Green v. City of Bennettsville

• Decision Date: 09 June 1941
• Docket Number: 15277.
• Citation: 15 S.E.2d 334,197 S.C. 313
• Parties: GREEN v. CITY OF BENNETTSVILLE.
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

15 S.E.2d 334

197 S.C. 313

GREEN v. CITY OF BENNETTSVILLE.

No. 15277.

Supreme Court of South Carolina

June 9, 1941

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Norbert A. Theodore and Heyward Brockinton, both of Columbia, for appellant.

Stevenson & Lindsay, of Bennettsville, for respondent.

T. S SEASE, Acting Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of Honorable E. C. Dennis, reversing the award of the South Carolina Industrial Commission in favor of the appellant on the ground that there was no accidental injury under the South Carolina Workmen's Compensation Act, Act July 17, 1935, 39 St. at Large, p. 1231 et seq. A. C. Green, deceased, was employed by the City of Bennettsville, South Carolina, for a period of six years prior to his death which occurred on the 23rd day of December, 1939, while he was admittedly discharging the duties of a policeman. His widow, the appellant, filed her claim with the South Carolina Industrial Commission claiming the benefits under said Act. The matter was heard by the Chairman Commissioner, Hon. John H. Dukes, who as Hearing Commissioner made certain findings of fact and awarded the appellant, as the widow of the deceased, the sum of Sixteen and 57/100 ($16.57) Dollars per week for a period of three hundred fifty (350) weeks, commencing December 24 1939, with a further award of Two Hundred ($200) Dollars for funeral expenses, the total not to exceed Six Thousand ($6,000) Dollars. An appeal was taken by the respondent from such award to the Full Commission. The Full Commission affirmed the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and award of the Hearing Commissioner. The respondent then appealed to the Court of Common Pleas for Marlboro County, and Honorable E. C. Dennis, who heard the appeal on October 18, 1940, reversed the Full Commission on the ground that "there was no accident" as defined by Section 2(f) of the South Carolina Workmen's Compensation Act.

The undisputed evidence shows that the deceased, A. C. Green, was a man of approximately sixty-eight years of age, and had been discharging his duties as a policeman for the Town of Bennettsville, South Carolina, for six years prior to the circumstance which led to his death. On December 23, 1939, he assisted another policeman, Mr. Murray Jackson, in arresting a negro who was giving Mr. Jackson some trouble. The weather was cold and it was raining. In effecting the arrest the deceased was thrown to the ground, but by the exercise of considerable physical effort he was able to complete the arrest. However, immediately therafter he died from a strain on his heart, directly resulting from over exertion.

Our first inquiry has to do with whether or not there is any testimony in the record tending to show that the death of the employee, A. C. Green, was the result of injury from accidental means.

The burden was doubtless upon the plaintiff (claimant) to present evidence from which the Industrial Commission could properly find that the death of the deceased resulted from an injury by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. It is admitted that the deceased was in the course of his employment and was discharging his duties as a policeman of the City of Bennettsville, at the time of his death. Was his death the result of an accident?

The appellant contends the death of the deceased was the unforeseen and unexpected result of exertion which caused a sudden strain upon his heart and that this occurred while arresting an offender against the law in the discharge of his duty as a policeman. The respondent argues that death resulted from a diseased heart condition, and not from an accident.

Dr. P. M. Kinney, the only doctor who testified in the case, stated he was the family physician for the deceased, A. C. Green, who from the latter part of October to the first part of December was under his care and confined to his, the deceased's, home, suffering from what is generally called myocarditis, a weakening of the heart muscles. Such a condition is rather common among individuals of his age. He was suffering from no constitutional disease, but from a weakness caused by age. The deceased was given rest and drugs to strengthen his heart.

