not been able to find a single ease where damages in the amount assessed by the verdict have been adjudged any one for injuries similar to those sustained by the plaintiff.”
In the Hartnett Case the left arm was cut off below the elbow joint. The jury rendered a verdict for $15,000. The judgment was affirmed by this court conditioned upon a re-mittitur of $5,000.
In Railway v. Gordon, supra, Judge Stayton reversed and remanded the case because the verdict was excessive.
In the Dorsey Case, supra, the rule as applied by the Supreme Court was further expressed, as follows:
“What is compensation for such an injury is ascertained by the average judgment of reasonable men. This, again, is generally best determined by the sworn 12 and the presiding judge. Yet to revise their judgment is a part of the jurisdiction and duty of this court. The jury’s verdict, approved by the trial judge, is potent evidence of the general average judgment of men. But the law will not allow us to accept it as conclusive. Our opinion may be invoked and must be then pronounced.”
Judge Stayton so expressed himself again in the Underwood Case, supra, and also in the Turner Case, supra, both of which cases were reversed and remanded on account of excessive verdicts.
In the case of Randall, supra, our Supreme Court said:
“But while so broad a discretion is necessarily permitted to the jury in fixing the amount of damages for such' injuries as those referred to, it is unquestionably not without limitation or control. When the verdict appears to be palpably and manifestly excessive, it is not only within the power, but is unquestionably the duty, of the court in which the case is tried to set aside the verdict and send the case to another jury; and if it is made to appear here that the court below erred in refusing to do so, this court should reverse and remand the case for another trial. * * * However, the right of the court to set aside the verdict for' this reason is in some instances absolutely essential to the proper administration of justice, and should be exercised without hesitation in all cases where the facts and circumstances demand it, yet it is never done except with the utmost circumspection and caution. * * * Still we do not feel prepared to say, on comparison of the verdicts in similar cases which have come under our observation, where applications for new trials have been urged on account of excessive damages, which is the only criterion for our guidance in the absence of anything in *250the record to indicate that the jury was actuated by prejudice, passion, or other improper consideration.”
Appellee cites the opinion of Judge Ely in the Stevens Case, supra, with approval, as being one of the most logical and clearest opinions on the subject in our reports, governing the question of what must occur before the appellate courts will substitute their conclusions for the finding of a jury on the subject, as laying down “the great fundamental principles,” etc. The counsel for appellant is equally as pronounced in his endorsement of that opinion, as appellee is. Counsel for appellee quotes from a portion of the Stevens Case, and we shall here quote further from Judge Ply’s opinion in that case, which, is as follows:
“Of course, the amount of the verdict alone might be such as to conclusively demonstrate that improper motives • influenced the jury in returning it. The amount found in this case we conclude, after a review of numerous cases, cannot, in the absence of other evidence, be held to demonstrate passion or prejudice on the part of the jury. * * * Cases might arise in which the evidence would fully sustain every essential point in the plaintiff's case, and yet the amount of the damages be clearly against the preponderance of the evidence, and under such circumstances this court would be empowered to require a remittitur as would reduce the verdict to such sum as would be deemed proper and right. * * Í The unreasonableness of the amount of the verdict would of itself be sufficient evidence of passion or prejudice on the part of the jury.”
We are not inclined in the least to vary from that rule, nor have we in this case. We have examined, perhaps, a hundred cases together with those cited by the respective parties, and from an examination there are rare instances in which very large judgments are rendered for the loss of an arm, and .rare indeed where it amounts to $25,000, even when accompanied by other permanent injuries, and verdicts for $15,000 are in a great minority, and generally in eases where the loss of an arm is accompanied by other serious injuries, or where the party was unusually young, capable, and healthy. We refer to such injuries as where the arm was amputated and a foot was amputated and severe ahd serious wounds elsewhere inflicted on the same party at the same time.
The testimony of the plaintiff was that he was 47 years of age at the time of the accident, was acting switchman at a salary of $150 per month, his occupation really being locomotive engineer, had been operating trains in Mexico, and came out just before the trouble there. In that occupation he was earning from $175 to $250 per month, gold; had been employed by the International & Great Northern to come to San Antonio to work as engineer .running out of there, a couple of weeks before the accident, and his conpensation would then run from $175 to $250 per monthhas not been able to run an engine as engineer since, nor brake, nor switch. Since the accident he has made a little money as conductor for laborers, delivering them in different places in the country, and has made in the neighborhood of $175 or $200, not every month, but while he was doing the work. He says the accident “mashed my right arm off.” This, he says, was the declaration he made at the time, “they have cut my arm off.” There is no testimony from any one explaining the nature of the injury, other than loss pf his arm and suffering. He further stated:
“You asked me if there is any movement of the stump beyond my control. * * * The end of my stump is palpitating all the time just like you see it there.”
