Southern Pacific Co. v. City of Los Angeles

A hearing was granted in this case, after decision by the District Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One, in order that it might be considered and determined together with Inyo Chemical Co. v. City of Los Angeles, L. A. No. 14916 (ante, p. 525 [ 55 Pac. (2d) 850 ]), this day decided. Both cases arise out of the same general event, the break in the Olancha division of the Los Angeles aqueduct on November 26, 1926. Both plaintiffs sought to recover damages alleged to have been proximately caused by the negligence of defendant city in the construction and maintenance of the aqueduct.

In the Inyo Chemical Company case, tried before the late Judge Strother, the court found that the defendant city was negligent, and that its negligence was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injury. The District Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, affirmed the conclusions of the lower court on the general issues of negligence and proximate cause, but reversed the judgment and remanded the cause for a new trial on the issue of damages. This court has adopted the said opinion of the District Court of Appeal, and thus has approved the determination of the city’s liability.

In…