Illinois Cent. Gulf R. Co. v. Richardson
Decision Date | 09 April 1976 |
Citation | 330 So.2d 614,295 Ala. 388 |
Parties | ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF RAILROAD CO., a corp., etc. v. Lillian Faye RICHARDSON, as Administratrix, etc. SC 1364. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Sam W. Pipes, and Wesley Pipes, Mobile, for appellant.
Joseph M. Matranga, Mobile, for appellee.
The Railroad appeals from a jury verdict, judgment, denial of motion for judgment n.o.v., or in the alternative for a new trial, in a wrongful death action, assessing damages against it for $264,000. We reverse, and grant a new trial.
We address ourselves only to Assignment of Error No. 36. During his oral charge to the jury, the trial judge said:
The Railroad objected upon the following ground:
'The court read to the jury Title 48, § 173, charge does not state that negligence on the part of the railroad would have to proximately contribute to the injuries or damages resulting in the death of the plaintiff.'
The trial judge did not read from Title 48, § 173, Code of Alabama, and said so. He said, 'The court would state for the record that it did not read from the Code of Alabama.'
Nevertheless, we are of the opinion that charging a jury that is reversible error. See Alabama Great Southern Railroad Co. v. Morrison, 281 Ala. 310, 202 So.2d 155 (1967).
Morrison dealt specifically with a trial judge's reading § 173, Title 48, to the jury. We do not have that specific issue before us, yet the language of the charge is very similar. In our opinion the judge told the jury the burden was on the Railroad to acquit itself of negligence. The burden on the Railroad, after a prima facie case has...
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Radford v. Seaboard System R.R., Inc.
...The only burden on the railroad is to rebut the plaintiff's prima facie case with evidence of due care. Illinois Central Gulf R.R. Co. v. Richardson, 295 Ala. 388, 330 So.2d 614 (1976). That burden is a burden of producing evidence, as opposed to the burden of proof; the burden of proof or,......