Abby v. Wood

Citations

• 43 Wash. 379
• 86 P. 558
• 1906 Wash. LEXIS 710

Syllabus

<p>Appeal — Review—Verdict. A verdict upon conflicting evidence will not be set aside by the appellate court where there was sufficient competent evidence to sustain it.</p> <p>Highways — Injury by Runaway Team — Contributory Negligence. A woman driving in a buggy with a baby in her lap is not, as a matter of law, guilty of contributory negligence in • not looking back upon hearing the noise of an approaching runaway team, where there was nothing to indicate to her that the team was running away.</p> <p>Trial — Verdict—Special Interrogatories. Answers by the jury to special interrogatories to the effect (1) that the defendant was not so intoxicated that he could not control his team, and (2) that the loss of such control was due to his intoxication, and not to the dropping of the conveyance into a hole, are not, in the light of the evidence, so conflicting as to be insufficient to sustain a general verdict based upon the defendant’s negligence and intoxication.</p> <p>Death — Damages—Excessive Damages. A verdict for $2,160 for the death of a child one year of age will not be held excessive, where no complaint is made of the instructions, and there is nothing to indicate passion or prejudice.</p> <p>Jury — Examination of Jurors. Upon the voir dire-of a juryman, it is not error to refuse to permit him to answer a question as to whether he wanted to sit on the jury.</p> <p>Appeal — Harmless Error--Trial — Argument of Counsel. Improper argument of counsel is not ground for reversal when it was not susceptible of any injury to the appellant.</p>