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Verdict For $159 Given

Verdict For $159 Given image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
March
Year
1902
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

VERDICT FOR $159 GIVEN

Student Was Sued by Livery-man Walker.

HE ALLEGED OVERDRIVING

One of the Horses Died and the Other One Was Ruined.  Defense Denied Overdriving.

The case of Albert B. Walker vs. Fred Mellish has been in progress in the circuit court for two days and has been attracting a room full of students.

One Sunday last June Mellish, who is a dental student from Saginaw, and another student named Ferguson, hired a team of horses from Liveryman Walker. They drove to Ypsilanti and took Miss Lillian Wheeler and Miss Olive Lemly for a drive. They came to Ann Arbor, drove about the boulevard and back to Ypsilanti, arriving there about 7:30 in the evening. The young men then drove back to Ann Arbor. Thus the horses were driven to Ypsilanti and return twice.

Walker claims that the horses were so overdriven that one died in ten days and the other was ruined, and wants $300 damages.

After the plaintiff had put in his case Attorney Bennett made a motion to have the action dismissed on the grounds that the declaration alleged assumpsit and that a contract made on Sunday is void. He stated that the declaration did not set up any breach of duty. Attorney Sawyer maintained that it was not necessary to set up negligence where the facts imply a duty. After a lengthy legal argument Judge Kinne decided to allow the case to proceed.

The young ladies went on the stand and testified that the horses were driven very moderately. In fact the horses were allowed to walk whenever they desired.

After hearing the arguments of the attorneys, Judge Kine charged the jury, who retired to their rooms for an hour. Upon their return to the court room their verdict of $159 was given the plaintiff as against the defendant. The plaintiff had claimed $300.