Harpster v. Hetherington

In this slip-and-fall case, the conduct of defendants claimed and found to be negligent was not, as a matter of law, a direct cause of plaintiffs injuries. We reverse the court of appeals’ affirmance of the jury’s verdict.

Mrs. Harpster (the plaintiff) and Mr. and Mrs. Hetherington (the defendants) are good friends and next-door neighbors. About midday on December 17, 1988, Mrs. Harp-ster walked over to the Hetherington house — the two neighbors had keys to each other’s homes — to attend to the Hethering-ton dog. Mrs. Harpster went in through the garage and let the dog out into the fenced-in…