Case Name: Dubois, Appellant, v. Wilkes-Barre
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1963-03-19
Citations: 410 Pa. 155
Docket Number: Appeal, No. 275
Parties: Dubois, Appellant, v. Wilkes-Barre.
Judges: Before Bell, C. J., Musmanno, Cohen, Eagen, O’Brien and Roberts, JJ.
Reporter: Pennsylvania State Reports
Volume: 410
Pages: 155–157

Head Matter:
Dubois, Appellant, v. Wilkes-Barre.
Argued January 18, 1963.
Before Bell, C. J., Musmanno, Cohen, Eagen, O’Brien and Roberts, JJ.
Arthur Piccone, with him Raymond F. Lowery, for appellant.
E. G. Marianelli, for City of Wilkes-Barre, appellee.
John A. Gallagher, for appellee.
John L. McDonald, for appellee.
March 19, 1963:

Opinion:
Opinion
Per Curiam,
Plaintiff sued for injuries, suffered from a fall on a public sidewalk, allegedly caused by the existence of an accumulation of melted ice cream and grease thereon. The trial judge entered a compulsory nonsuit, which the court en banc refused to disturb. Plaintiff appeals.
The action of the court below was correct. The plaintiff's testimony failed to establish what caused her to fall. In order to establish liability in an action of this nature, it is necessary for the plaintiff to prove what actually caused the accident, not what might possibly have caused it. The jury cannot be allowed to guess that the fall resulted from the existence of a foreign substance on the sideAvalk. See, Sellers v. Cline, 160 Pa. Superior Ct. 85, 49 A. 2d 873 (1946); Rogers v. S. Phila. Nat'l Bank, 160 Pa. Superior Ct. 154, 50 A. 2d 697 (1947); Hillelson v. Renner, 183 Pa. Superior Ct. 148, 130 A. 2d 212 (1957); Burns v. City of Pitts., 320 Pa. 92, 181 A. 487 (1935); Rinaldi v. Levine, 406 Pa. 74, 176 A. 2d 623 (1962); Gayne v. Philip Carey Co., 385 Pa. 618, 123 A. 2d 432 (1956).
Judgment affirmed.