Civetti v. Petti

Plaintiff Pauline Civetti (“Civetti”) brought this action against defendant Mark Petti, Trustee of 6-8 Brook Street Realty Trust (“Petti”), to recover damages for injuries sustained in a fall at her home, an apartment she rented from Petti. Civetti claimed that she fell down a set of stairs because she caught her shoe on a nail that was protruding in the stairway, and that the fall was caused by Petti’s negligence in maintaining the property. After trial, a jury found that Petti was not negligent and judgment was entered in his favor.

Civetti appealed, alleging that the trial judge erred in…