He last saw the deceased professionally on December 18, 1939, at which time he told the deceased not to exert himself. His condition had become better, but he didn't tell the deceased that sudden exertion or over exertion would kill him. In his opinion, after hearing the testimony of the witnesses, the deceased's death was brought about by the over exertion and sudden heavy duty on the deceased's weakened heart muscles which dilated, causing his death. The deceased otherwise would have lived, in the opinion of this witness, his normal life, the life of the average patient suffering from a like trouble, but his death was accelerated and brought about by the over exertion and sudden strain on his heart.

The general physical condition and condition of the heart of deceased was such that it was reasonable to conclude, he, the deceased, would have lived some years longer were it not for the effort he exerted in arresting the negro as described to him and, in his opinion, such exertion produced a sudden dilation of the heart causing the deceased's death.

The Assistant Chief of Police, Mr. J. L. Watson, stated that the usual duty of the deceased was watching the children at the school house, but around Christmas time it was necessary for the deceased to be in town. He was a witness to the arrest, and he saw the exertion was becoming too much for the deceased, who was thrown to his knees by the negro. The deceased was on duty ten hours daily, but around Christmas time twelve hours duty was required. The witness and the Chief of Police knew of the physical condition of the deceased.

"Policeman" has been defined as: "A member of the Police." "Police" is defined: "An organized civil force for maintaining order, preventing and detecting crime, and enforcing the laws; the body of men by which the municipal laws and regulations of a city, town, or district are enforced." Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged. And again it is defined:

"That species of superintendence by magistrates which has principally for its object the maintenance of public tranquility among the citizens. The officers who are appointed for this purpose are also called the police. ***

"The word police has three significations. The first relates to the measures which are adopted to keep order, the laws and ordinances on cleanliness, health, the markets, etc. The second has for its object to procure to the authorities the means of detecting even the smallest attempts to commit crime, in order that the guilty may be arrested before their plans are carried into execution and delivered over to the justice of the country. The third comprehends the laws, ordinances, and other measures which require the citizens to exercise their rights in a particular form.

"Police has also been divided into administrative police, which has for its object to maintain constantly public order in every part of the general administration; and judiciary police, which is intended principally to prevent crimes by punishing the criminals. Its object is to punish crimes which the administrative police has not been able to prevent." Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Unabridged. Rawle's Third Revision, Volume 2.

It is seen from the above the duties of a policeman are varied and one of the incidents of such duty is the arrest of individuals who violate the laws and ordinances of the municipality. It is common knowledge that only in the small minority of cases does the person arrested resist such arrest. The deceased was discharging his duties and was in the course of his employment when he assisted in the arrest of this negro who was resisting arrest to such an extent that it took the combined efforts of two policemen and considerable physical exertion on their part to effect the arrest. The deceased had discharged such duties for a period of six years without any ill effects to himself.

Counsel for respondent would argue that the deceased intentionally undertook to do something which he in reason knew would bring about his death. Such an act is not natural to a human being, and the law presumes that a man would not consciously bring about his own self-destruction. There is no testimony which shows that decedent knew such over taxation of his strength would bring about his sudden death; his doctor had told him to go back to work and now believes he would ordinarily have lived his normal life. His physician advised him to avoid exertion but did not delimit exertion or warn him as to the consequences thereof.

Judge Dennis decided that there was no "accident," as is defined by the South Carolina Workmen's Compensation Act. Section 2(f) of the Act prescribes conditions under which an employee may receive compensation for personal injury; "'injury' and 'personal injury' shall mean only injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment, and shall not include a disease in any form, except where it results naturally and unavoidedly from the accident." Therefore it seems to be admitted by the Circuit Judge that at the time of the incident the deceased was performing duties in the course of his employment, and that everything he did arose out of his employment. Consequently the last condition, "injury by accident," is the basis upon which the Circuit Court disagreed with the Single and Full Commission in its Findings of Fact.

The word "accident" as used in Workmen's Compensation has been defined as an unlooked for and untoward event which is not expected or designed by the person who suffered the injury. Honnold on Workmen's...