Muncey v. Pullman Taxi Service Co.

Citations

• 269 Pa. 97
• 112 A. 30
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 774

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Damages — Evidence — Loss of boohs — Proper search for boohs — Secondary evidence — Earning power — Profits.</p> <p>1. In a personal injury ease, where plaintiff who conducted a detective agency, testifies that his books of account, covering several years, were lost, and the evidence offered by him is manifestly insufficient as to the search which he made for them, the admission of secondary evidence as to profits, and as to what the hooks would show, constitutes cause for reversal.</p> <p>2. In such case, if the books cannot he found, and plaintiff testifies that he averaged $10,000 a year profit out of the business, defendant is entitled to information of the details of the business, of the system under which plaintiff employed numerous assistants, referred to in his testimony, of the receipts and expenditures and of the value of his own personal work, as distinguished from profits on capital invested or from the labor of others.</p>