Duggan v. Bay State Street Railway Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for personal injuries alleged to have been received when the plaintiff, a passenger upon an electric street car operated by the defendant, was thrown therefrom by reason of negligence with which the defendant was chargeable.
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Tort for personal injuries alleged to have been received when the plaintiff, a passenger upon an electric street car operated by the defendant, was thrown therefrom by reason of negligence with which the defendant was chargeable. Writ dated September 15, 1916. In the Superior Court the action was tried before Keating, J. The only questions of law raised by the defendant in this court related to the constitutionality of St. 1914, c. 553, and the admission of testimony, described in the opinion, of one Howard C. Forbes, a witness called by the plaintiff and qualified as an expert consulting…
1Opinion of the CourtRugg, C. J.
The chief question presented in this case is whether St. 1914, c. 553, is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of this Commonwealth or of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. That question was raised by requests for instructions which were denied, and by exception to an instruction given by the presiding judge, in these words: “The burden is on the defendant to prove by a fair preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff was not in the exercise of due care. Under our law as it is to-day an injured party is presumed to be in the exercise of due care,…
2Cases cited68 opinions
- Holt v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1910
- Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City Railroad v. TurnipseedSupreme Court of the United States · 1910
- Central Vermont Railway Co. v. WhiteSupreme Court of the United States · 1915
- Mountain Timber Company v. State of WashingtonSupreme Court of the United States · 1916
- Bailey v. AlabamaSupreme Court of the United States · 1911
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3Cited by168 opinions
- Palmer v. HoffmanSupreme Court of the United States · 1943
- Commonwealth v. SlavskiMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1923
- Opinion of the Justices to the Senate & the House of RepresentativesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1925
- Gaudette v. WebbMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1972
- Commonwealth v. WeloskyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1931
163 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.