Cohen v. Petty case brief summary
(Court of Appeals of District of Columbia, 1933)
(Court of Appeals of District of Columbia, 1933)
Case Facts—
The plaintiff and her sister were passengers in the defendant’s car
and were thrown from the car after the car went off the road and into an
embankment. The plaintiff and defendant’s stories of events
matched; they agreed that the defendant suddenly exclaimed “I feel
sick” immediately before fainting and crashing into the embankment.
The plaintiff maintained that the defendant was negligent in speed
and did not see him faint. The defendant has no history of seizures
of fainting and did not previously feel ill.
Procedural
History—
The judge directed a verdict [took it away from a jury] after
deciding that no reasonable jury could find in favor of the
plaintiff. The plaintiff appealed this decision in the Court of
Appeals in the District of Columbia
Issue—
Can someone who is suddenly stricken by an illness(or event), that
could not be reasonably anticipated be charged with
negligence(damages from event)?
Holding—
The original judge was correct in directing the verdict.
Reasoning—
The plaintiff could not prove that the defendant was neglible. Even
by stating that he was driving very fast, he had no way to anticipate
his illness to make the moderate speed a point of negligence.
Judgment/
Resulting Rule
— The court affirmed. A
person suddenly stricken by an illness, which he had no reason to
anticipate
is not
liable.
No comments:
Post a Comment