Edwards v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad

BEATTY, Justice.

Plaintiff filed suit against his employer, Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company, to recover for injuries he allegedly sustained while attempting to throw a switch in defendant’s railroad yard. After a trial on the merits, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant, and plaintiff appeals. We reverse and remand.

The issue for our determination is whether plaintiff should have been granted a mistrial on the ground that the trial judge improperly communicated with two members of the jury in separate incidents during the course of the trial. The first incident occurred during…