Wand v. City of Shelbina

LAURANCE M. HYDE, Special Commissioner.

Action for $35,000.00 damages for personal injuries sustained by falling on a sidewalk step in the City of Shelbina. The trial court directed a verdict for defendant and plaintiff has appealed from the judgment entered.

There was an inch wide crack, six or eight inches deep, all the way across the step involved, which had been there for months. The issues are causation (was plaintiff’s fall caused by stepping in the crack?) and contributory negligence (was plaintiff’s conduct contributory negligence as a matter of law?). Plaintiff was the only witness to…