Muckler v. Buchl

Facts

Paul Muckler, Plaintiff, and his 55-year-old wife had lived in an apartment building, owned by Joseph Buchl, Defendant, for seven years. Plaintiff’s wife fell in the building when was going down the stairs from the second floor to the first floor in a poorly lit stairwell. There is an absence of evidence to indicate that there was a defect in the stairs or that Plaintiff’s wife was drinking alcohol or suffering from any other medical condition at the time of the fall. Due to the fall, Plaintiff’s wife broke her hip and died four months later. Plaintiff filed a wrongful-death suit against Defendant. At trial, a witness testified that she sawPlaintiff’s wife on the day of the accident and was also going down the stairs directly ahead of Plaitiff’s wife at the time of the fall. Also, the witness testified that the stairwell was very dark and that the witness had to grasp onto the handrail to direct her own movements as she went down the stairs. The jury concluded that even though there was an absence of direct evidence to find that the inadequate lighting directly caused Plaintiff’s wife to fall, based on the preponderance of the evidence,there was a causal relationship between the poor lighting, Plaintiff’s fall, and Plaintiff’s subsequent death. Thus, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff, awarding him $17,000 in damages. Defendant appealed.