Thompson v. Katzer

Robert A. Thompson, the stepson of Buell Berg, sued for personal injuries sustained by slipping on ice and snow in the driveway of a house at which Berg was house-sitting. At the end of the plaintiff’s case-in-chief, the trial court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence. We affirm.

In early 1991, Buell Berg was house-sitting for some friends, Ronald and Ann Katzer, who were away on vacation. The Katzers’ house was near Ariel in rural Cowlitz County. Berg’s car, however, was parked at Thompson’s home in Vancouver, Washington.

At the times material here, the Katzers’…