Sears v. Seattle Consol. St. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 26 May 1893
• Citation: Sears v. Seattle Consol. St. Ry. Co., 6 Wash. 227, 33 P. 1081 (Wash. 1893)
• Parties: SEARS ET AL. v. SEATTLE CONSOL. ST. RY. CO.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

33 P. 1081

6 Wash. 227

SEARS ET AL. v. SEATTLE CONSOL. ST. RY. CO.

Supreme Court of Washington

May 26, 1893

Dissenting opinion. For majority opinion, see 33 P. 389.

In an action against a street railway company for personal injuries caused by a car running into a wagon, where it appeared that the motorman was discharged soon after the accident, but there was no evidence why, it was not error to permit counsel to argue that the motorman was discharged on account of incompetency at the time of the accident, though the conclusion is unwarranted, since the court cannot compel counsel to argue logically.

STILES, J., (dissenting.)

I desire simply to call attention to the instructions requested by the defendant, Nos. 6 and 7. The court in this case gave a series of instructions, requested by the plaintiff, which from beginning to end, were argumentative, and wholly devoted to the suggestion of facts necessary to be found to justify the jury in finding for the plaintiffs, and failed to state any ground which would be sufficient to excuse the defendant from the charge of negligence. In general terms, the jury were told that the acts of the defendant must have been negligent in order to entitle the plaintiffs to recover, but nowhere was there any definition of negligence. Thus, the jury were left wholly to the exercise of their judgment as to the law of negligence, and were told in plain terms that, if certain facts claimed by the plaintiffs to have been proven were found by them, they should find for the plaintiffs. Over against this, the defendant, in order to have its case presented upon an equal footing before the jury, asked the following instructions: "(6) If the jury believe from the evidence that the motorman was properly operating his car, and sounded his gong in sufficient time to lead a reasonably prudent person to believe that the driver of the wagon would leave the...