Stephens v. Stearns

• Decision Date: 12 January 1984
• Docket Number: No. 13976,13976
• Parties: Mildred G. STEPHENS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Respondent, v. Thornton B. STEARNS and Diane C. Stearns, husband and wife, Defendants- Respondents, and Ronald Koch, et ux., husband and wife, Defendants, Third-Party-Plaintiffs, Cross-Defendants, Respondents, and Arthur M. Albanese, et ux., husband and wife, Defendants, Cross-Claimants, Respondents, Cross-Appellants, and John Does 1 through 8; and XYZ Corporations 1 through 8, Defendants, and City of Boise, Third-Party-Defendant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 41

678 P.2d 41

106 Idaho 249

Mildred G. STEPHENS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Respondent, v. Thornton B. STEARNS and Diane C. Stearns, husband and wife, Defendants- Respondents, and Ronald Koch, et ux., husband and wife, Defendants, Third-Party-Plaintiffs, Cross-Defendants, Respondents,

and

Arthur M. Albanese, et ux., husband and wife, Defendants, Cross-Claimants, Respondents, Cross-Appellants,

and

John Does 1 through 8; and XYZ Corporations 1 through 8, Defendants,

and

City of Boise, Third-Party-Defendant.

No. 13976.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Jan. 12, 1984.

Rehearing Denied March 8, 1984.

Richard E. Hall, and Mark S. Prusynski, of Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett & Blanton, Chartered, Boise, for appellant Stephens

Frank W. Stoppello, and J.D. Merris, Boise, for defendants, cross-claimants, respondents-cross-appellants, Albaneses

Ronald M. Morris, Nickolas John Dibert, Quane, Smith, Howard & Hull, Boise, for defendants-respondents, Stearns.

Craig L. Meadows, and Eugene A. Ritti, of Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley, Boise, for defendants, third-party-plaintiffs, cross-defendants, respondents, Kochs.

DONALDSON, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from directed verdicts in favor of all the defendants and from the denial of plaintiff's motion for new trial and/or reconsideration. In addition, defendant Albanese cross-appeals from a denial of his motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations.

Plaintiff-appellant Stephens filed this suit on October 2, 1978, for personal injuries she sustained on July 15, 1977, from a fall on an interior stairway of her apartment. Plaintiff's apartment, located in a Boise apartment complex, was a "townhouse" consisting of two separate floors connected by an internal stairway.

The apartments were built by defendant Koch and sold to defendant Stearns soon after completion in 1973. Defendant Stearns was plaintiff's landlord from the time she moved into the apartment in 1973 through the time of plaintiff's fall on July 15, 1977. Defendant Albanese was the architect who designed and later inspected the apartment complex.

Plaintiff's suit is based on the alleged negligence of the defendants in failing to provide a handrail for the stairway. Plaintiff claims this failure was the cause of her injuries. The architectural plans and specifications called for handrails as required by the Uniform Building Code which had been adopted by a Boise ordinance. Although the apartments did not comply with the building code, upon completion the apartments were inspected and certified to be in compliance with the code by the city inspectors.

Various motions for summary judgment were made by defendants before trial. All of these motions were denied. On cross-appeal, defendant Albanese asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment based upon the two-year statute of limitations codified as I.C. § 5-219(4).

Following the presentation of plaintiff's case, all of the defendants moved for directed verdicts. The motions were granted based upon the trial court's holding that plaintiff had failed to show that the absence of a handrail was causally related to her injury, that Albanese did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff, that Koch as builder/vendor was not liable under theories of strict liability or negligence, and that Stearns did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff.

Plaintiff then filed a motion for a new trial and/or reconsideration asserting that there was sufficient evidence to present a jury question with respect to causation and that defendants Stearns, Koch and Albanese each owed plaintiff a duty of care. This motion was denied and this appeal followed.

The issues on appeal are essentially as follows: (1) Was there sufficient evidence for the jury to determine if the absence of a handrail was an actual cause of plaintiff's injuries? (2) Did any, or all, of the defendants owe plaintiff a duty of care? In addition, the cross-appeal raises the following issue: Was plaintiff's cause of action against defendant Albanese barred by the statute of limitations? We will first address the causation issue as it applies to all the defendants and then consider the other issues as they apply to each individual defendant.

