Boyce v. California Stage Co.

Citations

• 25 Cal. 460
• 1864 Cal. LEXIS 55

Syllabus

<p>Damages for Personal Injuries. — In an action against a stage company to recover damages for personal injuries occasioned by the overturn of the coach, it is only necessary for the plaintiff to prove the overturn and the injuries he sustained. The presumption of law is, that the overturn occurred through the negligence of the defendant, and the burden of proving that there has been no negligence is cast on the defendant. In order to rebut the presumption of negligence, the defendant must show that the overturn was the result of inevitable casualty, or of some cause which human care and foresight could not prevent.</p> <p>Instructions to a Jury.—Counsel may propose instructions to the Court, but the Court is not compelled to give or refuse them as asked. If in the opinion of the Judge the proposed instructions are defective in form of expression, or erroneous in law, he may modify them in either particular and give them to the jury in their modified form, or he may refuse them altogether.</p> <p>Variance between Allegations and Proof.—If in the progress of a trial evidence is offered by the plaintiff at variance with the allegations of the complaint, and the counsel for the defense does not object to it at the time, nor move to strike it out upon the ground of variance, the error is waived, and the Court may instruct the jury in relation to the whole field of inquiry covered by the evidence.</p> <p>Error.—A judgment will not be reversed because an error has intervened in the course of a trial, which does not prejudice the defendant’s case.</p> <p>Chance Verdict.—A verdict which is arrived at by each one of the jurymen marking such sum as he thinks proper, and then adding the several sums together and dividing the totahby twelve, and making the quotient the verdict, is not a chance verdict within the meaning of the second subdivision of section one hundred and ninety-three of the Practice Act.</p> <p>Impeachment of Verdict of a Jury.—The verdict of a jury cannot be