Western Real Estate Trustees v. Hughes

Citations

• 153 F. 560
• 82 C.C.A. 514
• 1907 U.S. App. LEXIS 4435

Syllabus

<p>Trial — Exclusion of Evidence — Instructions.</p> <p>In an action for damages caused hy the collapse of a building during alteration, plaintiff alleged noncomplianee with an ordinance requiring the issuance of a building permit before the building alterations were commenced. Defendant sought to prove what had. been done with reference to securing a permit before the commencement of the work, but the court sustained plaintiff’s objection, and stated that he did not see how the permit was material; that in -the view he took of the case it would go to the jury on the single proposition whether the work was done in a negligent manner. The matter was not again referred to, but the court charged that in determining whether defendants were negligent the jury might consider the fact that the city ordinances required a permit to be obtained, the fact that .one was not obtained, and whether the omission contributed to the injury. Hold, that such instruction submitted an issue on which defendant had not been heard, and was erroneous.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.. — For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 46, Trial, § 596.]</p>