A stray grape will cost a Council Bluffs grocer more than $40,000.
The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the $41,267 jury award to a shopper who said she slipped on the grape and was injured while shopping at the No Frills Supermarket.
The court rejected the store's request to throw out the award. The owners claimed the managers hadn't been notified about a hazardous condition and therefore were not negligent.
Judy Krenk said she was in the checkout aisle on Feb. 19, 2002, when she slid and fell. As store employees helped Krenk to her feet, an assistant manager noticed the smashed red grape. Neither Krenk nor store employees had seen the grape before Krenk slipped on it, according to court records.
Krenk sued for medical costs and lost wages. A Pottawattamie County jury awarded her $82,535. The amount was cut to $41,267 because jurors found Krenk 50 percent at fault.
The ruling noted that it wasn't clear how the grape got on the floor.
"The parties agree that the only explanation for the grape on the floor is that a customer, other than Krenk, dropped the grape while bagging groceries," the ruling said. The judges said that "although the evidence in support of Krenk's claim is less than overwhelming," No Frills employees"should have known" there was a smashed grape on the floor.
Also Wednesday, the appeals judges upheld a second-degree murder conviction of Gerald Long for the 1996 shooting death of his wife, Jill, in Polk County.
Long was discharged from Broadlawns Medical Center in 1996 and sent to drug treatment at the state prison facility in Oakdale. He walked away from the treatment center, pawned his watch and bought a bus ticket to Des Moines. He then waited for his wife's return at their home and shot her to death, investigators said.
The Iowa Supreme Court overturned a first-degree murder conviction in 2001. In an agreement with prosecutors, the charge was reduced to second-degree murder.
Long claimed in his appeal that his lawyer failed to determine whether his mental condition allowed him to decline his right to a jury trial. The appeals judges rejected that claim.
The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the $41,267 jury award to a shopper who said she slipped on the grape and was injured while shopping at the No Frills Supermarket.
The court rejected the store's request to throw out the award. The owners claimed the managers hadn't been notified about a hazardous condition and therefore were not negligent.
Judy Krenk said she was in the checkout aisle on Feb. 19, 2002, when she slid and fell. As store employees helped Krenk to her feet, an assistant manager noticed the smashed red grape. Neither Krenk nor store employees had seen the grape before Krenk slipped on it, according to court records.
Krenk sued for medical costs and lost wages. A Pottawattamie County jury awarded her $82,535. The amount was cut to $41,267 because jurors found Krenk 50 percent at fault.
The ruling noted that it wasn't clear how the grape got on the floor.
"The parties agree that the only explanation for the grape on the floor is that a customer, other than Krenk, dropped the grape while bagging groceries," the ruling said. The judges said that "although the evidence in support of Krenk's claim is less than overwhelming," No Frills employees"should have known" there was a smashed grape on the floor.
Also Wednesday, the appeals judges upheld a second-degree murder conviction of Gerald Long for the 1996 shooting death of his wife, Jill, in Polk County.
Long was discharged from Broadlawns Medical Center in 1996 and sent to drug treatment at the state prison facility in Oakdale. He walked away from the treatment center, pawned his watch and bought a bus ticket to Des Moines. He then waited for his wife's return at their home and shot her to death, investigators said.
The Iowa Supreme Court overturned a first-degree murder conviction in 2001. In an agreement with prosecutors, the charge was reduced to second-degree murder.
Long claimed in his appeal that his lawyer failed to determine whether his mental condition allowed him to decline his right to a jury trial. The appeals judges rejected that claim.
