Barnes v. Safeway Stores, Inc., s. 71--260
| Decision Date | 07 December 1971 |
| Docket Number | 24947,Nos. 71--260,s. 71--260 |
| Citation | 493 P.2d 687,30 Colo.App. 281 |
| Parties | Fern M. BARNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAFEWAY STORES, INC., a Delaware corporation, Defendant-Appellee. . I |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
William L. Lloyd, Pueblo, for plaintiff-appellant.
Petersen, Evensen, Mattoon & Tracey, William F. Mattoon, Pueblo, for defendant-appellee.
This case was transferred from the Supreme Court pursuant to statute.
This is a slip and fall case. Plaintiff, Mrs. Barnes, fell while walking down a cement ramp on leaving a store of defendant, Safeway Stores. Trial was had to a jury which returned a verdict in favor of defendant. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment entered on the verdict.
The sole error asserted attacks a ruling by the trial court which excluded certain evidence on cross-examination. The asserted error is without merit.
The only eyewitnesses to the accident were the plaintiff and defendant's carryout boy who was carrying plaintiff's packages. Plaintiff had testified that the carry-out boy had stated at the time of the accident that the ramp was slick and that he had slipped while walking on the ramp. The carry-out boy, called as a witness for defendant, testified on direct examination that the ramp was not slick and denied ever having stated that he had slipped on the ramp. He further stated that he had never fallen on the ramp. He had also testified that the ramp, at the time of trial, was in a condition very similar to its condition at the time of the accident although for a while in the interim it had been covered with an indoor-outdoor carpet.
The store manager, also called as a witness for defendant, testified that the ramp, in his opinion, was not slick and that it was in approximately the same condition at the time of trial as it was on the date of the accident. He further testified that the rug was placed on the ramp about three years after the accident as part of an experiment by the defendant.
There was no evidence offered which disputed the statements of these two witnesses that the ramp was in approximately the same condition at the time of trial as on the date of the accident. Further, after all the testimony was taken, the jury was allowed to view the ramp, at the request of defendant and without objection by plaintiff.
On cross-examination of each of these two witnesses, plaintiff sought to elicit evidence that...
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Good v. A. B. Chance Co.
...a defendant's negligence. See Burr v. Green Bros. Sheet Metal, Inc., 159 Colo. 25, 409 P.2d 511 (1966); Barnes v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 30 Colo.App. 281, 493 P.2d 687 (1971). While negligence principles are not applicable in a products liability case, see Hiigel v. General Motors Corp., sup......
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Polster v. Griff's of America, Inc.
...that the general rule renders evidence as to curative acts after an accident inadmissible to establish negligence (Barnes v. Safeway Stores, 30 Colo.App. 281, 493 P.2d 687; Diamond Rubber Co. v. Harryman, 41 Colo. 415, 92 P. 922), as that Court noted, there are several exceptions to the rul......
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Downing v. Overhead Door Corp.
...to an accident. While evidence of these subsequent repairs is generally inadmissible to prove negligence, Barnes v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 30 Colo.App. 281, 493 P.2d 687 (1971), this principle is not applicable in a products liability context. Martinez v. Atlas Bolt & Screw Co., 636 P.2d 128......
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Polster v. Griff's of America, Inc.
...of curative acts taken subsequent to an accident and as such, is inadmissible under the rule announced in Barnes v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 30 Colo.App. 281, 493 P.2d 687. Turning first to the hearsay objection, we note that this statement was made in short-time proximity after the fall, whil......
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The Colorado Product Liability Act of 1977
...Co., 33 Colo. App. 279, 520 P.2d 146 (1974). 28. To be codified as section 13-21-404. 29. See, Barnes v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 30 Colo. App. 281, 493 P.2d 687 (1971), cert. denied and Polster v. Griff's of America, 184 Colo. 418, 520 P.2d 745 (1974). 30. See, Good v. A.B. Chance Co., ___ Co......