On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, at the Benton County Courthouse in Ashland, Mississippi, the cause of Barbara Jefferies v. Graves Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Webster’s Supermarket, Benton County Circuit Cause B2008-260, came on for trial by jury.  Oxford attorney Reed Martz represented the defendant grocery store.

This case involved an accident on July 3, 2005.  The Plaintiff parked her vehicle in a handicapped spot outside the grocery store.  After exiting, she proceeded around the vehicle toward the grocery store entrance.  The witnesses disputed exactly what caused her to fall, but the end result was that the Plaintiff lost her balance and began stumbling at a high rate of speed toward the automatic entry doors.  Before she ran into those doors, however, her left knee struck a flower pot located on the sidewalk.  This shattered her knee cap into eight pieces.  She then fell into the open doorway where she lay for the next forty-five minutes waiting on an ambulance.  The Plaintiff required a surgery to remove and repair her knee cap, as well as extensive physical therapy.  She claimed permanent disability as a result of her injuries and asked the jury for $150,000.00 in compensatory damages.

The Plaintiff brought suit agains the grocery store on two bases: first, she alleged the concrete parking stop was a dangerous condition because it was not painted a contrasting color from the pavement; and second, she alleged that the placement of the flower pot was negligent.

Through various pre-trial motions the Defendant narrowed the suit to just the second issue and a jury trial ensued.  Following a full day of voir dire and testimony, the matter was submitted to the jury.  The jury deliberated for approximately nine minutes before returning a verdict for the defendant grocery store.