Hutchins v. Inhabitants of Littleton
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for personal injuries occasioned by a defect in a highway which the defendant town was bound to keep in repair. Trial in the Superior Court, before Brigham, C. J., who, after a verdict for the plaintiff, allowed a bill of exceptions, so much of which as is necessary to the understanding of the point decided appears in the opinion.
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
At the trial, the evidence tended to show that, four days prior to the injury to the plaintiff, the horse of one More had broken through the surface of the highway, and had made by his hoof a hole, which was a defect; that the defendant’s surveyor of highways had repaired" it by putting in stones and gravel, and that, by the action of the elements, the same hole was reopened, or another hole made in the same place, into which the plaintiff’s horse stepped, and thus caused the plaintiff’s injury.
The court, among other things, instructed the jury that “ if a defect in a highway, from any cause,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Ryerson v. Inhabitants of AbingtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Monies v. City of LynnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
- Blood v. Inhabitants of HubbardstonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
3Cited by3 opinions
- Post v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
- Mason v. Inhabitants of WinthropMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
- Baker v. City of South St. PaulSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1936