St. Louis, Texas & Arkansas Railway Co. v. Burns

Citations

• 71 Tex. 479
• 9 S.W. 467
• 1888 Tex. LEXIS 1169

Syllabus

<p>1. Damages—Plaintiff Must Show Injury—Burden of Proof—Reasonably Certain.—An old woman, aged seventy, in the night time, was put oil a train a few hundred yards from the station where she should have been left. The ground was wet and it was raining. Subsequently she was ill. There was testimony that the bronchial affection from which she suffered may have resulted from rheumatism, to which she was subject, old age or a hereditary predisposition to consumption. The court charged the jury, “If the proof shows the sickness was not the result of her being put off, but that it is reasonably certain that it would have resulted from her age and health, and that such sickness is reasonably certain to result from age, rheumatism and predisposition to consumption, and that the treatment of plaintiff on that night did not superinduce the disease, then the railway company would not be liable for any permanent injury,’’ Held-.</p> <p>(1) The instruction changed the burden of proof from plaintiff to the defendant.</p> <p>(2) It devolved upon the plaintiff to show that the injury was caused by the defendant.</p> <p>(3) The degree of certainty is not that required in civil eases. “Reasonably certain” is equivalent to an exclusion of reasonable doubt.</p> <p>3. Due Care.—It was error in the court to instruct the jury that a longer time should have been allowed to an infirm woman, etc. The jury are the judges upon all the facts as to the care required, etc.</p>