Smith v. Mayor of Savannah

Deen, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, J. Gail Smith, commenced this action against the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, seeking damages for injuries she sustained when the lid of a city-owned garbage dumpster fell and struck her head. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants because of sovereign immunity, and this appeal followed. Held:

In cases determining whether a certain activity constitutes a purely governmental function or a ministerial function, much effort is often wasted on disagreeable and disposable “ ‘garbled verbiage and verbal garbage.’ ” State Hwy.…