I. CAUSATION

Our standard of review is well established. One who moves for directed verdict pursuant to I.R.C.P. 50(a) thereby admits the truth of the adverse evidence and every inference that may legitimately When viewed in the light most favorable to appellant, the facts are as follows: On the evening of July 15, 1977, Mrs. Stephens went to visit friends. While there she had two drinks. She returned to her apartment a little past 10:00 p.m. Mrs. Stephens turned on the television in the living room and went upstairs to change clothes. After changing her clothes, she attempted to go downstairs to watch television. As Mrs. Stephens reached the top of the stairway, she either slipped or fell forward. She testified that she "grabbed" in order to catch herself. However, Mrs. Stephens was unable to catch herself and she fell to the bottom of the stairs. As a result of the fall, she suffered serious injury. The evidence further showed that the stairway was approximately thirty-six inches wide and did not have a handrail although required by a Boise ordinance.

be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the opposing party. Owen v. Burcham, 100 Idaho 441, 599 P.2d 1012 (1979); Barlow v. International Harvester Co., 95 Idaho 881, 522 P.2d 1102 (1974); Curtis v. Dewey, 93 Idaho 847, 475 P.2d 808 (1970). Such a motion should not be granted if there is substantial evidence to justify submitting the case to the jury. Owen v. Burcham, supra; Barlow v. International Harvester Co., supra. "Substantial" evidence is not, however, synonymous with uncontradicted evidence. It is enough that the evidence is of sufficient quantity and probative value that reasonable minds could conclude that a verdict in favor of the party against whom the motion was made is proper. Owen v. Burcham, supra; Barlow v. International Harvester Co., supra.

In ruling on the motions for directed verdict, the trial judge concluded that there was "an absolute lack of evidence" and that "to find a proximate cause between the absence of the handrail and the fall suffered by the plaintiff would be absolutely conjecture and speculation." (Although the trial judge's conclusion referred to "proximate cause," it is apparent that he was referring to factual or actual cause. See Munson v. State, Department of Highways, 96 Idaho 529, 531 P.2d 1174 (1975).) We disagree with the conclusion of the trial judge.

We have considered the facts set out above in conjunction with the testimony of Chester Shawver, a Boise architect called as an expert in the field of architecture, that the primary purpose of a handrail is for user safety. We are left with the firm conviction that there is sufficient evidence from which reasonable jurors could have concluded that the absence of a handrail was the actual cause of plaintiff's injuries; i.e., that plaintiff would not have fallen, or at least would have been able to catch herself, had there been a handrail available for her to grab.

In addition, we do not believe that the jury would have had to rely on conjecture and speculation to find that the absence of the handrail was the actual cause. To the contrary, we believe that reasonable jurors could have drawn legitimate inferences from the evidence presented to determine the issue. This comports with the general rule that the factual issue of causation is for the jury to decide. McKinley v. Fanning, 100 Idaho 189, 595 P.2d 1084 (1979); Munson v. State, Department of Highways, supra. In addition, courts in several other jurisdictions, when faced with similar factual settings, have held that this issue is a question for the jury. See Washington v. District of Columbia, 429 A.2d 1362, 1369 (D.C.App.1981); Montgomery v. Engel, 179 N.W.2d 478, 484 (Iowa 1970); Noland v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 207 Kan. 72, 483 P.2d 1029, 1032-33 (1971); In re Lattimore's Estate, 35 A.D.2d 1069, 316 N.Y.S.2d 363, 365 (1970); Fay v. Allied Stores Corp., 43 Wash.2d 512, 262 P.2d 189, 193 (1953); Cossette v. Lepp, 38 Wis.2d 392, 157 N.W.2d 629, 633 (Wis.1968). Therefore, we hold that there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have concluded that the absence of the handrail was the actual cause of plaintiff's injuries.

II. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

On cross-appeal, defendant Albanese appeals from the trial court's denial of his The trial court, in denying the motion, analyzed the interplay of Idaho Code §§ 5-219(4) and 5-241. Albanese argues however, that such an analysis was unnecessary because I.C. § 5-241 does not apply to the facts in this case.

motion for summary judgment. Defendant Albanese contends that the two-year limitation period of I.C. § 5-219(4) applies here, and that it expired prior to the time when plaintiff filed suit.

I.C. § 5-219(4) sets out a two-year period as the statute of limitations for professional malpractice in general. The two-year period begins to run "as of the time of the occurrence, act or omission complained of." I.C. § 5-241 sets a limit of six years at which time a tort cause of action arising out of the design or construction of improvement to real property will be deemed to have accrued, if not previously accrued. Plaintiff's cause of action against Albanese alleges negligent inspection of the apartment complex. Thus, the facts of this case bring the cause of action within I.C. § 5-241 because plaintiff's tort cause of action is one which arises out of the construction of an improvement to real property.

Albanese contends that I.C. § 5-241 does not apply here, arguing that this section only applies if the cause of action has not previously accrued. According to Albanese, plaintiff's cause of action accrued at the time when Albanese performed his allegedly negligent...