Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Guyton

• Decision Date: 10 February 1904
• Citation: Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Guyton, 36 So. 84, 47 Fla. 188 (Fla. 1904)
• Court: Florida Supreme Court
• Parties: LOUISVILLE & N. R. CO. v. GUYTON.

36 So. 84

47 Fla. 188

LOUISVILLE & N. R. CO. v. GUYTON.

Florida Supreme Court, Division A.

February 10, 1904

Error to Circuit Court, Jackson County; Lucius J. Reeves, Judge.

Action by Moses Guyton, Jr., against the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company.Judgment for plaintiff.Defendant brings error.Reversed.

Syllabus by the Court

SYLLABUS

1.There can be no recovery upon a cause of action, however meritorious it may be, or however satisfactorily proved, that is in substance variant from that which is pleaded by the plaintiff.

2.The instructions of the court must be confined to the issues made by the pleading, and it is error for the trial court to instruct the jury that they may base their verdict in favor of plaintiff upon a cause of action, however meritorious or satisfactorily proved, that is substantially different from that which he had alleged.

COUNSEL

[LOUISVILLE & NR CO V GUYTON36 So. 84(1904)]

Blount & Blount, for plaintiff error.

Benj.S. Liddon, for defendant in error.

[LOUISVILLE & NR CO V GUYTON36 So. 84(1904)]The defendant sued the plaintiff in error in the circuit court of Jackson county in an action for damages for personal injuries received by the plaintiff in coming in contact with the wheels of the defendant's cars.There was verdict and judgment for the plaintiff, to review which the defendant took writ of error.

The declaration in the case is as follows:

'(1) For that whereas, heretofore, to wit, on or about the 28th day of February, A.D. 1901, the defendant was a railroad company, and was engaged in operating a railroad and running locomotives and cars upon steel rails elevated upon a road bed and track, and upon on said day, in the county and state aforesaid, by the running of said cars ran against and upon the plaintiff with great force and violence with said cars, and that said cars, upon said steel rails, ran over and upon the plaintiff, thereby crushing, bruising, and wounding his feet, until the toes upon the same had to be amputated and removed, rendering him cripple, maimed, and deformed, and thereby inflicting great shock to the nervous system of the plaintiff, and thereby causing him great pain, suffering, and anguish of mind and body, and caused him to be sick, sore, and disordered, and caused him great loss of time from his occupation, to the plaintiff's damages in the sum of two thousand dollars.

'(2) For that whereas, heretofore, to wit, on or about the 28th day of February, A.D. 1901, the defendant was and still is engaged in operating a certain railroad extending through the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa Walton, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, and into the county of Gadsden, in the state[LOUISVILLE & NR CO V GUYTON36 So 84(1904)] of Florida, and was running its cars, carriages locomotives, and trains as a common carrier for the transportation of persons upon a steel track constructed for said purpose, but the said defendant, unmindful of its duty, in that it did not keep its grounds and premises at and near its depot or station at Marianna, Jackson county, Florida, used for receiving and discharging passengers, and the approaches thereto and the passways therefrom, in a safe condition, in this: it had negligently erected upon said ground so used for receiving and discharging passengers an obstruction in the pathway of people passing by and to and from its trains of cars.The said obstruction consisted of a raised embankment of earth confined in certain pieces of lumber, and by reason of which embankment, on the day and date aforesaid, while plaintiff was lawfully upon the aforesaid premises of the defendant and passing along by a moving train being operated and run by the said defendant, the said plaintiff struck upon the aforesaid obstruction and fell upon the same and under the said cars composing the said train, and under the wheels thereof, whereby the movements of the said train, upon the steel track aforesaid, the said plaintiff was crushed and bruised and injured, his feet were crushed until it was necessary to remove his toes by amputation thereof, his nervous system severely shocked, and he suffered other wounds and permanent injury and great pain and suffering to mind and body, and great expense for mendical care and nursing and great loss of time from his occupation, and great sickness and disorder, to the damage of the plaintiff in the sum of two thousand dollars.

'(3) For that whereas, also heretofore, to wit on or about the 28th day of February, A.D. 1901, the defendant was and is still engaged in operating and running a certain railroad extending through the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, and into the county of Gadsden, in the state of Florida, and was running its locomotives, cars, carriages, and trains as a common carrier for the transportation of goods and persons upon a steel track constructed for said purpose, and on said day the said defendant and its employés and servants in charge of said train were, at its station or depot in the town of Marianna, in the county of...