Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. Smith
Mississippi Supreme Court
Erom the circuit court of Yazoo county. Hon. Robert Powell, Judge. Smith, appellee and cross-appellant, was plaintiff in the court below; the railroad company, appellant and cross-appellee, was defendant there. From a judgment for $250 in plaintiff’s favor the defendant appealed to the supreme court, and the plaintiff prosecuted a cross-appeal. A statement of the facts is unnecessary to an understanding of the opinion.
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Erom the circuit court of Yazoo county. Hon. Robert Powell, Judge. Smith, appellee and cross-appellant, was plaintiff in the court below; the railroad company, appellant and cross-appellee, was defendant there. From a judgment for $250 in plaintiff’s favor the defendant appealed to the supreme court, and the plaintiff prosecuted a cross-appeal. A statement of the facts is unnecessary to an understanding of the opinion. There is an instruction given for the defendant informing the jury that they should not find exemplary damages, yet plaintiff’s instruction does not tell the jury that they may…
1Opinion of the CourtTruly, J.
The first instruction for plaintiff is fatally erroneous. By it the jury was told that, if they believed the facts therein stated, “then the defendant is liable to plaintiff in damages in such sum as the jury shall see fit to assess under the instructions of the court as herein given for plaintiff.” This is not the law. Verdicts must be based upon the facts of the case, not upon the whims or wishes, the likes or dislikes, of the members of the jury. A verdict should be, not what the “jury sees fit to assess,” but according to the very rights of the parties as shown by the evidence. A further…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. WilliamsMississippi Supreme Court · 1905
- Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. HardieMississippi Supreme Court · 1911
- Meaut v. LanglinaisMississippi Supreme Court · 1961
- Bounds v. WattsMississippi Supreme Court · 1931
- Bonelli v. BranciereMississippi Supreme Court · 1921
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