Fairchild v. Cal. Stage Co.

Citations

• 13 Cal. 599
• 1859 Cal. LEXIS 212

Syllabus

<p>In suits against common carriers, damages for pain of mind are recoverable. {</p> <p>Proprietors of stage coaches are not insurers or warrantors of the safety of passengers, to the same extent with common carriers of goods.</p> <p>But they are liable for the slightest neglect. They are held to extraordinary diligence and care. And, in case of injury, the presumption, prima facie, is, that it occurred hv the negligence of the coachman. The onus probandi is on the proprietors to show no negligence, and, that the injury was occasioned by inevitable casualty, or by some cause which human care and foresight could not prevent.</p> <p>It is not error for a Court to refuse an instruction asked, stating an abstract or general proposition of law, when it has already so charged the jury as to embrace such proposition, or so much of it as is applicable to the case.</p> <p>If the ends of .^hstice require, it is both the right and the duty of the Court to permit a witness to be recalled, after a party has closed his case.</p>