Case Digest (G.R. No. 19495)
Facts:
Honorio Lasam et al. v. Frank Smith, Jr., G.R. No. 19495, February 02, 1924, the Supreme Court En Banc, Ostrand, J., writing for the Court.The plaintiffs, husband and wife Honorio Lasam and Joaquina Sanchez (Lasam), sued Frank Smith, Jr., the owner of a public garage who operated a passenger-carrying service, to recover P20,000 for personal injuries sustained in an automobile accident on February 27, 1918. The trial court entered judgment for the plaintiffs in the amount of P1,254.10 with legal interest. Both plaintiffs and defendant appealed to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs contending the award was inadequate and the defendant denying liability.
On the date of the accident Smith had undertaken to convey the Lasams from San Fernando to Currimao in a Ford automobile. The car was initially driven by a licensed chauffeur but, after reaching San Juan, the chauffeur permitted his assistant, Remigio Bueno (who held no driver’s license), to drive. After minor engine trouble in Luna, the vehicle functioned until after crossing the Abra River at Tagudin, when witnesses for the plaintiffs testified that steering-gear defects developed, producing a zigzag for about a half-kilometer and causing the automobile to leave the road and descend a steep embankment. The vehicle overturned and pinned the plaintiffs. Mr. Lasam suffered contusions and what he called a “dislocated” rib; Mrs. Lasam sustained a compound fracture of a bone in her left wrist and a nervous breakdown from which she had not fully recovered at trial.
The complaint, filed about a year and a half after the accident, alleged defects in the automobile and negligence and incompetence of the chauffeur; the action was tried largely on tort principles invoking article 1903 of the Civil Code. The trial court, however, concluded the action arose from a breach of the contract of carriage and applied articles 1101–1107 (and particularly article 1105) of the Civil Code, finding the breach not excused by fortuitous ...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the defendant’s liability for the plaintiffs’ injuries contractual (arising from the contract of carriage) or extra‑contractual (tort)?
- Did a fortuitous event (caso fortuito) under Article 1105 of the Civil Code relieve the defendant from liability?
- Should the trial court’s monetary award be increased to the amount ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)