Southern Pacific Co. v. Wilson

Citations

• 10 Ariz. 162
• 85 P. 401
• 1906 Ariz. LEXIS 115

Syllabus

<p>1. Death by Wrongful Act — Action for — Complaint—Pleading— Evidence — Sufficiency—Bev. Stats. Ariz. 1901, Pars. 2764, 2765,. 2766, Construed. — Paragraphs 2764, 2765, and 2766, supra, creating an action for death by wrongful act, providing that the action, shall be brought by the personal representative of the deceased,, and authorizing the jury in such case to give such damages as-, they shall deem just, not to exceed five thousand dollars, the amount recovered not to be subject to the debts of the deceased, and to be-distributed in accordance with the law relating to the distribution of personal estate, create an action for the benefit of the estate,, and the administrator in such action need not allege or prove the-existence of beneficiaries, or the amount of damages suffered by them.</p> <p>2. Evidence — Depositions — Suppression — Grounds — Attorney of-Witness Beading Questions to Witness. — The presence of the-solicitor of a witness at the examination before a commissioner taking the deposition, and the reading by him to the witness of th& questions contained in the commission, in the presence of the commissioner, will not justify the suppression of the deposition, the answers being sworn to and subscribed by the witness before the-commissioner, in the absence of some showing that the answers, of the witness were influenced thereby.</p> <p>3. Same — Irregularities—Admissibility.—Where a commissioner was authorized to, and did, take the deposition of a witness, and returned in the same envelope the answers of another person to the interrogatories propounded to the witness, the fact that the commissioner-exceeded his authority in interrogating the second person did not render the deposition of the witness named in the commission, inadmissible.</p> <p>4. Action fob Wrongful Death — Damages—Amount—Not Excessive. —An award of five thousand dollars as damages in an action for wrongful death will not be set aside as excessive, where it appeared that the decedent