Markee v. Turner

• Decision Date: 16 February 1954
• Citation: 103 A.2d 533,140 Conn. 701
• Parties: MARKEE v. TURNER et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 533

103 A.2d 533

140 Conn. 701

MARKEE v. TURNER et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

Feb. 16, 1954.

Henry B. Armstrong, Hartford, with whom, on the brief, was Warren Maxwell, Hartford, for appellants (defendants).

Thomas J. Hagarty, Hartford, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before INGLIS, C. J., and BALDWIN, O'SULLIVAN, WYNNE and DALY, ^* JJ.

O'SULLIVAN, Associate Justice.

Edward L. Markee brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by his slipping on the ice-coated floor of a porch under the control of the three defendants. While the action was pending, Markee and the first named defendant died. In each instance an administratrix was substituted for the deceased party. The case was tried to the jury, who returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff administratrix. The court refused to set it aside and he defendants have appealed, their basic claim being that the defective condition had not existed long enough to charge them with constructive notice of its existence.

The propriety of the court's refusal to set the verdict aside is tested by the evidence most favorable to the plaintiff. Sanderson v. Bob's Coaster Corporation, 133 Conn. 677, 678, 54 A.2d 270; Maltbie, Conn.App.Proc., p. 152. Evidence of that nature would reasonably have permitted the jury to find the following facts: On February 12, 1950, and for a long time prior thereto, the defendants owned a two-family dwelling on Broad Street, Hartford. A walk ran from the sidewalk to a stairway of three steps which led to a covered porch extending along the front of the dwelling. From the porch, entrance doors gave access to the two apartments. There was no handrail on either side of the stairway. An electric light fixture was suspended from the porch ceiling at a point opposite the wall between the entrance doors. The stairway and the porch were common to the two apartments and were under the control of the defendants.

On Sunday morning, February 12, 1950, Markee, in the course of his employment as a driver for the Yellow Cab Company, responded to a telephone call from one of the defendants, who wanted to be taken to St. Patrick's Church. Markee reached the house at approximately 6:45 a. m. After getting out of the cab, he walked to the defendants' front door to let them know that he had arrived. It was then very foggy and dark. If the light in the porch ceiling had been lighted, it would have helped Markee to see his surroundings better. Before he rang the bell he saw a woman inside the house coming toward the door. He then turned to go back to his cab, and as he did so he slipped on a film of unsanded ice covering the part of the porch over which he was proceeding. As a result of slipping, he fell down the stairs to the walk. When he recovered consciousness, which he had lost, he was lying on his back and the defendant who had sent for the cab was trying to help him up. After he got to his feet, he put his hand on the porch floor and felt a thin coat of ice. When he called this condition to the attention of his prospective passenger, she went back into the house and returned with some sand, which she scattered over the icy part of the porch and the steps. Markee then took her to church. Later that day he gave up work because of the pain in his back. He died while the action was pending, but his death was not related in any manner to the fall mentioned above.

Precipitation having a water equivalent of .40, .03 and .03 inches fell on February 9, 10 and 11, respectively. On February 11, the temperature was in the low thirties except for a few hours in the afternoon. At 3:20 p. m. on that day, the thermometer reached 40 degrees. It then declined until it read 32 degrees at 6:20 p. m. At that time there was no snow, sleet, ice or hail on the ground. The temperature continued to remain below the freezing point until after Markee had fallen. Fog set in about 8:25 p. m. on February 11 and remained until 10:20 a. m. on the...