Smith v. City of New Orleans

WILLIAMS, Judge.

Defendants, City of New Orleans (the City) and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S & WB), both appeal a judgment of the trial court which found each 50% liable for damages sustained by plaintiff, Cardelia Smith, when she stepped into a hole on the sidewalk in the 700 block of Common Street in New Orleans. The hole was located just behind and directly adjacent to a drainage catch basin. The S & WB assigns as error 1) the trial court’s assessment of 50% negligence to the S & WB when the trial court expressly recognized that plaintiff failed to prove by a preponderance…