Facts

Plaintiff Elayne Higbee, 65, filed suit against the property owner of her home, William Deason, in relation to a trip and fall.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that defendant created a dangerous condition by not repairing or maintaining the driveway to prevent potholes. Plaintiff further contended that the dangerous condition as created after defendant extended his driveway beyond the bounds of his property line and had failed to perform maintenance on it for over 40 years. Plaintiff also contended that though she knew of the pothole, it was defendant's failure to properly maintain the driveway that caused her to plant her foot in the pothole after someone else parked in her spot.

Plaintiff contended through her expert engineer that the paving on the driveway caused the pothole to develop by changing the natural flow of water with the asphalt.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended that plaintiff was aware of the pothole's existence prior to her fall, yet negligently failed to avoid stepping into it.

Specials in Evidence

Higbee claimed $25,000 in lost earnings, $70,000 in future lost earnings.

Injuries

Elayne Higbee suffered a Lisfranc fracture on her left foot and underwent emergency surgery for immediate open reduction and fixation. Higbee also suffered deformities to her toes and failed subsequent osteotomy to correct the deformity and remove hardware from her bones.

Result

The jury awarded plaintiff a $500,000 verdict. The jurors apportioned 50 percent of the fault/liability to plaintiff, reducing the result to a net recovery of $250,000 for plaintiff.

Deliberation

1.5 days

Length

12 days