City of Denver v. Strobridge

Decision Date14 March 1904
Citation19 Colo.App. 435,75 P. 1076
PartiesCITY OF DENVER v. STROBRIDGE.
CourtColorado Court of Appeals

Appeal from District Court, Arapahoe County.

Action by Hannah M. Strobridge against the city of Denver. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

J.M. Ellis, G.L.R. Stevick, H.A. Lindsley Dist. Atty., and S.W. Belford, for appellant.

C.M Garwood and D.V. Burns, for appellee.

MAXWELL J.

This action was brought in the court below by appellee, against defendant city, to recover damages for injuries resulting from a fall upon the sidewalk of Fifteenth street, near Platte street, in the city of Denver. The owners of the property adjacent to the sidewalk were made parties defendant to the suit. Upon demurrer, they were dismissed therefrom.

The complaint alleged that, for several years prior to the accident, the defendant maintained a sidewalk of stone flagging on the street in question; that at the place where the accident occurred there was a space of 8 or 10 feet from which the flagging had been removed, or which had never been paved, for the purpose of affording a drive-way across the line of the sidewalk to the rear of the premises adjacent to the street at that point, or for the purpose of affording a drain to carry off the flow of water from such premises to the gutter of the street; that the adjacent premises were higher than the street; that this driveway or drain was eight or ten inches lower than the surface of the sidewalk; that, for many days prior to the accident, snow and ice had been allowed to accumulate in this driveway, on the line of the sidewalk, to a depth of six or seven inches, and that by reason of the same thawing melting, and freezing again, and being tramped upon, ice had been formed in such driveway, which became, and was at the time of the accident, in such condition as to form an obstruction, and render the sidewalk at that point unsafe for pedestrians; that, to facilitate drainage, the center of the driveway or drain was lower than the sides; that a light fall of snow covered the accumulated ice, and hid the slippery condition from view; that on the day of the accident the plaintiff, while passing along the sidewalk, without negligence upon her part, stepped from the flagging into the driveway, and upon the accumulated ice and snow, when she slipped, fell, and sustained the injuries complained of. The answer was a general denial.

The character and extent of the injuries suffered by appellee were established by competent evidence, and are practically conceded. The accident happened to appellee about 8 o'clock of the morning of January 30, 1899, at which time she was pursuing her way to a nearby store. As she stepped from the flagging onto a step in the driveway she slipped fell, and sustained the injuries. The appellee alone testified as to the accident. From her testimony it appears that for a week or so prior to the accident she considered conditions safe enough; that the ice was on top of and covered the step; that she stepped on the ice; that she took but one step off the flagging, and, as she was about to put her left foot down, the right foot went from under her. It appears from other testimony that the driveway had existed for six or seven years prior to the accident, and was used as a private alley by the occupants of the adjacent premises; that the sidewalk and street were quite steep; that snow and ice in the driveway or drain had been allowed to accumulate, and had there existed for at least two weeks prior to January 30th; that the driveway or drain had snow and ice in it most of the time that winter; that across the driveway a plank walk was laid; that there was a wooden step on either side of the driveway, upon which pedestrians stepped to reach the surface of the drain, and upon which appellee stepped when she slipped and fell, the step at that time being covered with ice and snow. One of the witnesses testified that on the 27th of January, three days prior to this accident, he slipped and fell at the same place where appellee met with her accident. Other witnesses testified that the accumulated...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT