North Chicago Street Railway Co. v. Louis

Citations

• 138 Ill. 9
• 27 N.E. 451
• 1891 Ill. LEXIS 1093

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—ordinary care by plaintiff—burden of proof—degree of proof. In an action to recover for a personal injury resulting from alleged negligence of the defendant, the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to show that he was exercising ordinary care and diligence at the. time of the accident, and he is required to prove that fact by a preponderance of the evidence. In civil cases the plaintiff must prove his case by a preponderance of the evidence.</p> <p>2. In such an action it is error for the. court to refuse an instruction asked by the defendant declaring that the burden is on the plaintiff to prove his ease as alleged in the declaration, and that plaintiff must make and establish his case by a preponderance of the evidence, when the same principle or rule is not stated in other instructions given.</p> <p>3. Same—instruction as to ordinary care. An instruction, in such case, that if the jury believe, from the evidence, that at the time of the accident the plaintiff was exercising ordinary care for his safety, and that the defendant was guilty of negligence as charged, and that this caused the accident, then they will find the defendant guilty, is not, in substance, equivalent to an instruction that the burden of proof was upon the plaintiff to prove he was in the exercise of ordinary care.</p> <p>á. Evidence—preponderance—defined. The word “preponderance,” etc., as used in instructions relating to the quantum of evidence, means “to outweigh.” There may be evidence, standing alone, sufficient to establish a fact, but it must outweigh all counter-evidence before it can be said to prove a fact by a preponderance of the evidence.</p> <p>5. Practice—court refusing all instructions ashed, for his own, must cover all legal questions. Where the trial court declines to give any of the instructions asked by one or both of the parties, and prepares written instructions of its own, the latter must fairly instruct the jury on all the legal questions involved in t