Garval v. City of Rockville

CHARLES E., MOYLAN, JR., Judge,

Retired, Specially Assigned.

On cursory glance, this appeal appeared far more difficult than it needs to be. The analysis is compromised by the attempt on the part of the appellant to cram within the narrow mold of staircase law what, in reality, is not a staircase problem at all.

The 92-year-old appellant, Hanna Garval, suffered a fall while attending, on May 8, 2004, a post-Bar Mitzvah reception at the Glenview Mansion, a facility that has been owned and operated for fifty years by the appellee, the City of Rockville. After the religious ceremony at a local…