Snyder v. Wheeling Electrical Co.

Summary

The Supreme Court of West Virginia reversed a $1,000 judgment for the administratrix of a man electrocuted when a charged electric light wire fell into a Wheeling street, and granted a new trial. It held the declaration sufficient against demurrer because it specified the primary negligent act — suffering the wire to be insufficiently secured — but that evidence of unpleaded negligence (defective insulation, bare wires, absence of repair men and detecting appliances) was inadmissible and prejudicial, and the instruction set was inconsistent and misstated the standard of care. Adopting the res ipsa loquitur doctrine, the court held that the fall of a deadly charged wire into a public street raises a prima facie presumption of negligence, rebuttable by evidence of inevitable accident or hidden defect, and that the instruction negativing that presumption and the refusals of the unavoidable-accident and reasonable-anticipation instructions were error. The court also held that the plaintiff's medical expert could testify only to opinions grounded on his own examination of the body, not on hearsay.