Petitt v. Most Excellent Assembly of Artisans Order of Mutual Protection

Citations

• 73 Pa. Super. 227
• 1919 Pa. Super. LEXIS 215

Syllabus

<p>Beneficial societies — Benefit, certificate — Cause of death — Burden of proof — Evidence.</p> <p>In an action to recover amount due on a benefit' certificate which provided for the payment of $1,000 to a beneficiary upon the death of the insured unless “his death shall be caused by the use of intoxicating liquors,” the burden was upon the defendant to show that the-deceased died of alcoholism. The introduction in evidence of the proof of death, in which alcoholism was given as one of the causes of the death of the insured did not shift the burden of proof, and the defendant must produce adequate and sufficient evidence that the death of the insured was the result of the use of intoxicants.</p> <p>Beneficial societies — Cause of death — Charge of court.</p> <p>It was error for the trial judge to charge the jury that the plaintiff was entitled to recover a verdict “unless alcohol was the direct, proximate and paramount cause” of the death of the insured. Such a restriction placed too great a burden upon the defendant.</p>