Jones v. Newton St. Ry. Co.

Citation186 Mass. 113,71 N.E. 114
PartiesJONES v. NEWTON ST. RY. CO.
Decision Date25 May 1904
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

186 Mass. 113
71 N.E. 114

JONES
v.
NEWTON ST. RY. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex.

May 25, 1904.


Exceptions from Supreme Judicial Court, Middlesex County.

Action by one Jones against the Newton Street Railway Company. On plaintiff's exceptions to the refusal of the court to give a certain requested instruction. Dismissed.

Tort for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the sudden starting of a car from which plaintiff was alighting. At the trial in the superior court before Judge Edgar J. Sherman, the plaintiff made no requests for rulings before the charge to the jury, but after the charge plaintiff's counsel asked for a ruling that, ‘in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the servants of the company in charge of the car are presumed to have started it.’ The court refused to give the request, and nothing was said as to an exception by counsel until at the hearing on the allowance of a bill of exceptions, when counsel said that he intended to save an exception, and supposed he had done so. The court stated that it supposed plaintiff's counsel intended to save an exception, but, as nothing was said, supposed counsel had changed his mind. The exceptions were allowed ‘if the court has a right to do so.’


Frank [186 Mass. 113]W. Dana and W. C. Henderson, for plaintiff.

Geo. W. Morse and Walter M. Lindsay, for defendant.


BRALEY, J.

The first question is whether any exception is properly before us. It appears that, after the instructions to the jury had been completed, the ruling requested and refused was presented for the first time to the presiding justice. Under the forty-eighth common-law rule of the superior court it is provided that: ‘No exception shall be allowed by the presiding justice, unless the same be alleged and saved at the time when the opinion, ruling, direction or judgment excepted to is given. * * * All requests for instructions shall be made in writing before the closing arguments unless special leave is given to present further requests later.’ The purpose of this rule is to insure the orderly conduct of trials, so that not only the court, but the parties, may definitely [186 Mass. 114]know what questions of law it is proposed to raise by requests for rulings, and it is of much practical importance that before the charge to the jury the different views of counsel shown by such requests shall be formally presented for consideration.

[71 N.E. 115]

While the flexibility of the rule permits them to be received in...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT