Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway Co. v. Thompson

Citations

• 34 Fla. 346

Syllabus

<p>1, The wilful obstruction of a public highway is an indictable offense and a public nuisance, yet no individual can maintain a suit for any damage, inconvenience or expense suffered by him by reason of such obstruction in common with the people of the ' community.</p> <p>2. In order to maintain a suit for the wilful obstruction of a public highway, the person aggrieved must have suffered some speci al and particular damage, differing not only in degree, but in kind, from the damages sustained by the community at large.</p> <p>!J. The reason given by the authorities for the rule announced in the preceding head-notes is that a suit does not lie against one obstructing a public highway in favor of every one passing along the same, is to avoid multiplicity of suits, and because if the • contrary rule prevailed, the great multiplicity of suits would of itself become an intolerable evil.</p> <p>4. The fact that the plaintiff lives near or upon the public highway which is obstructed, does not change the rule. If by proximity to the highway he has occasion to use the same oftener than other citizens, he only suffers damages to a greater degree, but not of a different kind to that sustained by all others who have occasion to travel the road.</p> <p>5. If one portion of a declaration containing only one count be repugnant to and inconsistent with other portions of the same declaration, such repugnant and inconsistent allegations destroy and neutralize each other, and the declaration is bad on demurrer.</p> <p>6. A plaintiff owning property abutting upon a public highway which has been obstructed can not recover damages on account of the diminution in value of said property caused by said obstruction, where there is no allegation that said obstruction comes into physical contact with said property, or with said highway where it immediately abuts said property.</p>