City of Newport News v. Anderson

Ethel Anderson (Mrs. Anderson or plaintiff) instituted this action against the City of Newport News (City) alleging that she was injured by the City’s negligence in failing to adequately maintain its sidewalks free from hazardous defects. A jury in the trial court found in favor of Mrs. Anderson and awarded her damages of $5,000. We granted a writ of error to the trial court’s final order awarding judgment on this verdict.

The crucial question here is whether there was sufficient evidence of the City’s negligence to create a jury issue or, stated differently, whether the trial court should…