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Lithgow v. Hamilton, 69 So.2d 776

Facts

On August 31, 1951, at the intersection of North Miami Avenue and 119th Street in Miami, Florida, Mrs. Thomas Lee Hamilton was killed, and her 4-year-old son was injured when an ambulance belonging to David Lithgow Funeral Centers collided with the automobile driven by Mrs. Hamilton. The father, Thomas Lee Hamilton, filed multiple lawsuits: one for his son's injuries, one for consequential damages to himself, and one for the wrongful death of his wife. The cases were consolidated for trial, and the jury returned separate verdicts, including a $100,000 award for Mrs. Hamilton's wrongful death.

It appears from the record that on the morning of August 31, 1951, the 54th Street Funeral Center of the defendant received a request by telephone to send an ambulance to N. W. 138th Street to pick up the take to the hospital a small child who had swallowed some foreign substance. An ambulance was immediately dispatched on the mission. After the ambulance left the garage of the Funeral Center it traveled west on 54th Street to N. E. 2d Avenue, north on N. E. 2nd Avenue to where it terminates by curving west into 119th Street, and then proceeded west on 119th Street to its intersection with Miami Avenue, where it ran into the plaintiff's car which was proceeding across the intersection in a southerly direction.

Issue

Whether the jury's award of $100,000 for wrongful death was excessive and whether the evidence supported the conclusion that the ambulance driver was at fault.

Whether the jury's award of $100,000 for wrongful death was excessive and whether the evidence supported the conclusion that the ambulance driver was at fault.

Rule

The jury is entitled to consider various elements in determining damages for wrongful death, including funeral expenses, the pecuniary value of services the deceased would have provided, and the loss of consortium.

The statute under which the action was brought requires the jury to award such damages ‘as the party * * * entitled to sue may have sustained by reason of the death of the party killed * * *.’

Analysis

The court analyzed the evidence presented, noting that the jury had the right to believe that the ambulance driver ran a red light at a high speed without using the siren, while Mrs. Hamilton was driving lawfully through a green light. The court emphasized that the jury's findings were supported by the evidence and that the damages awarded were justified based on the loss of companionship, services, and the need for future care for the injured child.

From the evidence before it the jury had the right to conclude that the driver of the ambulance ran through a red light at a busy intersection going at least 45 miles an hour without blowing his siren or giving other reasonable warning of his approach and struck the car occupied by Mrs. Hamilton and her son that was then and there being driven through a green light at a lawful rate of speed.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's judgment, concluding that the evidence warranted the jury's verdict and that the damages awarded were not excessive.

We hold, therefore, that a case warranting recovery was established by the evidence and that the trial court did not commit reversible error in failing to direct a verdict upon motion of the defendant.

Who won?

The plaintiff, Thomas Lee Hamilton, prevailed in the case as the court upheld the jury's verdict in his favor.

The plaintiff father, as next friend of the minor son, in the amount of $3,750; a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for consequential damages from injuries to him minor son, in the amount of $1,000; a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for the wrongful death of his wife, in the amount of $100,000.

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