Court Opinion

ID: 9446864
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 22:19:54.149869+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:48.390719
License: Public Domain

MORRILL, District Judge
(concurring).
While I concur in the reasoning and result, I would go further lest it be inferred that there was no jury question presented on the question of the hole, the first theory of liability relied on by the plaintiff.
True, there was no direct proof of knowledge of the hole or of the opportunity to know of it, but such proof is not always necessary. Oberheim v. Pennsylvania Sports and Enterprises, 358 Pa. 62, 55 A.2d 766; Lanni v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 371 Pa. 106, 107, 88 A.2d 887; Stais v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 174 Pa.Super. 498, 102 A.2d 204, affd. 378 Pa. 289, 106 A.2d 216. A hole about 2-3 feet long, about one foot wide and 10-12 inches deep, located in this automobile parking area, does not come into being in a matter of moments. Unless we disregard common experience, such a condition develops over a long period of time, and at least a jury of fair-minded persons could logically draw that inference. It matters not to me that the plaintiff attempted to argue that the hole was made suddenly by the use of a tow truck.
In Mack v. Pittsburgh Rys. Co., 247 Pa. 598, 93 A. 618, there was no direct proof of how long a grease spot was on a platform but, the court held, the dust and footmarks on the grease bespoke its presence for a sufficiently long time to put the defendant on constructive notice. I think the same principle is true of a hole 10-12 inches deep; that it is not a situation which is apt to arise quite suddenly as in snow and slush situations. Gallagher v. Children’s Aid Society, 344 Pa. 152, 23 A.2d 452.
It being reasonable to infer from the size of the hole that it existed for some time, then it is reasonable to infer that the defendant could have discovered the condition by the exercise of reasonable care. Restatement, Torts, § 343; Brown v. Dorney Park Coaster Co., 3 Cir., 1948, 167 F.2d 433, 437.