Atlanta Daily World

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JUDGE GRANTS ATTORNEY NEW TRIAL IN CIVIL RIGHTS CASE

HOT SPRINGS, ARK.—(ANP)—

Because judge erred in instructions given to a jury, a Los Angeles attorney has been granted a new trial in his suit charging violation of civil rights.

Judge John E. Miller granted the new trial after admitting that he erred in instructions to the jury which subsequently denied Spears damages.

The litigation was the outgrowth of charges by Spears that he was forced to give up a seat on a bus here. In his suit he asked $105,000 from Arkansas Motor Coaches, Inc. Transcontinental Bus System and Santa Fe Transportation Company.

Spears said he was forced to move from the front of a bus to a rear seat as he traveled through here enroute from California to New Orleans in December, 1952.

The jury denied Spears damages, and attorney asked for a new trial.

Earlier, Judge Miller had dismissed the case against Transcontinental and Santa Fe. The jurist had supported Spears' claim to damages and had instructed the jury to return a favorable verdict. However, it was the wording of his instructions to the jury that Judge Miller erred.

In granting the new trial, Judge Miller said the jury's verdict was "contrary to law, if not, in fact, contrary to the specific instructions given by the court."

The judge had told the jury that the plaintiff's civil rights were violated and asked that it return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and that it assess damages, "if any" in such a manner a sum as would reasonably compensate Spears for the humiliation and disagree he had suffered, "if any."

"The instruction given by the court is inherently erroneous," Judge Miller said, "because of the words if any.' By including those words, the jury construed the instructions to mean that the plaintiff was entitled to recover only if actual damage was proven.

"At least nominal damages are recoverable wherever there has been a breach of a legal duty or the invasion of a legal right although no actual damage results are shown by testimony," he said.