Barton v. City of Springfield
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort to recover for personal injuries received by the plaintiff on September 15,1871, by reason of an alleged defect in a sidewalk on Sargeant Street in Springfield, which the defendants were bound to keep in repair.
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Tort to recover for personal injuries received by the plaintiff on September 15,1871, by reason of an alleged defect in a sidewalk on Sargeant Street in Springfield, which the defendants were bound to keep in repair. Trial in the Superior Court, before Rockwell, J., who, after a verdict for the plaintiff, allowed the following bill of exceptions: “ The alleged defect consisted of a depression or cut in the sidewalk, which was of earth not paved, caused by the rain standing in a pool and flowing therefrom, from three to four feet in width and from four to eight inches in depth. It had been…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
The jury were told in this case that the plaintiff must affirmatively show that she was in the exercise of due and ordinary care under the circumstances in which she was placed. Due and ordinary care was also defined in terms which were not excepted to and are not reported.
The defendant was not entitled to the ruling asked, unless the circumstances set forth in the prayer for instructions preclude the possibility of due care on the part of the plaintiff. They do not. The evidence is not all reported, and the jury were justified in finding due care, notwithstanding the specified conduct of the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Mahoney v. Metropolitan RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1870
3Cited by15 opinions
- Buesching v. St. Louis Gaslight Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1880
- Loewer v. City of SedaliaSupreme Court of Missouri · 1883
- Kelly v. Inhabitants of BlackstoneMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
- McGuinness v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894
- Powers v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1891
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