Reeks v. Seattle Electric Co.

Citations

• 54 Wash. 609
• 104 P. 126
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1042

Syllabus

<p>Damages — Measure—Impairment oe Earning Capacity — Instructions. In an action for personal injuries disabling plaintiff from following his trade, where instructions as a whole plainly limited the damages to impairment of earning capacity, it is not error to refuse a request to instruct that the jury must deduct from his loss what plaintiff might be able to earn in other vocations that were open to him.</p> <p>Damages — Instructions—Issues Not Supported by Evidence. In an action for personal injuries, it is not necessarily reversible error to give an instruction submitting an issue as to a particular item of damages, if any was found by the jury, when there was no competent evidence thereof, although the practice of submitting an issue upon which there is no evidence is not commendable.</p> <p>Damages — Excessive Verdict — Loss of Legs. A verdict for $25,000 damages for injuries sustained by a carriage maker, twenty-one years of age, capable of earning from $4 to $4.75 per day, will not be set aside as excessive, where one of his legs was amputated above the knee, the other was left useless; he had submitted to various operations and endured long and intense suffering, and there was nothing in the record to improperly influence the jury or to indicate passion or prejudice.</p>