Downes v. Silva

This is an action of trespass on the case for negligence. The case is before us on the plaintiff’s exception to a ruling of the trial court sustaining a substantial demurrer to the declaration. The plaintiff in each of the two counts of the declaration avers that, while in the exercise of due care, she was injured when she stepped into an excavation directly contiguous to the sidewalk upon which she had been walking. The first count avers a breach of duty in failing to maintain some form of protective barrier to safeguard travelers on the highway against falling into this excavation. The…