Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Seckinger
| Decision Date | 01 August 1928 |
| Citation | 96 Fla. 422,117 So. 898 |
| Parties | ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. v. SECKINGER. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Error to Circuit Court, Polk County; Harry G. Taylor, Judge.
Action by R. R. Seckinger against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error.
Reversed.
Syllabus by the Court
Permitting plaintiff and witness to occupy vehicles with jurors being conveyed to and from place to be viewed held error. When a view is granted by the trial court, the plaintiff in the cause and a witness for the plaintiff should not occupy vehicles with the jurors when they are being conveyed to and from the place to be viewed.
Kelly & Shaw, of Tampa, for plaintiff in error.
Huffaker & Edwards, of Bartow, for defendant in error.
In an action to recover damages for injury to fruit trees caused by fire alleged to have been set out by sparks escaping from defendant's locomotive, the court, in ordering a view of the premises, instructed that a witness for the plaintiff, in company of the bailiff, go along to point out the boundaries, to which defendant excepted. Three of the jurors went to the view in a car with the bailiff and the plaintiff, the other three jurors went in a car with a witness for the plaintiff.
Even if there was no communication between the jurors, and the plaintiff and his witness on the trip for the jury to have the view, it was not proper for the court to permit the jury to make the view in company with the plaintiff and his witness, and the judgment must be reversed because of such unauthorized and improper proceedings. At another trial the testimony should be confined to the issues duly made, and the charges should clearly and concisely state the law applicable to the case as made by the pleadings and the evidence.
Reversed.
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Walt Disney World Co. v. Althouse, 82-665
...find any actual improper contact had occurred, but relied solely upon the "appearance" of impropriety. Atlantic Coastline Railroad Company v. Seckinger, 96 Fla. 422, 117 So. 898 (1928). Had counsel for Althouse requested a mistrial when the juror-witness contact was discovered, either befor......