66.304 Tort Damages; Life Expectancy; Full Value of Life

66.304 Tort Damages; Life Expectancy; Full Value of Life The full value of the life of the deceased, as shown by the evidence, is the full value of the life of the deceased without deduction for necessary or other personal expenses of the deceased if that person had lived. O.C.G.A. §51-4-1 You should consider the gross sum that the deceased would have earned to the end of life had the deceased not been killed, reduced to its present cash value in determining the amount of the full value of the life of the deceased. The full value of the life of the deceased is not limited to the amount of money that could have or would have been earned had the deceased not been killed. Pollard v. Boatright, 57 Ga. App. 565 (1938) Bulloch Co. Hospital Authority v. Fowler, 124 Ga. App. 242, 247 (1971) City of Macon v. Smith, 117 Ga. App. 363, 375 (1968) Rhodes v. Baker, 116 Ga. App. 157, 162 (1967) Elsberry v. Lewis, 140 Ga. App. 324 (1976) (Note: The later decisions cited above would certainly seem to qualify the Pollard case and also earlier appellate court cases, including the Bulloch case (p. 247). It is noted that the Court of Appeals had tried unsuccessfully to get the Supreme Court to clarify the law. Florida, etc., R.R. Co. v. Burney, 98 Ga.1(1894). When at least as far as the husband or supposed wage earner of the family was concerned, the measure of damages was the gross sum that the deceased would have earned to the end of life, reduced to its present cash value. The later cases definitely hold that this factor is merely something to be considered, without fixing any ultimate test. In the Bulloch Co. case, it is pointed out (p. 247) that the Court of Appeals had unsuccessfully sought clarification of the matter by the Supreme Court. At any rate, certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court in the Bulloch case, which at least tacitly appears to accept the holding thereon. It appears that there is now no fixed standard in the matter, and the charge reflects this state of the law. It would further seem that this lack of standard leaves the damages, at least in part, to the "enlightened conscience" of the jury, but so far no decision is found expressly holding even that much. Code sections adopting the "full value of life" measure of damages are O.C.G.A. §§51-42, 51-4-3, and 51-4-4.)