Simpson v. Johnson's Amoco Food Shop, Inc.

CHARLES B. BLACKMAR, Sr.- J.,

dissenting.

To my regret I am unable to join the majority opinion. I believe that, by law long established, the plaintiff had the right to comment on the defendant’s failure to call the two employees who were on the premises when the plaintiff was injured, and that the trial court’s refusal to permit this comment constituted prejudicial error.

This is a classic slip and fall case. See Moss v. Nat’l Super Markets, Inc., 781 S.W.2d 784 (Mo. banc, 1989). The trial court summarized the plaintiffs claim as follows:

“she says that the depression was the size of a…