Merkle v. State

The facts disclose that the claimant, together with her mother, Leona Merkle, were house guests of Mrs. Green, wife of Governor Dwight H. Green, at the Executive Mansion in Springfield, Illinois, on May 9, 1948.

Claimant testified that she was a reporter for the •Chicago Tribune; that around 12:30 in the morning she went to Gloria’s room, the daughter of the Governor, to get some phonograph records, this room being on the second floor, and that was the last thing that she remembered with reference to the accident. There was no testimony on her part as to the condition of the stairway, the…