Murphy v. Boericke and Runyon Co.

This is an appeal by the defendants from a judgment against them for three thousand dollars in an action brought by the plaintiffs, who are husband and wife, to recover damages alleged to have been caused by the defendants by reason of the sale by them to Mrs. Murphy of certain medicine, which the jury has found greatly injured her health.

Appellants assert that the evidence is not sufficient to justify the verdict against them. We are relieved, however, of the task of discussing this contention and stating, in detail, the evidence appearing in the record, because wo have come to the conclusion that, aside from the soundness of this position, the judgment must be reversed for manifest error in the admission of testimony with reference to events which occurred more than one year before the bringing of the action and which were barred, therefore, by the provisions of section 340 of the Code of Civil Procedure. We shall state herein only such portion of the evidence as is necessary to explain the situation with reference to this testimony.

On May 15, 1921, between 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning, the plaintiff John H. Murphy went to the drugstore of the defendant Boericke and Runyon…