Harrington v. City of Battle Creek

Decision Date09 March 1939
Docket NumberNo. 114.,114.
Citation284 N.W. 680,288 Mich. 152
PartiesHARRINGTON v. CITY OF BATTLE CREEK.
CourtMichigan Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Personal injury action by Grace Harrington against the City of Battle Creek, Mich. From a judgment for defendant after verdict for plaintiff, plaintiff appeals and the defendant cross-appeals.

Affirmed.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Calhoun County; Blaine W. Hatch, Judge.

Argued before the Entire Bench, except NORTH, J.

Ronald M. Ryan and James Golden, both of Battle Creek, for appellant.

Walter P. North, of Battle Creek, for appellee.

WIEST, Justice.

This suit was brought by plaintiff, a married woman, to recover damages on account of injuries she claims to have received the evening of December 17, 1936, while walking on the cement sidewalk along State street, in the city of Battle Creek, when her left foot stepped into a shallow hole in the walk and her toe caught beneath the protruding edge and caused her to fall upon an iron grating.

Trial was had by jury, with verdict for plaintiff.

At the close of plaintiff's proofs defendant moved for a directed verdict. This was denied, as was a like motion at the close of all the proofs. However, under reserved power, Comp.Laws 1929, § 14531, (Stat.Ann. 27.1461), the court, after verdict, entered judgment for defendant.

Plaintiff reviews by appeal and defendant by cross-appeal.

The charter of the city provided, in chap. 39:

‘In case any claim for damages shall be made against said city * * * for any injury to person * * * by reason of any defect in any sidewalk, * * * the claimant shall present the same in writing to the commission within sixty days after such injury * * * which claims shall state the time, the place where, the injury * * * occurred, the name of all witnesses then known to claimant, a full description of the injury sustained, and a concise statement of the facts constituting such claimant's demands against said city. * * *

‘If said claim shall arise from or is claimed to have been received by reason of any defect in any sidewalk, * * * the claimant who alleges such injury shall give also notice to the commission by a written statement, filed with the city clerk, within sixty days of the time of such injury, specifying the location upon the street, * * * where the same is alleged to have been received, and the character and description of the alleged defect claimed to have existed, and the general results of such injury, said preliminary notice of sixty days not to take the place of the specific notice hereinbefore required to be filed within sixty days.'

Within the time limited in the charter the plaintiff filed a claim with the city commission in which she gave the time and place of the injury and stated:

‘The defect in the sidewalk that was the proximate cause of the injury that this claimant received is located about sixteen (16) feet west of the northeast corner of the building occupied by the E. H. Clark Company, on State Street, in the City of Battle Creek, Michigan. The said defect is located approximately in the center of said sidewalk. * * *

Claimant's left knee and leg was injured, causing large subcutaneous clots to be formed under the knee, when she was tripped and thrown, as a result of the defect above described. * * *

‘That on the date above indicated, claimant was walking on State Street, in the City of Battle Creek, Michigan, in company with other persons. It was near midnight. Claimant unknowingly stepped on the edge of the defect described herein, and was tripped and thrown upon an iron grating near the building occupied by the E. H. Clark Company, on State Street, in the City of Battle Creek, Michigan.'

She gave the character and description of the defect as follows: ‘The defect is twenty (20) inches long, lying in the middle of said sidewalk, and is two (2) inches deep, on an...

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13 cases
  • Penix v. City of St. Johns
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • October 13, 1958
    ...Kelley v. City of Flint, 251 Mich. 691, 232 N.W. 407; Northrup v. City of Jackson, 273 Mich. 20, 262 N.W. 641; Harrington v. City of Battle Creek, 288 Mich. 152, 284 N.W. 680; Sykes v. City of Battle Creek, 288 Mich. 660, 286 N.W. 117; Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co. v. City of Detroit, 34......
  • Grubaugh v. City of St. Johns, 7
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • November 12, 1970
    ...273 Mich. 20, 262 N.W. 641; Rottschafer v. City of East Grand Rapids (1955), 342 Mich. 43, 69 N.W.2d 193; Harrington v. City of Battle Creek (1939), 288 Mich. 152, 284 N.W. 680; Meredith v. City of Melvindale (1969), 381 Mich. 572, 165 N.W.2d Even if we assume the above original policy cons......
  • City of Waco v. Landingham
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • February 22, 1940
    ...Conn. 476, 136 A. 93; City of Birmingham v. Jeff, 236 Ala. 540, 184 So. 281; Id., 28 Ala.App. 343, 184 So. 278; Harrington v. City of Battle Creek, 288 Mich. 152, 284 N.W. 680; Brannon v. City of Birmingham, 177 Ala. 419, 59 So. 63; McCarroll v. City of Spokane, 34 Wash. 344, 75 P. 973; Ben......
  • Nelson v. City and County of Denver
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • February 2, 1942
    ... ... BAKKE, and BURKE, JJ., dissenting ... [109 ... Colo. 114] Stevens Park Kinney, of Denver, for plaintiff in ... Malcolm ... Perkins, 50 Colo. 159, ... 114 P.484; City of Cripple Creek v. Loveless, 70 ... Colo. 482, 202 P. 705. See also, Krooner v. City of ... other jurisdictions, viz.: [109 Colo. 121] Harrington v ... City of Battle Creek, 288 Mich. 152, 284 N.W. 680; ... Pecorelli ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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