Jury Hands Down Defense Verdict in Slip and Fall Trial

A Madison County jury handed down a defense verdict after deliberating for less than two hours in a two-day slip and fall trial.

The lawsuit, filed in November 2006, against Richard Minton, alleged a woman injured her left ankle on February 18, 2006, at her Alton Rental home owned by Minton. The suit claims she was exiting the property when she stepped into a hole that was located in the common lawn area, causing her to fracture her ankle.

She alleged Minton was negligent by failing to provide her a good, safe and proper place to walk on the premises, failed to provide a proper means of ingress and egress to and from the property, failed to inspect the property and failed to warn her that there was a dangerous condition on the premises.

Minton told the jury it was her, not himself that was negligent in the case. She was careless by failing to properly lookout in the area she was walking and she failed to notice the hole which could easily be detected by the human eye.

The jury agreed and returned a verdict in favor of Minton.