Burgbacher v. Mellor
| Decision Date | 19 December 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 11996,11996 |
| Citation | 112 Ariz. 481,543 P.2d 1110 |
| Parties | A. J. BURGBACHER and Ralph G. Burgbacher, dba Park Central Medical Building, a partnership, Appellants, v. Anna MELLOR, surviving spouse of Joseph H. Mellor, Deceased, Appellee. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
Maupin & Wilson by Donald R. Wilson and William Gregory Fairbourn, Phoenix, for appellants.
J. William Moore, Phoenix, for appellee.
On a rainy afternoon, Joseph H. Mellor, a man eighty years old, slipped while hurrying across a wet exterior sidewalk near the north entrance of the Park Central Medical building in Phoenix. He fell, striking the back of his head upon the pavement. Mellor died as a result of the brain injuries approximately two months later.
Anna Mellor, the surviving spouse, sued for the wrongful death of her husband. She alleged negligence on the part of A.J. and Ralph Burgbacher who do business as the Park Central Medical Building, strict liability in tort, negligence or failure to warn, and breach of warranty on the part of Arizona Disinfectant Company and Masury-Columbia Company. A jury verdict was returned in favor of the plaintiff against Park Central for $40,000 and in favor of the other two named defendants.
The Burgbachers appeal and we took jurisdiction of the case pursuant to Rule 47(e)(5), Rules of the Supreme Court. Edna M. Mellor, the executrix of the estate of Anna Mellor, has been substituted as the named appellee.
The first issue on appeal concerns the admissibility of evidence of prior slips-and-falls. The deposition testimony of a former Park Central maintenance man was read in part to the jury. He testified that he had on occasion slipped.
In addition, one woman testified that on a rainy day approximately two months before Mellor's accident, she slipped on the exterior sidewalk of the north entrance and fell, hitting her back and head. The appellants contend that this testimony was not only a collateral issue but highly prejudicial. Without a foundational showing that other accidents occurred under similar conditions and for similar reasons, such evidence is prejudicial to the defendant in a case of this nature. Vegodsky v. City of Tucson, 1 Ariz.App. 102, 399 P.2d 723 (1965). However, if the proper foundation is established, evidence of similar accidents at or near the same place at a time not too remote from the accident in question is admissible. Slow Development Co. v. Coulter, 88 Ariz. 122, 353 P.2d 890 (1960). The issue of prior accidents is, with the proper foundation, relevant to establishing the elements of the plaintiff's prima facie case: (1) a duty on the part of the defendant to maintain the walking suface in a reasonably safe condition, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) proof that the plaintiff slipped as a result of the defendant's negligence, and (4) proof that the defendant know or should have known of the dangerous condition. George v. Fox West Coast Theatres, 21 Ariz.App. 332, 519 P.2d 185 (1974). Evidence of previous accidents tends to prove the existence of a dangerous condition, knowledge or notice of that condition, or negligence in allowing the condition to continue. Slow Development Co. v. Coulter, supra. It must be...
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State v. Salazar
...that she was a non-disclosed witness. On any evidentiary matter, the trial court has considerable discretion, Burgbacher v. Mellor, 112 Ariz. 481, 483, 543 P.2d 1110, 1112 (1975), which will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse. State v. Amaya-Ruiz, 166 Ariz. 152, 167, 800 P.2d 1260, 1275 ......
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...as to which applied to this case and which did not. The court did not abuse its discretion on these rulings. Burgbacher v. Mellor, 112 Ariz. 481, 543 P.2d 1110 (1975). Testimony was admitted that another Sequoia ROPS placed on another Maricopa tractor had similar fractures at the weldsites.......
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Grant v. Arizona Public Service Co., 15761-PR
...prove "knowledge or notice of [the dangerous] condition, or negligence in allowing the condition to continue." Burgbacher v. Mellor, 112 Ariz. 481, 483, 543 P.2d 1110, 1112 (1975) (citing Slow Development Co. v. Coulter, 88 Ariz. 122, 125, 353 P.2d 890, 892 (1960)). It is true that many of ......
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