Illinois Central Railroad v. Fuller

Citations

• 106 Miss. 65
• 63 So. 265

Syllabus

<p>1. RailRoads. Accidents at crossings. Sufficiency of evidence. Instant death. Damages. Buffering before death. Appeal and Error. Instructions. Exemplary damages. Code 1906, section 721. Acts 1908, page 183.</p> <p>In a suit for the death of a person killed.by a running train while he was driving a wagon across the track at a private crossing, under the evidence as shown in .the opinion of the court a peremptory instruction for the defendant should have been refused.</p> <p>2. Damages. Instant .death. Pain and suffering. Code 1906, section 721. Acts 1908, page 183.</p> <p>Under Code 1906, section 721, as amended by Acts 1908, page 183, providing in case of death for a recovery of “such damages as the jury may determine to be just, taking into consideration all the damages of every kind to the decedent, and all damages of every kind to all parties interested in the suit,” damages from pain and suffering would be damages to the decedent, and where deceased was instantly killed there would be no pain and suffering to him, in a suit for his death an instruction to the jury that they might award damages for pain and suffering in such case was erroneous.</p> <p>3. Same.</p> <p>Where in a suit for the death of a man seventy-four years old, who was instantly killed and whose earnings during his expectancy of life would have been two thousand dollars and whose benefi-' ciaries were three children all of mature age, the jury awarded ten thousand dollars damages and there was no element warranting the imposition of punitive damages, it cannot be said that the giving of an instruction for the plaintiff authorizing the jury to impose damages for the pain and suffering of the deceased, was not prejudicial to the defendant.</p> <p>4. Death. Damages. Exemplary damages. Code 1906, section 721. Acts 1908, chapter 167.</p> <p>Code 1906, section 721, as amended by Acts 1908, chapter 167, which authorize the recovery of all damages of every kind to the deceased, and all damages of eve