From the testimony of the plaintiff himself there does not seem to have been any further explanation than he makes as to the nature and character of the injuries. There is, from his own statement, a stump of his arm left. In the motion for appellee it is stated the arm was cut off above the elbow, and in the answer for appellant it is stated the arm was cut off below the elbow.
There was proof of suffering and pain, of course, which necessarily would be expected to result to any one from such an injury, but in this day the loss of an arm is not an unusual occurrence, and we assume, of course, all of the consequences and pain resulting therefrom and the nervous condition of the injured party existed.
[6] Our attention is also called by appellee to the case of Ward v. Cathey, 210 S. W. 292, as authority for the position that the jury might take into consideration that wages have been increased and are increasing, and that plaintiff, as an engineer, would have enjoyed the increased remuneration incident thereto; also that the value of a dollar has decreased and plaintiff would suffer the effects and result thereof. Counsel must not lead us into too broad a field of speculation. The true test was for the jury, at the time of the trial, to take into consideration what sum of money would compensate appellee for his losses. The high price of living and the purchasing power of a dollar is common knowledge, and doubtless may be considered. It may or may not be temporary. The wages of employés may or may not likewise - be correspondingly increased, as the dollar is cheapened. This is all pure speculation, and applies to all men engaged in the employment of railroads, public or private institutions alike. In considering the verdict of the jury in this case, there was, and is now, no element, that we should have considered, that we did not and have not considered. We have given it unusual thought and investigation. We would hesitate very much be*251fore reducing a 'verdict, even though we believe it to be excessive, where the 12 jurors returned it and the judge let it stand, unless in our opinion there were such grave circumstances connected with it as to justify us in the conclusion that our duty required us to reduce it. It is a difficult question to determine in any case.
Mr. Bell has not shown that at the age of 47, having attained the rank of engineer, that he would have received a future promotion, and leaves it incidentally to be inferred that because of the change of his position he would attain higher promotion. It is rather improbable than otherwise that he would at that age. In a few years, at his age, the presumption, rather would be that his earning capacity would be decreased rather than increased, but of course this is a mere speculation, and within the province of the jury to determine under all the circumstances before it. The measure of damages in this case would be the earning capacity of the ap-pellee measured by what his former capacity was, whether in cheap dollars or dear dollars, but in no case double or triple of what he could have earned, or any amount except the actual amount that he could earn, and there is no evidence to show or inference to be drawn that the salary would continue to keep pace with the further high cost of living.
No one who reads the papers can fail to observe the efforts made and failure to increase, to any considerable extent, the wages of locomotive engineers, firemen, and switch-men in proportion to the depreciation of the value of the dollar, and probably the highest point has been reached. At any rate the matter is too speculative to lay down any rule along that line to control the courts.
We do not think that reasonable minds can very greatly differ in r'egard to a man’s earning capacity on account of the loss of an arm, or part of an arm, certainly not diminished to anything like 75 per cent. Accident boards and insurance companies have made a schedule to govern in the loss of limbs and the diminished capacity of earning.
Appellee, as is usually the case, undertakes to compare his injuries to those disclosed in opinions of the courts as having been suffered by others, and by comparison of injuries to those disclosed in opinions of the courts as having been suffered by others, and by comparison of injuries and amounts seeks to show that no remittitur should have been required of him. Oases in which large verdicts have been permitted to stand are always selected for comparison by appellees, and it is assumed that, although the courts may err in other respects, they never err in favor of plaintiff with respect to the size of a verdict. The cases specially selected by ap-pellee for purposes of comparison are the Mc-Elroy, Johnson, and Harris Cases.
The McElroy Case, 149 S. W. 428, is not in point, and not similar to Bell’s loss of part of his arm. McElroy was not removed from the scene of the injury for an hour and a half; his leg was amputated the next morning ; he was laid up 10 months before he was able to go back to work; he paid the doctor and hospital $164; his employers for whom he had worked 25 years'gave him employment as night watchman, the duties of which position required him to be on his feet and move about, which caused him much pain. It appeared from his testimony that he suffered continuously, and was unable to sleep.
