Thiel v. Southern Pacific Co.
United States Supreme Court
328 U.S. 217 (1946)
- Written by Alexis Tsotakos, JD
Facts
Theil (plaintiff) jumped out of a moving passenger train operated by Southern Pacific Company (Southern Pacific) (defendant). Theil brought suit against Southern, alleging that he was not mentally competent to board the train, and that Southern Pacific should not have allowed him to do so, or should have guarded him once he was on the train. He demanded a jury trial. When the jury was empanelled, Theil moved to strike the entire jury, arguing that the jurors were all business executives or sympathetic to business owners, and that several of the jurors were affiliated with Southern Pacific, so they would be unable to be impartial. The court denied the motion. Theil renewed his motion and attempted to withdraw his jury demand, but the court again denied his motion. The jury found in favor of Southern Pacific, and Theil filed a motion to set aside the verdict or, in the alternative, to grant a new trial, which was denied. The court of appeals affirmed, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari on the issue of whether Theil’s motion to strike the jury was properly denied.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Murphy, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
