Shifflette v. Lilly

FOX, PRESIDENT:

The single question presented on this certification from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County is the nature and extent of the liability of an innkeeper, designated in our statute as “hotel keeper,” for loss of goods and chattels taken and carried away from the room of a guest; and, specifically, to what extent, if any, Code, 16-6-22, changes the common law liability for such loss.

From the declaration in trespass on the case, filed herein at May rules, 1946, it appears that defendants kept a hotel or inn in the City of Charleston, and that on or about the 10th day of September,…