Barnes v. Washington

The circuit court of Cook County entered a judgment in favor of defendant Illinois Central Railroad Company on its motion for summary judgment. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the circuit court and remanded the case for further proceedings (4 Ill. App.3d 513), and we granted leave to appeal. It appears that Jessie Barnes, a 37-year-old incompetent, on November 14, 1959 visited a tavern on the south side of Chicago. While there, he became intoxicated. Later that evening he was taken to a private party by some individuals whom he had met in the tavern. Still later that night, or early on the morning of November 15, when leaving the private party he was given a ride; however, he was not taken to his home. There are discrepancies in the plaintiff's pleadings and answers to interrogatories as to where the incompetent got out of the automobile, but for the purpose of this case we accept the plaintiff's allegations that he did so at Marquette Road and Dorchester Avenue, adjacent to railroad tracks owned by the defendant. Three days later, on November 17, he was found in a switch shanty in the railroad yards in Decatur, Illinois, 175 miles south of Chicago. His extremities were frozen to the extent that amputations were required.