Union Ry. Co. v. Carter

• Decision Date: 18 April 1914
• Citation: 166 S.W. 592
• Parties: UNION RY. CO. v. CARTER.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 592

166 S.W. 592

UNION RY. CO. v. CARTER.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

April 18, 1914.

Certiorari to Court of Civil Appeals.

Action by Josie Carter against the Union Railway Company. There was a judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals affirming a judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings certiorari. Writ of certiorari denied.

J. W. Canada, of Memphis, for Union Railway Co. Bell, Terry & Bell, of Memphis, for Carter.

GREEN, J.

This suit was brought by Josie Carter to recover damages for the killing of her husband by an employé of the Union Railway Company. The case was tried without a jury, and the circuit judge rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff below for $2,000. This judgment was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals, and a petition for certiorari has been filed by the railway company to bring the case to this court.

The plaintiff in error, the Union Railway Company, is a common carrier, operating its lines in and near the city of Memphis. John Carter, the husband of plaintiff below, while stealing a ride on a train operated by the plaintiff in error, was put under arrest by one Earl Barnard, an employé of the railway company, who was also commissioned by the city of Memphis as a special police officer.

The circuit judge found that Carter was shot in the back of the head by this special officer while the former was running away trying to escape arrest. Carter was riding on top of a freight train with some other negroes, and for this misdemeanor Barnard attempted the arrest. Although there was a conflict in the evidence, and the special officer claimed that he shot Carter in self-defense, the proof introduced by the plaintiff below abundantly sustained the finding of the trial judge.

The principal question made in the petition for certiorari is that no evidence was introduced to support a judgment for as much as $2,000 damages.

The wife of deceased testified that her husband worked for certain coal dealers at Memphis and made $9 a week. His age, however, was not shown, nor was any proof offered as to the condition of his health, his expectancy, or his habits with reference to the support of his family.

A number of witnesses testified in behalf of the railway company that deceased was a worthless negro, of bad habits and dangerous character, and it is insisted that his wife has sustained no damages by reason of his death, and has not attempted to show any.

Under Shannon's Code, §§ 4025-4028, the damages recoverable by those authorized to bring suit on account of a wrongful killing are of two kinds: First, the damages suffered by the beneficiaries by reason of the loss of deceased; and, second, such damages as deceased himself would have...