79 Neb. 834 | Neb. | 1907
In her petition, the plaintiff alleges that she was a passenger on one of the cars of the defendant company, which she desired to leave upon reaching Twenty-Eighth street; that she notified and properly signaled the motorman, who was in sole charge of the car, to halt the car for that purpose; that the motorman slackened the speed, stopped
It will be observed that the material issue upon the trial was whether the car upon which the plaintiff Avas riding had come to a full stop before she attempted to alight therefrom, or whether the plaintiff attempted to alight from the car while it was in motion and before it Avas brought to a full halt. The plaintiff and tAvo of her Avitnesses testified that the car had been brought to a full stop when she stepped upon the footboard and before she attempted to leave the same; while the motorman and two of defendant’s witnesses, passengers upon the car at the time, testified that the car was in motion when the plaintiff alighted therefrom. It developed from the evidence given on the trial that the night upon which the accident occurred AAras quite dark; that there was no light at the
The effect of these two instructions, as given by the court is to tell the jury that they may, in reaching a verdict, consider the experience of the motorman in handling cars of the kind, as well, also, as the absence of a conductor from the car when the accident occurred. Whether a car is at rest or in motion at a certain time is a matter of observation on the part of those who are passengers or onlookers, and our first impression was that the question was one which should be determined from the evidence of those who saw and observed the conditions at the time. If there was no conflict in the evidence of the several witnesses of the occurrence, then collateral facts which did not go directly to the issue involved would hardly be competent either to support or contradict such direct testimony; but in this case there was a sharp conflict in the evidence, witnesses on one side testifying that the car had come to a full stop prior to the plaintiff’s attempt to alight, and others testifying with equal certainty that the car was then in motion. In this condition of the case, it was left to the jury to say which set of witnesses they would believe, or whose testimony was more likely to he correct, and any' collateral fact that would throw light upon this subject was proper for the consideration of the jury. In 1 Elliott, Evidence, sec. 144, it is said: “As a general proposition, therefore, it may be said that any evidence that tends in any reasonable degree to establish the probability or improbability of a fact in issue, no matter how slight its weight may be, is relevant. * * * It is not necessary, however, that it should in itself bear directly upon the point in issue, for if it is but a link in the chain of evidence tending to prove the issue by reasonable inference, it may nevertheless be relevant. Indeed, evidence which tends to make the testimony of witnesses
Relating to the damages, the amount was fixed by the jury under proper instructions. There was also a sharp conflict in the testimony of the witnesses relating to the degree of injury received by the plaintiff and as to its permanent character. These were matters for the jury to pass on under the instructions of the court, of which no complaint is made; and, under the general rule governing-cases of this character, we cannot interfere with the finding.
There being no reversible error in the record, we recommend an affirmance of the judgment.
' By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of-the district court is
Affirmed.