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Bond v. City of Long Beach8/16/2005
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED-08/16/2005
BEFORE BRIDGES, P.J., CHANDLER AND ISHEE, JJ.
. The Estate of Mary Kathleen Bond filed suit against the City of Long Beach, Mississippi for failure to maintain its sidewalks and failure to warn of a dangerous condition. After a bench trial on the merits, the trial court ruled that the City breached no duty and that no dangerous condition existed. Feeling aggrieved of the judgment entered against it, the Estate of Mary Kathleen Bond appeals.
FACTS
. In the late afternoon of December 5, 1998, Mary Bond tripped and fell on a Long Beach sidewalk, about one block north of 4th Street on or adjacent to the sidewalk on the east side of Jeff Davis Avenue, while in the act of filming a Christmas parade. Bond suffered a comminuted fracture of her right patella, which required surgical intervention. Before trial, Bond passed away due to unrelated causes, and her husband was substituted as the executor of her estate and as the named plaintiff. The case was tried before the Honorable Jerry Terry on December 1, 2003.
. Bond was not present to testify at trial. However, Officer Greg Frederico, a reserve sheriff's deputy, arrived at the scene shortly after her fall. According to Officer Frederico, Bond confessed that she was walking hurriedly in an effort to film the passing parade when she tripped on the sidewalk. In her deposition prior to the trial, Bond stated that she was not looking at the ground or paying attention to where she was walking at the time of the fall. Furthermore, the variation in the sidewalk where Bond believed she fell was, according to the testimony of a city maintenance manager, approximately one inch. At the conclusion of the trial, the court held that the City did not breach its duty owed to the public and that no dangerous condition existed. Aggrieved by this verdict, Bond raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in finding that the City did not breach its duty to maintain its sidewalks and other public ways in a reasonably safe condition, and (2) whether the variation in the elevation of the sidewalk was a dangerous condition that the city should have reasonably anticipated would cause injury at a crowded parade in the evening.
ISSUES AND ANALYSIS
I. Whether The Trial Court Erred In Finding That The City Did Not Breach Its Duty To Maintain Its Sidewalks And Other Public Ways In A Reasonably Safe Condition
. Bond asserts on appeal that the trial court's ruling that the City did not breach its duty owed to the public is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence to the contrary. We start our discussion by noting that this Court's standard of review is that "' circuit court judge sitting without a jury is accorded the same deference with regard to his findings as a chancellor,' and his findings are safe on appeal where they are supported by substantial, credible, evidence." City of Jackson v. Perry, 764 So.2d 373, 376 ( ) (Miss. 2000) (citing Puckett v. Stuckey, 633 So.2d 978, 982 (Miss. 1993); Sweet Home Water And Sewer Ass'n v. Lexington Estates, Ltd., 613 So.2d 864, 872 (Miss. 1993); Allied Steel Corp v. Cooper, 607 So.2d 113, 119 (Miss. 1992)). "This Court will not disturb those findings unless they are manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous or an erroneous legal standard was applied." City of Jackson, 764 So.2d at 376 (citing Bell v. City of Bay St. Louis, 467 So.2d 657, 661 (Miss. 1985)).
. Bond asserts that a city has a non-delegable duty to maintain its sidewalks and other public ways in a reasonably safe condition. Bell, 467 So.2d at 657. The City
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