Legal Opinion

Burke v. City of Lynn

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided November 24, 1914PublishedCited by 6 opinions

Tort, under R. L. c. 51, § 18, by the administrator of the estate of Michael Burke, for personal injuries received by the plaintiff’s intestate on November 19, 1907, from a fall caused by his stumbling on Bridge Street in Lynn where a curbstone had sunk below the level of the adjoining curbstone.

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Tort, under R. L. c. 51, § 18, by the administrator of the estate of Michael Burke, for personal injuries received by the plaintiff’s intestate on November 19, 1907, from a fall caused by his stumbling on Bridge Street in Lynn where a curbstone had sunk below the level of the adjoining curbstone. Writ dated March 28, 1908. In the Superior Court the case was tried before Pratt, J. There was evidence tending to show that the curbstone in question had sunk three inches below the curbstone adjoining and that it had been in that condition for from six months to a year. The testimony of the…

1Opinion of the CourtSheldon, J.

It is impossible to say that the evidence would not have warranted a finding that the plaintiff’s intestate was in the exercise of due care at the time of the accident. He was walking along the sidewalk in the usual way. It was a dark and rainy night. It does not appear that he knew of the existence of the alleged defect, and there was nothing but the darkness to call for any particular vigilance on his part. The effect of this circumstance was for the jury. That he must have been near the curbstone, or that his foot may have been over it when his toe hit the edge of the protruding stone,…

2Cases cited12 opinions

  1. Lamb v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1900
  2. Tobin v. Inhabitants of BrimfieldMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1902
  3. Woods v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
  4. Connelly v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
  5. Fuller v. Inhabitants of Hyde ParkMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894

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3Cited by6 opinions

  1. Crowell v. City of MaldenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1930
  2. Elwell v. Town of AtholMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1949
  3. Cannon v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1916
  4. Pecorelli v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1940
  5. Maloney v. Inhabitants of CohassetMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1920

1 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

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