W. C. Ford, Sr. v. Panhandle & Santa Fe Railway Company

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Civil Appeals and remanded for a new trial, holding that the doctrine of discovered peril is available without proof of the defendant's primary negligence and that the evidence was sufficient to submit the issue of discovered peril to the jury. The Court rejected the defendant's argument that no duty arose until injury was certain. A dissent argued that the majority misapplied the doctrine and that the lower court judgment for the railway should be affirmed.