{
  "id": 858555,
  "name": "Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Jacob Hileman, Administrator of Tena L. Hileman, Deceased",
  "name_abbreviation": "Illinois Central Railroad v. Hileman",
  "decision_date": "1894-03-23",
  "docket_number": "",
  "first_page": "57",
  "last_page": "59",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "53 Ill. App. 57"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.",
    "id": 8837,
    "name": "Illinois Appellate Court"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 29,
    "name_long": "Illinois",
    "name": "Ill."
  },
  "cites_to": [],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 283,
    "char_count": 3905,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.462,
    "sha256": "8214f96423df7cec9b295f4eef5b2fa869219df135f5341b98331ad3352f31ea",
    "simhash": "1:27c93780d8850799",
    "word_count": 674
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T16:03:00.879097+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Jacob Hileman, Administrator of Tena L. Hileman, Deceased."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Mr. Justice Scofield\ndelivered the opinion of the Court.\nOn the afternoon of March 29,1892, appellee\u2019s wife left her home in Anna to visit her sick daughter-in-law who lived on the other side of appellant\u2019s road. The day was cold, and she covered her head and ears with an article called a fascinator, and walked rapidly to the railroad tracks. Having crossed two of the tracks, she stepped upon the third, not more than from five to ten feet in advance of an engine drawing pass.enger coaches and running at the rate of more than ten miles an hour.. She was instantly killed. This suit was brought by her husband as administrator to recover damages for her death, and a verdict for $2,000 was returned in his favor. The sum of $800 was remitted and judgment for the remainder was rendered in favor of appellee against the company.\nAt the point where Mrs. Hileman attempted to cross the railroad tracks, which was a public crossing, there were no obstructions, so that she could have seen the approaching train without difficulty if she had looked in that direction.\nShe was not seen by the engineer or fireman, according to their testimony, till she stepped upon the track in front of the engine. They swear they were looking forward along the track, and did all they could to stop the train as soon as they saw the woman\u2019s peril.\nThe grounds of negligence relied on by appellee were the unlawful rate of speed at which the train was running, and the failure of the company\u2019s servants to ring the bell or sound the whistle. One of the ordinances of Anna prohibited passenger trains from running faster than ten miles an hour within the corporate limits.\nThere was a sharp conflict as to whether or not the bell was rung. The whistle was not sounded except in the usual manner for indicating the approach to the station.\nIn this state of the record it was necessary that the law as to negligence should be accurately stated. We are of the opinion, that the instruction given to the jury by the court of its own motion was erroneous as applied to the facts in this case. This instruction told the jury that if the deceased was guilty of gross negligence, they should find for the defendant, unless the injury was caused by the willful, intentional, or wantonly reckless acts of defendant\u2019s servants. There was no evidence to support the theory that Mrs. Hilemans death was caused by the willful or intentional -acts of the engineer or fireman, and yet the instruction indicated to the jury that there was such evidence.\nThe objection that the amendment to the bill of exceptions is not sufficient to show exceptions to all of the instructions, need not be considered, inasmuch as an exception to the giving of the instruction under consideration was duly preserved by the bill of exceptions as originally filed. For the error indicated, the judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Mr. Justice Scofield"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Green & Gilbert, attorneys for appellant.",
      "Karraker & Lingle, attorneys for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Jacob Hileman, Administrator of Tena L. Hileman, Deceased.\n1. Instructions\u2014To be Based upon the Evidence.\u2014In an action to recover damages on account of the death of a person by negligence, the giving of an instruction which tells the jury that if the deceased was guilty of gross negligence they should find for the defendant, unless the injury was caused by the willful, intentional or wantonly reckless acts of defendant\u2019s servants, where, there is no evidence to support the theory that the death was caused by such acts, is error sufficient to call for a reversal of the judgment.\nMemorandum.\u2014Action for damages. Death by negligent act. Appeal from the Circuit Court of Union County; the Hon. Joseph P. Robarts, Judge, presiding. Heard in this court at the February term, 1894\nReversed and remanded.\nOpinion filed March 23, 1894.\nThe statement of facts is contained in the opinion of the court.\nGreen & Gilbert, attorneys for appellant.\nKarraker & Lingle, attorneys for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0057-01",
  "first_page_order": 53,
  "last_page_order": 55
}
