Defense Verdict for Winton Cemetery District

David Melton and his co-counsel obtained a defense verdict after 2 ½ weeks in a jury trial in Merced County.  The firm represented the Winton Cemetery District, a small governmental entity responsible for running a public cemetery.  Plaintiffs were a husband and his second wife who were visiting the husband’s first wife’s grave.  The husband stumbled and tripped into the grave’s headstone which fell on top of his wife and crushed her leg.  The headstone weighed 500 pounds.  The wife was in the hospital and rehabilitation facility for 6 months following the accident and had 5 operations to her right leg.  Her attorneys argued that she suffered an exacerbation of other pre-accident conditions, that she would need a future total knee replacement and long term attendant care.  Plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award $10 million for the injured wife and $1 million for the husband’s loss of consortium claim. Plaintiffs argued that the District stole the plaintiff’s golden years, knew that headstones were becoming unglued at the cemetery, failed to protect the public, and failed to properly inspect for loose headstones.   The District argued that the headstone was not a dangerous condition at the time of the accident, stumbling into the headstone was not a foreseeable use of the headstone, the headstone was at least partially glued, and the District had a reasonable inspection process to find loose headstones. The jury defensed the case 12-0 finding that the headstone was not a dangerous condition at the time of the accident.  The jury deliberated for about an hour.