Harris v. City of Quincy

• Decision Date: 23 June 1898
• Citation: 50 N.E. 1042,171 Mass. 472
• Parties: HARRIS v. CITY OF QUINCY.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

171 Mass. 472

50 N.E. 1042

HARRIS v. CITY OF QUINCY.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Norfolk.

June 23, 1898

COUNSEL

Lafayette

G. Blair, for plaintiff.

Paul R Blackmur, for defendant.

OPINION

HOLMES J.

This is an action of tort for personal injuries caused by slipping upon rough ice on the sidewalk of a public highway. The plaintiff had a verdict, and the case is here on two exceptions. The first is to the exclusion of photographs which the defendant offered to show were taken immediately after the accident, and truthfully represented the appearance of the sidewalk, except that the photographs were taken by sunlight, and the accident happened in the evening, when the electric light was shining. From this last qualification, we infer that the photographs were not taken before the morning after the accident. The street was a well-traveled street. We cannot say that the ruling was not based on the failure of the defendant to make out some preliminary matter of fact to the judge's satisfaction. If, for instance, the photographs were rejected on the ground that it appeared from inspection that they did not represent the slipperiness or the roughness of the ice, or the quantity of it, in such a way as to be instructive, we could not revise the finding of the judge. Com. v. Bishop, 165 Mass. 148, 152, 42 N.E. 560. See Hollenbeck v. Rowley, 8 Allen, 475; Verran v Baird, 150 Mass. 141, 22 N.E. 630; Gilbert v Railway Co., 160 Mass. 403, 405, 36 N.E. 60. It is not disclosed with certainty what the ground of rejection was, and, as there were grounds which perhaps might have justified it, we cannot say that it was wrong.

It is provided by Pub.St. c. 52, § 20, that in actions like this no person shall recover more than one-fifth of 1 per cent. of the state valuation of the city, nor a greater sum than $4,000. The second exception is to a refusal to rule that the plaintiff had not made out her case, because she had offered no evidence of the valuation of the city of Quincy; and to a statement that it was fair for the jury to assume, in the absence of evidence, that one-fifth of 1 per cent. of the valuation would amount to more than $4,000. We are of opinion that the refusal was right, and the statement warranted, under the circumstances. The burden of proving a valuation which would cut down its liability below $4,000 was upon the defendant, as is shown, if material, by the separation of the section limiting liability from the section imposing it. Com. v. Hart, 11 Cush. 130, 134; Com. v. Fitchburg R. Co., 10 Allen, 189, 190. But apart from the burden of proof, the court had a right to take notice of St.1895, c. 90, which established the valuation in...