Court Opinion

ID: 9810981
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:05:49.567776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:40:23.062862
License: Public Domain

Brown, J.,
concurring in result: This case appears to me to have been fairly presented to the jury and I can find no error which I think is of sufficient importance to warrant a new trial. But a majority of my brethren thought that the judge below inadvertently misled the jury upon the burden of proof as pointed out in the opinion, and for such reason that there should be another trial. On that ground I am willing to yield my judgment to theirs.
The opinion of the court seems to assume as a fact that the plaintiff was ruthlessly and brutally turned out of the waiting room about nine o’clock a. m., into inclement weather. It is well to observe that this was denied by Kim-ball, the agent, and Carson, the ticket seller.
The defendant offered evidence tending to show that the plaintiff was not at the station when the local train came, and was not there when the waiting room was closed, and made no request to be permitted to remain in it. Further, the de*364fendant offered evidence tending to prove that, before either train came, the plaintiff was seen going in the direction of the Cannon Mill, and that after both trains had passed the plaintiff was seen returning from the same direction. The tendency of the cross examination was to show that the plaintiff had been detained only two hours; that the weather was not so very inclement, and to show that the plaintiff’s estimate of damage was exaggerated.
It also appeared from the plaintiff’s own admissions, as affecting his veracity and credibility as a witness, that he was a bad character, had been convicted of crime, had been indicted for larceny and plead guilty to a forcible trespass, had been sentenced twice for six months each to a chain gang, and had burned his leg by getting drunk and lying down before the fire.
The jury appears to have discredited the plaintiff’s own testimony and decided the issue in favor of the defendant.
In viéw of the evidence, I cannot agree that the plaintiff, upon the defendant’s own eyidence, is entitled to recover substantial or punitive damages. Although the plaintiff may be an “humble individual,” he is nevertheless required to establish his allegations to the satisfaction of a jury. _