Patton v. City of Grafton

Hatcher, Judge:

This is an action to recover doctors’, nurses’, hospital bills and other damages to plaintiff occasioned by the fall of his wife off an unguarded public walkway into an open private cellar alongside the walkway. The accident occurred on Indian Alley, which is one of defendant’s public thoroughfares. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff for $800.00, defendant secured a writ of error.

Indian Alley is on a hillside, is unpáved, and is regularly used by the public. The walkway in the alley partially consists of wooden steps which were erected two years before the accident. The…