Magnuson

The plaintiff, Edith Magnuson, brought this action to recover damages for the death of her minor son, Kenneth Charles Harrison, charging that his death was caused by the negligent manner in which the defendant, City of Stockton, maintained in said city a public park and playground surrounding a body of water known as “Yosemite Lake”.

It is the claim of plaintiff and respondent that the boy, while playing along the shores of said lake, met his death by falling from the bank into the water below and drowning, and that the fall was caused by the lack of a fence, guardrails or other barriers along the shores of said lake.

The cause was heard before a jury and resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the defendant, City of Stockton. The plaintiff made a motion for a new trial, which was granted, the order granting the new trial reading in part as follows:

The plaintiff proved that prior to the drowning of her son in Yosemite Lake, three other children had been accidentally drowned in said lake. This evidence was properly admitted as tending to show the dangerous condition existing at the lake, the cause of the boy’s death, and, furthermore, as tending to bring home to…