NEGLIGENCE-PROOF OF CAUSATION

Authors

Walter Dean, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Decedent, a passenger on defendant's railroad was bound for X Terminal. The car doors were open and a trainman called out, "X Terminal, next," but the train stopped in the dark at point Y before reaching the announced destination to allow another train to pass. Decedent's body was found near point Y. Suit was brought by decedent's widow under the state "wrongful death" statutes. The lower court held that the plaintiff's failure to show that decedent left the train at point Y was a fatal gap in the causal chain, and gave judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the verdict. Held, reversed with directions to enter judgment on the jury verdict. Plaintiff may rely on circumstantial evidence to prove the causal connection between defendant's wrongful act and decedent's injury. Williams v. Reading Co., (3d Cir. 1949) 175 F. (2d) 32.

Recommended Citation

Walter Dean, NEGLIGENCE-PROOF OF CAUSATION, 48 Mich. L. Rev. 536 (1950).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol48/iss4/19