Caton v. City of Sedalia
Caton v. City of Sedalia
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff sued the defendant for damages resulting from a fall on a defective sidewalk. On a trial below, she recovered judgment for $475 and the ■defendant appealed.
The injury occurred at a point on Third street in said city, where the boards of about five to eight feet ■of the plank sidewalk had been loosened and displaced, •and parties in the’vicinity had laid the loose boards lengthwise, but they were left unfastened. There seem to have been some holes or depressions in the way. About dark, the plaintiff, in company with her little .girl, was passing along the walk, when Mrs. Catón stepped on the end of one of the loose planks and it flew up and knocked her down. She fell in such a manner as to fracture the bone of one arm. The sidewalk had been in that defective and dangerous condition for more than a year; the city authorities had notice thereof, and about a month before the accident the street commissioner had thrown the loose boards ■out of the course of the sidewalk and onto an adjacent vacant lot. The next day, however, it was muddy and someone put the boards back and they were left in that condition for several weeks prior to Mrs. Caton’s injuries. Plaintiff admitted on the trial that she had, at ■one time, known the walk was in bad condition, but had not passed over it for two or three months prior to the accident; and that when she approached it the •evening in question, she saw the boards were placed lengthwise, but supposed they were safely fastened or secure and acted accordingly.
We have examined in detail the various objections
• And further, by instruction number 3, the jury was told that this duty of keeping its sidewalks in proper condition and free from obstructions was not impaired by the fact that third parties may have placed the obstructions therein.
By instructions given at defendant’s request, the jury was correctly advised that the city of Sedalia is. not an insurer against accidents on its streets and sidewalks, nor is every defect therein actionable, though
The court also, at defendant’s request, told the jury that: “If the street commissioner of the city had, some time before the accident which caused the injury to plaintiff, thrown or removed the sidewalk, at the place where plaintiff was injured, out of the street and onto the adjoining lot and some person or persons, without the knowledge of the officers of said city, had placed the same back again on said street, or had put some loose plank where said walk had been, or both, and it is not shown that the city was aware of the same until after plaintiff was injured, nor that the same had so remained for so long that the city authorities of said city, by the exercise of ordinary diligence could have known of the same, then the city is not chargeable with negligence herein and the jury will find the issues for defendant.”
Without further comment, it is sufficient to say' that the instructions, considered altogether, contain a clear, unambiguous statement of the law, and are in line with the decisions. Roe v. City of Kansas, 100 Mo. 190; Craig v. City of Sedalia, 63 Mo. 417, and other cases cited in briefs of counsel.
The judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.