148 Conn. App. 186
Conn. App. Ct.2014Background
- On Oct. 9, 2008, plaintiff Frances Nikides was walking her dogs on a Wethersfield sidewalk near a railroad crossing, diverging from her usual route.
- She observed a diagonal crack in the final concrete slab before the tracks and made a conscious decision to step over it rather than walk around it.
- As she stepped over the crack, she looked left and right for trains; her foot landed on a broken, sloped portion of the slab she had not perceived, causing her to fall into an adjacent gravel ditch and suffer permanent injuries.
- Plaintiff sued the Town under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 13a-149 for a defective highway/sidewalk; at trial the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff.
- Defendant moved for directed verdict / judgment notwithstanding the verdict arguing the slope was obvious and plaintiff was contributorily negligent for not looking down or avoiding the area; trial court denied postverdict motions and the defendant appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether plaintiff exercised due care (contributory negligence) | Nikides exercised due care: she noticed only the crack, looked for trains, and reasonably stepped over what she perceived as a minor defect | Town: defect(s) were obvious; a reasonably prudent person would have looked down or walked around and avoided the sloped drop | Jury could reasonably find plaintiff exercised due care; court affirmed verdict for plaintiff |
| Whether defendant met its burden that defect was not sole proximate cause | Plaintiff: the unseen sloped drop caused the fall; she was not negligent and thus defect was sole proximate cause | Town: plaintiff’s conscious choice to step over the crack was negligent and contributed to her injuries | Court held evidence supported that the slope (not plaintiff’s conduct) was the proximate cause; plaintiff free of contributory negligence as found by jury |
| Standard for reviewing postverdict motions (directed verdict / JNOV) | N/A (procedural) | N/A (procedural) | Appellate standard: view evidence in light most favorable to prevailing party and defer to judge/jury; verdict stands unless no reasonable basis supports it |
Key Cases Cited
- Stewart v. Cendant Mobility Servs. Corp., 267 Conn. 96 (standard for reviewing denial of motions to set aside verdict / JNOV)
- Label Systems Corp. v. Aghamohammadi, 270 Conn. 291 (deferential review; consider evidence in favor of verdict)
- Lombardi v. East Haven, 126 Conn. App. 563 (plaintiff must show freedom from contributory negligence under § 13a-149)
- DeMatteo v. New Haven, 90 Conn. App. 305 (elements to recover under defective highway statute)
- Smith v. New Haven, 258 Conn. 56 (municipal liability under defective highway statute defeated by plaintiff’s negligence)
- Parker v. Hartford, 122 Conn. 500 (whether plaintiff exercised due care is a question for the trier of fact)