Nishihama

A jury awarded $99,064 to plaintiff Karen Nishihama for injuries sustained when she tripped and fell in a crosswalk maintained by the City and County of San Francisco (City). The City appeals from a judgment entered on the jury’s verdict, and from denials by operation of law of the City’s motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial. We reject the City’s claims that the verdict was tainted by evidentiary and instructional error, and by improper argument by plaintiffs attorney. We find, however, that the jury improperly awarded plaintiff certain medical costs that she did not incur. We therefore will modify the judgment by reducing the damages award from $99,064 to $85,496.

Facts

On November 3, 1997, plaintiff stepped from a bus platform at 4th and Market Streets, into a pothole in a crosswalk maintained by the City. Plaintiff fell, suffering a fractured fibula and a dislocation fracture of the tibia.

The pothole was described as four inches wide, three inches deep and two feet long. It extended from a trolley track running along Market Street to the bus platform. Susan Kircher, a City employee whose job included inspecting the trolley tracks at…