Commonwealth v. Fitchburg Railroad
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment on the Gen. Sts. o. 63, § 98, and the St. of 1871, o. 352, to recover, for the use of the widow and children of Charles Keniston, a fine, by reason of the loss of his life, from being run over on May 7, 1874, by a locomotive engine and train of cars of the defendant, at a place in Somerville where the defendant railroad crosses Park Street, so called, at grade.
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Indictment on the Gen. Sts. o. 63, § 98, and the St. of 1871, o. 352, to recover, for the use of the widow and children of Charles Keniston, a fine, by reason of the loss of his life, from being run over on May 7, 1874, by a locomotive engine and train of cars of the defendant, at a place in Somerville where the defendant railroad crosses Park Street, so called, at grade. The first and second counts of the indictment, upon which alone the case was tried, a nolle prosequi having been entered as to the third count, are given in full in the report of the case at a former stage, 120 Mass. 372;…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
The first count of the indictment charges the killing of the person named therein, within the city of Somerville, by reason of the unfitness and gross negligence and carelessness of the servants of the defendant while engaged in its business. The negligence alleged is that the servants, who were running an engine, ran it “rashly, and without watch, care or foresight, and with great, unusual, unreasonable and improper speed.” The second count varies from the first only in charging that the killing was by a collision at the crossing at grade of a public highway in Somerville called Park Street.
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2Cases cited1 opinion
- Commonwealth v. BrighamMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
3Cited by5 opinions
- Commonwealth v. SchaffnerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
- Commonwealth v. Boston & Maine RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
- Wright v. Boston & Maine RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
- Chin Kee v. CommonwealthMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1968
- Skinner v. New York, O. & W. RailroadNew York Supreme Court · 1900