Luther W. White, Iii, Administrator, C.T.A. Of the Estate of Donald E. Meeks v. United States

J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judge.

Suit under the Tort Claims Act for death of plaintiff’s intestate, one Donald E. Meeks, a veteran who died after being hit by a train while under treatment for mental illness at the Roanoke Veterans Administration Hospital at Salem, Virginia. Invoking the Virginia Wrongful Death Act, the Administrator charges that employees at the hospital failed to exercise the degree of care for the veteran’s safety appropriate for his mental condition. In its answer the United States denied negligence and also set forth two affirmative defenses. The first of the affirmative…