Kusah v. McCorkle

Citations

• 100 Wash. 318
• 170 P. 1023
• 1918 Wash. LEXIS 746

Syllabus

<p>Insane Persons—Liability for Tort. A prisoner, although insane, is liable in tort for an assault committed upon a fellow prisoner.</p> <p>Sheriffs and Constables—Duty as to Prisoners—Negligence— Liability. Under Rem. Code, §§ 8499, 8500, and 3990, which are but declaratory of the common law, the duty of a sheriff and his deputy to a prisoner committed to his custody is to exercise reasonable and ordinary care to protect his life and health.</p> <p>Same—Custody of Prisoners—Negligence—Question for Jury. Whether it was negligence for a sheriff’s deputy to place an insane suspect in a cell with other prisoners without searching him and taking away his knife, is a question of fact for the jury, where he was declared to be mild and inoffensive and showed no violent tendencies.</p> <p>Same—Liability for Acts of Deputy—Injuries to Prisoner. A sheriff is responsible for the negligence of his deputy in the performance of his duty as such, and where an insane suspect was committed by a warrant, it cannot be said that the deputy’s failure to search him when he was brought in was an unauthorized act of the deputy.</p> <p>Same—Custody of Prisoner—Liability of Surety on Bond. In such a case, if the sheriff is found guilty of negligence, the surety on his bond would be liable to the extent of the bond, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties.</p> <p>Same-—Injuries .to Prisoner—Contributory Negligence. A prisoner in jail, attacked by an insane person with a knife, is not guilty of contributory negligence in that he was charged with knowledge of the possession of a knife by the insane person or of the sheriff’s negligence in omitting to make a search.</p> <p>Damages — Personal Injuries — Excessive Verdict. A verdict for $1,000 for injuries sustained in an assault with a knife, is excessive, when based upon a statement of a physician that a knife wound had resulted in “wrist drop,” where such witness did not see the wound until 30 days after it was inflicted, and al