B. W. ELLS, RECEIVER FOR THE APALACHICOLA NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY,
v.
MRS. M. G. LEWIS, ET VIR.
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The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a jury verdict against a railroad receiver who was found liable for negligently causing a fire that damaged adjacent property. The court found sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the jury's finding of negligence.
Yes, there was substantial circumstantial evidence that, if believed by the jury, was sufficient to meet the legal standard for proving negligence based on circumstantial evidence.
“There is substantial circumstantial evidence which, if believed by the jury, meets the test of sufficiency approved by this court in the very late case of King v. Weis-Patterson Lumber Co., 124 Fla. 272, 168 Sou. Rep. 858, wherein it wa.s said that in civil cases an inference of an ultimate fact derived from circumstantial evidence is only required to outweigh all contrary inferences to such an extent as to amount to a. preponderance of all of the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from the same circumstances to prove the existence of the primary fact in issue.”
Establishes the legal standard for sufficiency of circumstantial evidence in civil cases.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe receiver of the Apalachicola Northern Railroad Company was found liable for damages after a fire, allegedly caused by a railroad engine used for l…
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Ells, as receiver of the Apalachicola Northern ■Railroad Company, was mulched in damages for negligently communicating fire to the adjoining property of plaintiff from an engine attached to a loader or grader op*271erated by the receiver ás part of the railroad in his judicial custody.
There is substantial circumstantial evidence which, if believed by the jury, meets the test of sufficiency approved by this court in the very late case of King v. Weis-Patterson Lumber Co., 124 Fla. 272, 168 Sou. Rep. 858, wherein it wa.s said that in civil cases an inference of an ultimate fact derived from circumstantial evidence is only required to outweigh all contrary inferences to such an extent as to amount to a. preponderance of all of the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from the same circumstances to prove the existence of the primary fact in issue. Therefore the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict and his motion for a new trial were not erroneously denied.
The procedural errors complained of have been considered but we perceive therein no cause for reversal on that score.
Affirmed.
Ellis, C. J., and Whitfield, Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur.
Brown, J., dissents.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- King v. Weis-Patterson Lumber Co., 124 Fla. 272 (Fla. 1936)