Arndt v. Russillo

Edward George Strike was killed while riding as a passenger in his own car. Strike had allowed his friend Steven Michael Russillo to drive. Strike’s administratrix, Joyce L. Arndt, sued Russillo. Russillo defended on the grounds of contributory negligence or assumption of risk on Strike’s part. The jury found in favor of defendant Russillo and the trial court entered judgment on the jury verdict. However, because jury verdicts in Virginia are general, we do not know whether the jury believed Strike was contributorially negligent or whether the jury believed he assumed the risk.

On appeal,…