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Cora A. Hebblethwaite vs. Old Colony Street Railway Company; Albert E. Hebblethwaite vs. Same

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court1906-06-20
192 Mass. 295

Summary

Holding. The exceptions are overruled, and the verdicts for both plaintiffs are affirmed. The jury properly could assess witness credibility regarding the plaintiff's account of her injuries, and sufficient evidence supported a finding of negligence where the defendant, having exclusive control of the track and car, offered no explanation for the accident.

A married woman and her husband brought separate negligence actions against a street railway company. The woman was injured when riding in one of the company's cars that came to an abrupt stop, during which a piece of iron protruded upward through the seat, causing her to fall and sustain injuries. The husband sought recovery for medical expenses and loss of consortium. Both cases went to a jury, which returned verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs. The defendant appealed, arguing that the judge erred in denying its motions that the plaintiffs were not entitled to recover and that insufficient evidence of negligence existed.

The court found that the jury properly determined the credibility of conflicting witness accounts regarding how the plaintiff was injured. Since the defendant operated both the track and the car yet offered no explanation for the accident's occurrence, the court held the jury was justified in inferring that the accident resulted from the defendant's negligence. The defendant's failure to provide any account suggesting the accident happened without fault, combined with its exclusive control over the instrumentality that caused the injury, supported the jury's finding of liability.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Credibility of conflicting eyewitness testimony in negligence cases
  • Inference of negligence from unexplained accidents involving defendant-controlled instrumentalities
  • Duty of defendant to provide exculpatory explanation for accident
  • Sufficiency of evidence to support jury verdict in negligence action

Procedural posture

The defendant appealed by exceptions to the trial judge's refusal to direct verdicts in favor of the defendant or to rule that no evidence of negligence existed.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Morton, J.

These two actions were tried and argued together. The first is by a married woman to recover for injuries received by her through the defendant’s negligence while a passenger in one of the defendant’s cars. The other is by the husband to recover the amount paid for medical services and other expenses and for loss of consortium. There was a verdict for the plaintiff in each case. The cases are here on exceptions by the defendant to the refusal of the judge to rule that the plaintiffs were not entitled to recover, and that there was no evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant.

The female plaintiff’s account of the accident was that she took a car between East Weymouth and South Weymouth, that it was a box car and the plaintiff was seated at about the middle of it, and after she had been riding six or seven minutes towards South Weymouth, the car which was going quite fast came to a sudden,stop. “A big crash came and the car did not go any farther, and there was a piece of iron came up about a foot from her; that she fell over on to the piece of iron and then bounded back and came down on her right wrist, striking her left side and elbow; the piece of iron came up through the wooden part of the seat and between the cushions where they come together.” She further testified that, “ After the iron came up she fell over on to it; when the car gave this sudden jerk, she went over on to it; that she was thrown over on her side but not off the seat; . . . that next after she fell over on to the iron she swayed back and fell over on the other side on her right wrist.” She was corroborated by one witness as to the rate at which the car was moving and as to its coming to a sudden stop. But she was contradicted by several witnesses called by the defendant as to her being thrown over on to the iron, or away from it, and was the only witness who so testified. All of the witnesses agreed, however, that a piece of iron came up through the seat, and that the car came to a stop, though all except the plaintiff and one other testified that it was moving slowly when it stopped. There was no evidence as to where the piece of iron came from.

Asa P. French, for the defendant.

F. P. Garland, for the plaintiffs.

Whether the account given by the female plaintiff of the way in which she received the alleged injuries was correct or not was clearly for the jury. And we think that it was also competent for them to find that the accident was due to negligence on the part of the defendant. The defendant did not offer or attempt to offer any explanation of the accident. The track and the car were under its control, and in the absence of any explanation tending to show that the accident occurred without any fault on its part the jury were warranted in finding that it would not have occurred if the defendant had exercised proper care. White v. Boston Albany & Railroad, 144 Mass. 404. Feital v. Middlesex Railroad, 109 Mass. 398. Uggla v. West End Street Railway, 160 Mass. 351. Copithorne v. Hardy, 173 Mass. 400. Savage v. Marlborough Street Railway, 186 Mass. 203.

Exceptions overruled.