Whitesides v. Wheeler
| Decision Date | 19 March 1914 |
| Parties | WHITESIDES v. WHEELER. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Oldham County.
Action by Walter Whitesides against Annie Wheeler. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
Edwards Ogden & Peak, of Louisville, for appellant.
D. H French, of La Grange, for appellee.
Walter Whitesides was employed by Mrs. Annie Wheeler to paint her residence in La Grange, both its exterior and interior. He painted the exterior first, being engaged thereat between two and three weeks. After completing the outside painting, he went to work on the inside of the residence, and, while engaged therein, he was shot in the forearm and wounded by Gilly Wheeler, a son of Mrs. Annie Wheeler. Gilly Wheeler, at the time of this shooting, in June, 1912, was about 32 years of age, and was of unsound mind. When about 19 years of age following a controversy in which he cut his adversary with a pocketknife, he was adjudged insane, and was sent to the Lakeland Asylum for the insane. He was kept confined there for about a year, when he was released as having recovered and thereafter he continued to reside with his mother until the time of this shooting, after which he was again adjudged insane. Whitesides sued Mrs. Wheeler for damages for the injuries sustained by him at the hands of her son, Gilly, alleging that she knew that he was dangerous, and that he kept about him deadly weapons, and that she knew, or could have known, that injury to others might result therefrom. The trial court directed a verdict for the defendant, and plaintiff appeals.
1. If the defendant knew that her son had this weapon, and if his condition of mind was such that she knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care could have known, that injury to others might result therefrom, then she was guilty of negligence, and answerable in damages to the plaintiff. Meers v. McDowell, 110 Ky. 926, 62 S.W. 1013, 23 Ky. Law Rep. 461, 53 L. R. A. 789, 96 Am. St. Rep. 475. Or, if she knowingly permitted the weapon to remain in a place accessible to him, and knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care could have known, that danger to others might result therefrom, she was guilty of actionable negligence. But there is no proof in the record that she knew that he had the weapon, nor is there any proof that she knowingly permitted it to remain in a place accessible to him.
But appellant...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Volpe v. Gallagher
... ... son with known mental illness because defendants did not know or have reason to know son would commit violent act against plaintiff); Whitesides v. Wheeler, 158 Ky. 121, 164 S.W. 335 (Ct.App.1914) (defendant not liable for acts of her adult son absent proof of past, overt acts of violence); ... ...
- Hulsey v. Hightower
-
Hulsey v. Hightower
... ... Whitesides v. Wheeler, 158 Ky. 121, 164 S.W. 335, ... Ann.Cas. 1915D, 223, 50 L.R.A. (N. S.) 1104, annotated; ... Neubrand v. Kraft, 169 Iowa 444, 151 N.W ... ...
-
Mathes' Estate v. Ireland
... ... See also Sego v. Mains (1978), 41 Colo.App. 1, 578 P.2d 1069; Fisher v. Mutimer (1937), 293 Ill.App. 201, 12 N.E.2d 315; Whitesides v. Wheeler (1914), 158 Ky. 121, 164 S.W. 335 ... Moreover, there is a countervailing policy consideration of which we must take ... ...