McPherson v. Pittsburg Railways Co.

Citations

• 50 Pa. Super. 233
• 1912 Pa. Super. LEXIS 33

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Damages—Compensation for delay.</p> <p>1. A gross discrepancy between an amount claimed by the plaintiff in his statement in an accident case, and the amount found by the jury is a pertinent consideration in determining whether compensation for delay in the payment of damages arising out of a tort should be awarded.</p> <p>2. In a personal injury case the damages are assessed as of the date of the trial and not of the injuries; hence there can be no general compensation for delay.</p> <p>3. In an action to recover damages for personal injuries where the plaintiff claims $20,000 damages in his statement, and the jury awards him $1,400, and it appears that there was never a time that the defendant could have made a fair tender to the plaintiff by separating the several elements of damages, the appellate court will reverse a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff where the court below charged that the jury might allow damages at six per cent per annum on the actual amount of loss of earnings by way of compensation for detention of the money.</p> <p>4. If in such a case the parties agree that $99.00 is the maximum amount of interest which the jury could have awarded under the charge, and the plaintiff agrees to remit that amount, the appellate court will not direct a retrial, but will merely deduct the amount of interest from the judgment, and affirm the judgment as thus corrected.</p>