Searcy v. Interurban Transp. Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 05 January 1937
• Docket Number: 5327
• Citation: 171 So. 468
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
• Parties: SEARCY v. INTERURBAN TRANSP. CO., Inc., et al

171 So. 468

SEARCY v. INTERURBAN TRANSP. CO., Inc., et al

No. 5327

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 5, 1937

Rehearing granted Feb. 5, 1937.

Lee J Novo, of Alexandria, T. H. McGregor, of Shreveport, and S. R Holstein, of Winnsboro, for appellant.

Foster Hall, Barret & Smith, of Shreveport, and Hawthorn, Stafford & Pitts, of Alexandria, for appellees.

OPINION

DREW, Justice.

Plaintiff instituted this suit against defendants for damages in the sum of $ 28,500, and for a cause of action he alleged the following:

"6. That on or about the 23rd day of September, 1934, the Rev. A Cliff Searcy, having made a call at the Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Grant Parish, near Colfax, Louisiana, in his official capacity as minister and pastor of the church, held services on Sunday, September 23, 1934, and on the following day, which was about the 24th day of September, 1934, boarded the Tri-State bus near McClore's store, near Colfax, Louisiana, as a passenger, on his journey to Monroe by way of Alexandria.

"7. That while traveling as a passenger, having paid his fare on the said Tri-State bus, some short distance out of Pineville, Louisiana, in the Parish of Rapides, State of Louisiana, he was stricken with a stroke of apoplexy; that said stroke rendered him practically helpless and speechless.

"8. That on the way into Alexandria he informed the bus driver, with whom he had ridden before, of his condition but that no attempt, on the part of the bus driver or any employee of the said Tri-State on the bus, was made to assist him; that, on the contrary, he was abused.

"9. That on arriving in Alexandria at the bus station, which was jointly used by the Tri-State and the Interurban, he was abused and treated as a drunkard; that he informed the employees of the said Tri-State and the Interurban, namely, the driver of the bus on which he had ridden and the employees at the bus station, that he was sick and wished to have medical aid and that he had money to pay for same.

"10. That they first took him out of the bus, sat him in a chair in the back of the bus station, from which he fell and lay for some time on the floor; that the employees of the said Tri-State and Interurban, namely, the driver of the said bus on which he had ridden as a passenger and the employees of the bus station, rang the police and had him arrested and placed in jail under the charge of drunkenness, which was preferred by the bus driver and the employees at the bus station of the Interurban and Tri-State respectively; that he was thrown in a cell in a jail in Alexandria in Lee Street, and allowed to lie with part of his body on an old mattress or pad and part of his body extending over on the pavement of said cell, which is floored with concrete, for approximately 26 hours in this condition, while all the time he was suffering from a severe stroke of apoplexy.

"11. That he was placed in jail at about one o'clock P. M., on the 24th day of September, 1934, and allowed to remain in the said cell, in the condition above described, until about two-thirty P. M., the 25th day of September, 1934, approximately 26 hours, and that he was suffering tremendously from a stroke of apoplexy during the entire time and was practically speechless.

"12. That at about two-thirty P. M., on the 25th day of September, 1934, the police, realizing that your petitioner, Rev. A. Cliff Searcy, was not drunk but was sick, called Dr. R. B. Wallace, a physician practicing in Alexandria, Louisiana, to attend to the Rev. A. Cliff Searcy, and that he pronounced the diagnosis as being a stroke of apoplexy and that the said Rev. A. Cliff Searcy was a very sick man; that later on the brother and friends of the said Rev. A. Cliff Searcy were called and removed him to his home in Winnsboro, Louisiana.

"13. That he was not deprived of his consciousness and his suffering was intense and severe, and it is certain that medical aid could have, no doubt, alleviated his suffering had he received proper medical attention, and there is reason to believe that he would not today be totally and permanently disabled had he received...