Lewin v. Pauli

Citations

• 19 Pa. Super. 447
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 127

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and tenant — Negligence—Defective stairway — Proximate cause.</p> <p>One of several tenants of a building who claim under separate leases and use a common stairway may recover in an action against the landlord for injuries resulting from the stairway being out of repair. In such a case the duty of keeping the stairway in ordinary safe condition is on- the ■ landlord.</p> <p>In an action against a landlord by one of sevei-al tenants of a building to recover damages for personal injui’ies sustained by reason of a defective stairway, where it appears thdt the plaintiff was prevented from testifying by reason of the death of the landlord, the evidence is sufficient to support a finding that a break in the stairway was the proximate cause of the accident, which shows that the plaintiff was found by a companion from whom he had been separated for a few minutes, with the avowed, purpose of closing the windows of his room, at the foot of the stairway in question, unconscious and suffering from several bruises in different parts of his body; that by his side was a strip of wood between one and one half inches wide, the length of one of the steps of the stairway, which corresponded with the part removed from the eighth or tenth step from the bottom ; that the stairway had been in bad condition ; and that the landlord had been notified of its condition by a number of the tenants at different times, and had made repeated promises to repair it.</p> <p>Negligence — Contributory negligence — Durden of proof.</p> <p>A plaintiff in an action for personal injuries caused by the negligence of the defendant, is bound to show a case clear of contributory negligence; that is, his own evidence must not contain anything which would show contributory negligence on his part, but he is not bound to prove a-negative and show that he was not guilty of contributory negligence..</p> <p>Negligence — Instructions—Points.</p> <p>In a negligence case, where the court has given instruction