In the Johnson Case, 136 S. W. 275, the injury to the plaintiff’s leg was such as to render it useless, as well as an incumbrance or deformity.
A statement of the most important facts of these cases discloses that there exists no fair basis for comparison, and illustrates the often stated proposition that each case must be decided on its own facts.
In the Harris Case, 172 S. W. 1129, the injuries were much more severe, consisting of the loss of his leg below the knee, nervous shock, etc., ánd the mangling of a foot, which caused the leg to be amputated, from all of which he declined in health, and became a wrecked invalid. He also received a severe shock, internal injuries to his heart and head, back injured, right eye affected and sight impaired; also an operation for mastoid trouble became necessary. The verdict in that case was for $25,000, and was reduced to $20,000. He was a conductor.
We will call attention to a few other cases. In the case of Texas & Ft. Smith Ry. v. Hartnett, 33 Tex. Civ. App. 103, 75 S. W. 809, the party injured was a locomotive engineer. His arm was cut off near the elbow joint, causing great pain and mental anguish. The opinion was written by Judge Neill. The verdict was for $15,000, held to be excessive and reduced to $10,000.
In the case of G., H. & S. A. v. Young, 45 Tex. Civ. App. 430, 100 S. W. 993, the party injured was a practicing physician and surgeon, healthy at the time of the accident. His collar bone was broken in two places, his right arm was broken, and one end of the bone run under the other where it continued to press under the hollow of the arm. His shoulder blade was broken, leg injured and back injured, and pulse rate since the injury as high as 135. Ilis right arm was shortened, and he has been unable to perform delicate surgical operations. The injury was permanent, and impaired his earning capacity, which was from $4,000 to $8,000 per year. The opinion in that case was by Judge Fly, and neither passed upon the verdict as excessive or otherwise. .The doctor was the same age of Bell; engaged in a profession that benefits by increasing years, an occupation that requires the highest degree of *252skill and physical capacity. Verdict, $15,-000.
In the case of T. & N. O. v. Middleton, 46 Tex. Civ. ‘App; 497, 103 S. W. 203, the injured party was a locomotive engineer, 44 years old, earning capacity $1,800 per year. He was injured by having a rib broken, dislocated, and detached from his breast bone, permanently injuied in his breast, back, heart, and lungs, and since the accident has been unable to lift a weight with his left hand, and when he attempts to do so it causes him to spit blood. His condition is permanent. The verdict of the jury was $10,000. The opinion was by Chief Justice James of this court.
Railway Co. v. Groves, 44 Tex. Civ. App. 63, 97 S. W. 1084, party injured, 21 years of age, earning from $80 to $100 per month; result of accident, lost right arm ' between shoulder and elbow; sufferings great, not entirely ceased date of trial. $10,000, while not held excessive, was commented upon as being unusually large.
American Steel Foundries v. Sech (Ind. App.) 122 N. E. 347, a recent case decided by the Appellate Court of Indiana, an able-bodied man, 32 years of age, with a life expectancy of 34 years; an experienced machinist, earning $2.50 per day; lost his right arm. Verdict of $5,000 was not set aside as being inadequate.
Knock v. Tonopah & Goldfield R. R. Co., 38 Nev. 143, 145 Pac. 939, L. R. A. 1915F, 3, the Supreme Court of Nevada held a verdict for $25,000 in favor of a railroad conductor and brakeman 29 years of age, earning $170 per month, for damages sustained by reason of his right arm being crushed, necessitating amputation just below the elbow, excessive and affirmed the case upon .condition $10,500 was remitted. This case is in point with the present case.
The record discloses here that, within the short time of 15 minutes after the jury were instructed to consider the case, they returned with a verdict for the entire sum sued for. This, to our mind indicates very little consideration of this case. It may be that the jury had time to read the charge, consider the testimony, and discuss the case. It is not often the case, in the experience of lawyers, that juries consisting of 12 men so quickly agree upon such a verdict. It may be that it can be done, but in view of the amount of the damages assessed and the extent of the injuries in this case, we are inclined to believe that the jury's verdict should not have that potent force and effect that is contended by appellee should be given to this verdict. Because counsel for appellee has challenged the opinions of this court in regard to affirming excessive judgments, we have undertaken to review the cited cases to ascertain upon what theory, or upon what case counsel relies in making such statement, and we do not find a single parallel case where such a judgment has ever been allowed to stand.
We overrule the motion.