Beeston v. Lampasona

VALLEE, J.

Appeal by defendant from an adverse judgment in an action for damages for personal injuries.

The cause was tried by the court sitting without a jury. The court found these facts: On April 24, 1958, defendant

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was the owner of an apartment building in Pasadena. Harriet Lawrence was a tenant in one of the second-floor apartments. In connection with the building there was a common stairs and a common entrance which was under the control of defendant. About 7 :30 p. m. on April 24, 1958, plaintiff, as an invitee of Harriet Lawrence, went to the latter’s apartment. About 9 :30 p. m. plaintiff commenced to leave the premises. At that time and place, defendant maintained the entrance and the stairs at the entrance to the building in a negligent, dangerous, and defective condition and, in particular, he did not have proper lighting in and about the entrance and stairs. As a proximate result of such maintenance of the entrance and stairs, plaintiff, in leaving the premises, slipped, fell, and suffered injuries.

The first assignment of error is that the findings are not supported by the evidence. It is argued the evidence does not establish any causal connection between plaintiff’s fall and any defective or unsafe condition of the steps where the fall occurred.

Harriet Lawrence testified: She occupied an apartment on the second floor of the building. She first became a tenant on July 1, 1957. There was a light fixture above the entrance to the building. She had never seen the light lit from the date she first became a tenant to April 24, 1958. Prior to April 24, 1958, she asked defendant if he could not please get the light fixed so “we” could see going in and out. Defendant never “bothered” to fix it. Plaintiff came to her apartment the evening of April 24, 1958, to have a fitting of a gown she (Harriet Lawrence) was making for her. She bade plaintiff good night on the second floor. She next saw plaintiff lying on the ground at the foot of the stairs outside. Her feet were on the bottom stairs. The light above the entrance was “off.” It was dark in the area; it was not illuminated “by any lights from any place.” She had to get close to plaintiff’s feet to see her.

Plaintiff testified: On the evening of April 24, 1958, there was no lighting outside the apartment building; it was dark when she left. “ Q. . . . Just tell us what you did when you got to that door? Tell us what you did and what happened. A. Well, it was completely dark, so I just stood there for a second, and then I groped around to see if there was anything I could hold on to. Q. And what happened then? A. Well, I groped around, and then I found a hand rail, kind of in amongst the bushes there, and I went to put my