Legal Opinion

Maloney v. Hayes

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided May 18, 1910PublishedCited by 29 opinions

Tort for personal injuries caused by falling upon an accumulation of ice which was alleged to have been formed by water collected and discharged upon the sidewalk on White Place in Brookline in front of a house owned by the defendant.

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Tort for personal injuries caused by falling upon an accumulation of ice which was alleged to have been formed by water collected and discharged upon the sidewalk on White Place in Brookline in front of a house owned by the defendant. Writ dated June 20, 1907. The case was tried before Bishop, J. It appeared that a spout ran from the roof of the house owned by the defendant, from which water was discharged into a spout running toward the sidewalk upon which the plaintiff slipped. It also appeared that there was a hole cut in a wooden fence between the premises upon which the house stood and…

1Opinion of the CourtBraley, J.

The plaintiff, while lawfully using the street as a traveller, was injured by falling on an accumulation of ice, which had been formed from water collected and discharged upon the sidewalk through a spout attached to a conductor leading from the roof of the defendant’s house.

A landowner or occupier of land cannot lawfully collect surface water into a definite channel and discharge it upon a highway, making it unsafe for the use of travellers. The act creates a public nuisance, and a traveller who suffers injury therefrom can sue the wrongdoer. Hynes v. Brewer, 194 Mass. 435.

But as the…

2Cases cited13 opinions

  1. Clifford v. Atlantic Cotton MillsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
  2. Dalay v. SavageMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1887
  3. Kearines v. CullenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1903
  4. Prentiss v. WoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
  5. Hynes v. BrewerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907

8 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

3Cited by29 opinions

  1. Garland v. StetsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1935
  2. Marston v. PhippsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1911
  3. Julian v. Sinclair Oil & Gas Co.Supreme Court of Oklahoma · 1934
  4. Little v. Lynn & Marblehead Real Estate Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1938
  5. Calway v. William Schaal & Son, Inc.Supreme Court of Connecticut · 1931

24 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

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