229 N.W. 784 | Minn. | 1930
1. Thelma Luther, the deceased, was the eight-year old daughter of plaintiff. In the early afternoon of October 9, 1928, she was run into and killed by a light motor truck owned by defendant and operated by his employe. The accident occurred in an alley in Rochester. Thelma, on her way to school, used the driveway of a lumber yard and was run down just after she had emerged from the lumber shed and was crossing the alley. She had gotten six or eight feet into the alley when she was struck. There is testimony that defendant's truck was being driven at from 20 to 25 miles an hour; and that it proceeded about 30 feet after striking the girl. The driver admits that he did not see her before the accident. The alley is a fairly busy one, and during business hours the driveways of the lumber yard are more or less constantly in use. Under these circumstances the question as to the negligence of the driver of defendant's truck was one of fact and so settled by the verdict. Hughes v. Minneapolis St. Ry. Co.
2. There was a verdict for $3,000, $436 of which is doubtless for special damages. While the balance of $2,564 for general damages is large, we cannot say, in view of the present modest purchasing power of the dollar, that it is excessive. See O'Malley v. St. P. M. M. Ry. Co.
3. The assignment of error remaining for consideration challenges the admission of evidence that plaintiff, father of the deceased, was a mechanic, had no property outside of $250 or $300 of garage equipment and the family household goods, and that plaintiff's wife, mother of the deceased, had no "net worth." The father was 41 years old and the mother 35 at the time of their daughter's death. So far as appears both were in good health and self-supporting. The issue was as to the pecuniary loss suffered by the parents. In such cases the absence of dependency or any reasonable possibility of it is material for the defense. For the other side equally material must be the fact of dependency or its reasonable possibility. In this case the evidence was intended to show only that the parents possessed so little of this world's goods that there was a reasonable possibility of their becoming dependent later. In determining the damages resulting from the death of an eight-year old child there is nothing of the actual upon which to base judgment. Resort must necessarily be had to probabilities and even to possibilities which are reasonable. The field of inquiry is therefore beset with difficulty and extended in scope.
We do not find that this court has ever passed upon the question generally of the admissibility of evidence of the kind in question. The weight of authority favors its admission. 17 C.J. 1362. See also annotation, L.R.A. 1918E, 284, where the cases are reviewed. The question is what are the present and actual damages and not what future loss may result. But even so, the future must be looked to in order to determine what the present loss is.
"A rich parent whose child is a continued financial expense to him and who has no reason to expect financial aid from such child sustains little, if any, pecuniary injury from its death beyond the funeral expenses; while a poor parent * * * might reasonably expect substantial aid from his child, not only during its minority, but for years thereafter." Cincinnati St. Ry. Co. v. Altemeier,
The cases expressing the contrary view are not unanimous for the exclusion, generally and in all cases, of evidence of the pecuniary condition of the next of kin. For example, in C.
N.W. Ry. Co. v. Bayfield,
In Kerling v. G. W. Van Dusen Co.
In view of the statutory obligation imposed upon children to support their indigent parents, we consider that under such circumstances as we have here evidence of the kind which was admitted may have a tendency "to aid the jury" in their very difficult task of assessing damages.
We do not consider it safe to say that evidence of the pecuniary condition of the next of kin is always admissible or always inadmissible. *532
For instance, in the case of an adult deceased there may be evidence showing what he actually contributed over a considerable period. And it may well be so decisive of the issue as to end inquiry and make immaterial any evidence as to how dependent the next of kin might have been. Again there may be the case of a deceased, who no matter how dependent his next of kin might become could never be expected to make any substantial contributions. For example, in C. N.W. Ry. Co. v. Bayfield,
Order affirmed.