131 Minn. 369 | Minn. | 1915
This action is brought by the plaintiff, administrator of Leo Leitner, a child two years and ten months old, whose death it is claimed resulted
Q. What did he say? A. He said he run over a rock, he could feel the bump. And he said, "I might have run over a chicken, too, I might have killed a chicken too.”
Q. And did you ever hear him say that again? A. Yes.
Q. When? A. The day after the boy was buried.
Q. And where was he when he said that? A. In the house.
Q. In what language did he say it? A. In German.
Q. And what did he say? A. He said he didn’t kill that boy, he went over a rock, that’s all he knowed.
This was all denied, and, in the connection in which it was given, the testimony seems a little improbable; but we cannot say that the jury might not have attached some importance to it.
The relation of cause and effect was for proof by the plaintiff. It is not enough that the evidence be consistent with the theory that a particular cause produced a particular result. The evidence must be such as to justify a fair inference that such cause produced such result and must be such as to put it beyond the realm of mere speculation or conjecture. While the question is indeed a close one, a majority of the court are of the opinion that the jury might' have found, not by mere surmise or conjecture, but by a fair judgment based upon the evidence, that the auto of the defendants ran over the boy. See Lewis v. Chicago G. W. R. Co. 124 Minn. 487, 145 N. W. 393; Mitton v. Cargill Elev. Co. 124 Minn. 65, 144 N. W. 434; Demerce v. Minneapolis, St. P. & S. S. M. Ry. Co. 122 Minn. 171, 142 N. W. 145; Minneapolis S. & D. Co. v. Great Northern Ry. Co. 83 Minn. 370, 86 N. W 451.
Some objections are made, to the charge. We have examined them and find no substantial or prejudicial error.
Order affirmed.