John H. Gould v. Robert L. Aronson, Formerly Doing Business Under the Firm Name and Style of Aronson's Garage

This diversity action involved injuries to Gould when as a business invitee he fell down a stairs in Aronson’s public garage in Libby, Montana. Trial was without a jury and at the conclusion thereof the district judge found the defendant to have been negligent as a matter of fact. Further, he held that as a matter of law the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence which barred recovery. However, there was a legal hedge in that the judge also made an alternative finding that, if the contributory negligence was not there as a matter of law, it was there as a matter of fact.

We do not have full confidence that according to the Montana decisions there was contributory negligence as a matter of law, but because of the alternative finding of fact, we shall not reach the question as one of law.

The plaintiff-appellant wobbled back and forth in his post-accident statement, in his pre-trial deposition, and on the stand at the trial as to how far the door at the head of the stairs (down which he fell) was open as he approached it But it is agreed, open or shut, that the view inside the door and down the steps was one of darkness. The court specifically-found the door (leading to…