Pettijohn v. Halloran

The defendant attempts to justify on the ground that the plaintiff was a trespasser, and questions the rig’ht of the plaintiff to recover for future mental and physical suffering, and claims that the verdict is excessive. We first consider the evidence bearing upon these contentions.

The plaintiff, Vera D. Pettijohn, was, at the time of the alleged assault, fourteen years old. She .was living with her parents in a house which she says was four feet from that of the defendant. The defendant had been annoyed by the children of the neighborhood, who entered his yard for the purpose of recapturing…