Memphis & Charleston Railroad v. Copeland
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from Lawrence Circuit Court. Tried before Hon. W. B. WOOD. This was an action brought by the appellee Lizzie Copeland, as the administratrix of Alexander Copeland, against the appellant, the Memphis and Charleston Bailroad Company, to recover damages for the killing of her intestate by the cars of appellant.
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Appeal from Lawrence Circuit Court. Tried before Hon. W. B. WOOD. This was an action brought by the appellee Lizzie Copeland, as the administratrix of Alexander Copeland, against the appellant, the Memphis and Charleston Bailroad Company, to recover damages for the killing of her intestate by the cars of appellant. The undisputed evidence discloses these facts: On the 31st day of January, 1877, Alexander Copeland, the intestate of plaintiff, came as a passenger on the regular passenger train of appellants, from Decatur, Alabama, to Town Creek, Alabama, which is an incorporated town and a…
1Opinion of the CourtStone, J.
The doctrine, that one who has contributed proximately to the injury, can not recover damages therefor,. *379is too firmly rooted in our jurisprudence to be open to further controversy. This principle does not rest on the idea that one wrong sets off the other, or that one justifies the other. It is founded on the broader ground, that when the negligence of the plaintiff has contributed proximately to the injury, the damage is considered of his own producing, and it is difficult, if not impossible to determine the quantum of injury which resulted from the defendant’s tortious, or negligent…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Tanner's v. Louisville & Nashville RailroadSupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
- South & North Alabama Railroad v. SullivanSupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
- Savannah & Memphis Railroad v. ShearerSupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
- Government Street R. R. v. HanlonSupreme Court of Alabama · 1875
- Mobile & Montgomery Railway Co. v. BlakelySupreme Court of Alabama · 1877
3Cited by34 opinions
- Alabama Great Soiitliern Railroad v. HawkSupreme Court of Alabama · 1882
- Carter v. ChambersSupreme Court of Alabama · 1885
- Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. HallSupreme Court of Alabama · 1888
- Montgomery & Eufaula Railway Co. v. ThompsonSupreme Court of Alabama · 1884
- Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. PinchinIndiana Supreme Court · 1887
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