Preferred Accident Ins Co. v. Patterson

• Decision Date: 11 May 1914
• Docket Number: 1830.
• Parties: PREFERRED ACCIDENT INS. CO. v. PATTERSON.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

213 F. 595

PREFERRED ACCIDENT INS. CO. v. PATTERSON.

No. 1830.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

May 11, 1914

William W. Smithers, of Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff in error.

Harvey F. Carr, of Camden, N.J., for defendant in error.

Before GRAY, BUFFINGTON, and McPHERSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHN B McPHERSON, Circuit Judge.

The policy sued upon was issued by the Preferred Accident Insurance Company of New York upon the bodily safety including the life, of Walter L. Patterson, the husband of the plaintiff. He died 17 days after the occurrence hereafter referred to, and the jury has necessarily found as a fact that (in spite of the lapse of time) his death resulted 'directly, independently and exclusively of any and all other causes, from bodily injury effected solely through accidental means.' present dispute, the contention of the company being: (1) That the cause of death was not an accident at all; and (2) that, even if an accident was one of the causes, a second cause that contributed materially thereto was a diseased condition of the kidneys antedating the accident. Evidently, this contention presents questions of fact, and if the evidence was so conflicting as to justify their submission to the jury, and if they were submitted with correct instructions, the verdict is beyond our control. One or two other questions concerning the admission of certain expert testimony are raised by the second, third, and fourth assignments of error, but they were not insisted upon, and we shall not consider them.

It is not our province to weigh the evidence. This was for the jury and for the court below. Our duty is confined to the inquiry whether enough competent and relevant evidence was offered (whether contradicted or not) to prove the essential facts of the plaintiff's case. We have therefore examined the whole record and are satisfied that evidence was presented in support of the facts about to be stated, sufficient to require submission to the jury. Indeed, most of the facts were undisputed, but all of them were supported by evidence that was sufficient if believed to justify the jury in accepting them as true:

The policy sued on was taken out by Walter L. Patterson for the benefit of his wife, the present plaintiff. He was 49 years of age, and his health had been excellent for more than 20 years; during 15 years before his death he had been sick only once. Except upon that occasion he had attended to his business continuously during the period first named. About a year before his death he had been examined for life insurance, and had been recommended as a first-class risk. He was a strong and robust man, about six feet in height, and weighed about 190 pounds. On Saturday, August 5, 1911, the events happened that underlie this dispute. He had brought his motor car from Atlantic City to his home in Ventnor, and had turned it into Hillside avenue, the street on which the house faced. The surface of the street was loose and sandy having been cut up by recent and unusual hauling, and the car stuck fast. His intention was to put it away in a garage in the basement, but the motor did not work properly, and he was engaged for about half an hour in the effort to crank it successfully, and to move the car off the street. While thus engaged, he apparently lost his footing on the loose and sandy surface of the roadway, the crank handle slipped, and he fell on his stomach, striking the ground near the front of the car. At once he seemed to be in pain, rising with difficulty, and saying to a neighbor on the porch of the next house that he had hurt his back. Soon afterwards he succeeded in putting the car away, and almost immediately went into his own house and lay down, complaining of nausea and exhaustion. In the night he was feverish, and his urine soon became bloody. On Monday, August 7th, he consulted a physician in Collingswood (the town where he carried on his business) and received some medicine. On Tuesday he went to a physician in Atlantic City, and took to his bed on Wednesday. On Saturday, August 12th, he was removed to a sanitarium in Atlantic City, and on the 16th his left kidney was removed. It was found to be covered with large cysts, by which its proper function had been greatly obstructed. The symptoms indicated that the other kidney (which of course could not be removed) was similarly affected, and this belief was confirmed by a post mortem examination. He died on August 22d, 17...