Owens v. International Paper Co.

GEE, Circuit Judge:

This wrongful death action under Mississippi law was brought by the statutory heirs and beneficiaries of young Ronald Owens, who was killed when the automobile he was driving struck a flatcar standing on a spur track where it crossed Old Highway 49, near Wiggins, Mississippi.1 The trial judge granted an instructed verdict against plaintiffs at the close of their evidence on their theories that negligent location, construction and maintenance of the track proximately caused the accident. On appeal, plaintiff argues that: (1) the evidence presented was sufficient to establish…