12 Ga. App. 369 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1913
James'D. Garrison, jointly with his wife, brought an action against the Central of Georgia Bailway Company. The plaintiffs recovered a verdict. The defendant excepts to the refusal of a new trial. Pending the motion for a néw trial Garrison died and his administrator was substituted as one of, the parties plaintiff. The action was for damage alleged to have been done to the lot in the city of Athens on which the plaintiffs resided, by regson of .the lowering of the grade of the street in front .of the, house, in consequence of which the premises were made inaccessible. There wá-s> conflict .in.the .evidence-, as to whether the market value
A close examination of the .various grounds of the motion for new trial, and the briefs,. fails to convince us that any error was ■ committed which would warrant the grant of a new trial. The main insistence of counsel for the plaintiff in error is that the instructions of the trial judge authorized the jury to find, against the defendant, even though the jury might be satisfied that the defendant graded the street under the authority of the municipal officers, and according to their direction, as a part of a general .plan of street improvement, in case the jury also found that it was a part of a general plan for the improvement of the railway company’s property and it actually derived a benefit from the improvement, which concurrently worked injury to the plaintiffs. We agree.with the trial judge that this contention is without merit, and hold that if the authority of the city council was obtained and the work was done by, the railway company with the purpose and with the effect of conferring a .benefit upon the railway company as well as upon the city, and, as a consequence of the improvement of the railway company’s facilities, the plaintiffs were injured, they could recover, notwithstanding the work was also in furtherance of the general plan of the municipal authorities to improve the streets, and notwithstanding that it appears without contradiction that the work was actually done as directed by the city, and resulted in an improvement of a public thoroughfare.
Judgment affirmed.