Stout v. Pacific Mutual Life Insurance

Accident Insurance—Death Through External Agency—Evidence.— In an action upon a policy of accident insurance, conditioned upon the death of the insured happening from “bodily injuries sustained through external, violent, and accidental means,” a verdict in favor of the plaintiff will not be disturbed on appeal on the ground that it is not supported by the evidence, if the evidence is conflicting as to whether the death resulted from a disease of the heart, or as the result of a blow on the head of the insured, occasioned by the capsizing of a rowboat in which he was riding within an hour of his death.

Id.—Weight of Evidence.—The conflicting testimony as to the immediate cause of the death, including the inherent improbability of the truth of a witness who testified to the reception of the blow, is a matter for the jury to weigh and determine..

Id.—Characteristics of Blow Causing Death.—A witness present at the time of the infliction of the blow on the insured may be asked to describe its apparent characteristics and as to whether it was a light or a heavy blow,