South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
A boy who sustained serious and lasting damage to his knee as a result of deep lacerations caused by shards of broken glass at a public park is entitled to the $425,000 damage award granted by a trial jury, an appellate court ruled recently.
The fact the child was not supervised by his mother at the park at the time of the injury did not diminish the responsibility of government workers to clean up the mess, which witnesses testified had been present for upwards of six weeks.
The defendant city in Myers v. City of West Plains argued trial court’s decision to specifically instruct jurors not to consider the fact that the boy’s mother wasn’t present was improper, something the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Southern District rejected. The appellate court backed the trial court’s decision to give the instruction, reasoning the lack of supervision was not a significant contributing factor in the boy’s injury, but such information might have unfairly prejudiced plaintiffs had the instruction not been given.