Fitzpatrick v. Union Traction Co.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 224, Jan. T., 1902, by plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. No. 2, Phila. Co., June T., 1898, No. 296, on verdict for defendant in case of Thomas H. Fitzpatrick v. Union Traction Company. Trespass to recover damages for personal injuries. Before Sulzberger, J. At the trial it appeared that plaintiff was injured on December 14, 1897, by a collision with a wagon which he was driving and a car of the defendant company. Verdict and judgment for defendant.
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Appeal, No. 224, Jan. T., 1902, by plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. No. 2, Phila. Co., June T., 1898, No. 296, on verdict for defendant in case of Thomas H. Fitzpatrick v. Union Traction Company. Trespass to recover damages for personal injuries. Before Sulzberger, J. At the trial it appeared that plaintiff was injured on December 14, 1897, by a collision with a wagon which he was driving and a car of the defendant company. Verdict and judgment for defendant. Plaintiff appealed. Errors assigned were (1) extracts from the charge quoted in the opinion of the Supreme Court; (2) the charge as a…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Me. Justice Potter,
The first assignment of error is based, upon the following extract from the charge of the learned trial judge, “ In order that he (the plaintiff) should be entitled to damages he must prove two things to you, first, that he was in no wise guilty of any negligence that contributed to the injury.” Taken by itself this was clearly an erroneous statement of the law, for it would impose upon the plaintiff the burden of showing affirmatively that he was not guilty of contributory negligence. This is more than he is required to do. It is sufficient that his own evidence…
2Cases cited8 opinions
- Fredericks v. Northern Central R. R.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1893
- Leibig v. SteinerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1880
- Price v. HamscherSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1896
- Ditmars v. Commonwealth ex rel. ScottSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1864
- Drenning v. WesleySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1899
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3Cited by14 opinions
- Kline v. KachmarSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1948
- Kaufman v. PittsburgSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1904
- Dattola Et Ux. v. Burt Bros., Inc.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1926
- Bruggeman v. City of YorkSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1916
- Walters v. Western & Southern Life InsuranceSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1935
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