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7 Kan. 207

Ryan v. Topeka Bridge Co.

Supreme Court of Kansas

Decided January 15, 1871

Supreme Court of Kansas · decided 1871-01-15

Error from Shawnee District Court. Ryan and another sued The Topeka Bridge Company to recover damages for injuries to a lot of cattle alleged to have been occasioned by reason of the neglect of the defendants to keep their bridge in proper and safe condition and repair. The plaintiffs had judgment, and defendants moved for a new trial, which was granted.

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““There may have been abundant reason in those other grounds for setting aside the verdict, and, for aught that appears in the record, the court acted on those grounds. Even if we should examine the question presented by counsel and find error, we would still be unable to say that such erroneous ruling was the ground of disturbing the verdict.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including Diamond v. Shaw

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1871-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently January 1922

6 state decisions

20187118801890190019101920decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1The opinion of the court was delivered by

Brewer, J..:

¶2This is a proceeding in error brought to review the action of the district court of Shawnee county, sustaining a motion for a new trial. The case made gives a statement of the pleadings, omits the testimony and instructions, and recites the verdict. It then says: “ The defendant then moved the court to grant it a new trial upon various grounds, among others the following: “1st, Irregularity in the proceedings of the jury; 2d, Misconduct of the Jury.”

¶3On the hearing of the motion the court received the affidavit of a juror to show the alleged misconduct, over the objection of plaintiff. The motion for a new trial was sustained. Whether the court erred in receiving the affidavit of the juror, is a question which we do not feel called upon to decide on the record as presented; because, if error, it does not appear that it has resulted to the prejudice of the plaintiff. Other grounds than the misconduct of the jury were presented in the motion for a new trial. There may have been abundant reason in those other grounds for setting aside the verdict, and for aught that appears in the record the court acted on those grounds. Even if we should examine the question presented by counsel and find error, we should still be unable to say that such erroneous ruling was the ground of disturbing the verdict. This is akin to the case of a record presenting only part of the testimony, or a portion of the charge. McCreary v. Cockrill, 3 Kas., 37. Upon the case before us we cannot disturb the order of the district court.

All the Justices concurring.
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