Huston v. Freemansburg Borough
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 59, Jan. T., 1905, by plaintiff, from order of C. P. Northampton Co., Dec. T., 1903, No. 36, refusing to take off nonsuit in case of Sarah Elizabeth Huston v. Freemansburg Borough. Trespass to recover damages for death of plaintiff’s husband. Before Scott, J. At the trial the court entered a compulsory nonsuit on the ground that the injuries sustained were from fright or shock alone, unaccompanied by any injury to the person.
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Appeal, No. 59, Jan. T., 1905, by plaintiff, from order of C. P. Northampton Co., Dec. T., 1903, No. 36, refusing to take off nonsuit in case of Sarah Elizabeth Huston v. Freemansburg Borough. Trespass to recover damages for death of plaintiff’s husband. Before Scott, J. At the trial the court entered a compulsory nonsuit on the ground that the injuries sustained were from fright or shock alone, unaccompanied by any injury to the person. From the record it appeared that on May 11, 1908, the defendant borough in excavating a hole in a street exploded some dynamite and it was claimed that the…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mb. Chief Justice Mitchell,
The learned judge below not admitting, but conceding for *550the purpose of his view, that there was evidence of negligence and of proximate cause, sufficient to carry the case to the jury, nevertheless refused to take off the nonsuit. We do not concede either point, and this case might be affirmed on either. But we have had the case reargued before the full court,' to settle finally the main question that there can be no recovery of damages from fright or other merely mental suffering unconnected with physical injury.
The principle was really decided in Fox v.…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Mitchell v. . Rochester Railway Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1896
- Spade v. Lynn & Boston RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Ewing v. Pittsb. C. & St. L. Ry. Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1892
- Linn v. Duquesne BoroughSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1903
- Fox v. BorkeySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1889
3Cited by52 opinions
- Sinn v. BurdSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1979
- Kazatsky v. King David Memorial Park, Inc.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1987
- Niederman v. BrodskySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1970
- Hatfield v. Max Rouse & Sons NorthwestIdaho Supreme Court · 1980
- Green v. T. A. Shoemaker & Co.Court of Appeals of Maryland · 1909
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