Bowers v. COM., DEPT. OF HIGHWAYS & TRANSP.

This appeal in a personal injury case involves a plea of sovereign immunity. The case was commenced when Robert L. Bowers filed a motion for judgment against the State Department of Highways and Transportation (the Department), Daniel J. Marston, who was the Department’s resident engineer in Culpeper, and Joseph F. Older and Mabel I. Older. In the motion, Bowers alleged he was injured as a result of the defendants’ negligence when he fell through a culvert-type bridge the Department had constructed on property Bowers leased from the Olders.

In response, the Department and Marston filed a…