Welch ex rel. Welch v. Auto Owners Insurance

ERVIN, Judge.

Jacqueline Lee Welch, aged 5 years, and her little brother, Patrick Welch, were seriously injured in a- retail clothing store in Panama City Beach, Florida, when a plate glass window in the store front exploded during an unusually heavy wind and rain storm in February, 1976. Appellees Julian and Donald Bennett owned the store and, at the time of the accident, leased it to appellees Jimmy Christo and Tom Cooley. The window was made of Vi" thick plate glass and was approximately 8V2' high and 10' wide.

Appellee Julian Bennett stated in a deposition that he had relied on the…