119 F.2d 776 | 5th Cir. | 1941
Brought under the Mississippi death statute,
If speculation as to whether the erroneous charge was in fact harmful might be properly entered upon, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to resist the conclusion, that the charge of the court, that the damages to be awarded, “can never amount to what might be said to be substantial damages” and that unless the verdict exceeds the sum of $2,500 or $3,000, it would not be considered substantial damages, had the inevitable effect of producing a small verdict. But when an error of the magnitude of this one, an error of the entry of the court into the field of damage assessment, a field reserved both at common law and under the Mississippi statute, to the jury, is in question, speculations of this kind are utterly irrelevant. The Mississippi statute provides that the “parties suing shall recover such damages as the jury may determine to be just, taking into consideration all the damages of every kind to the decedent and all damages of every kind to any and all parties interested in the suit.” The Mississippi decisions
Reversed and remanded.
Sec. 510, Miss.Code of 1930, “Actions for injuries producing death.”
Gulf & S. I. R. Co. v. Boone, 120 Miss. 632, 82 So. 335; Gulf Refining Co. v. Miller, 153 Miss. 741, 121 So. 482; Yazoo M. & V. R. Co. v. Beasley, 158 Miss. 370, 130 So. 499; Our case of Moser v. Hand, 5 Cir., 81 F.2d 522, went off on the particular error assigned to the charge. It is not in conflict with the Mississippi decisions here cited.