Lewis v. County of Contra Costa

WOOD (Fred B.), J.

Plaintiff was injured when, in crossing a public highway, he jumped over a mud filled gutter onto a mud covered sidewalk, slipped and fell.

He joined Earl Smith and the County of Contra Costa as defendants: Smith because, allegedly, excavations on his nearby land loosened the soil which was carried down to and onto the sidewalk and highway by the surface run-off whenever it rained; the county, because it allegedly suffered the alleged nuisance on Smith’s land to continue unabated and failed to remedy a dangerous and defective condition in the highway.

Verdict was for the…