Chris Johnston obtained a Not Guilty verdict for his clients in a lawsuit arising from the death of a 30-year-old man, who was found dead, face down in a gangway on property next door to where he lived. He was a tenant of the defendants, and his body was found directly to the west and below a concrete porch and stairway leading to the front door of the second story of the defendants’ three-flat. Plaintiffs claimed that the decedent fell as a result of the railing on the porch and stairwell, sustaining his fatal injuries.
Plaintiffs' expert testified that the 24-inch railing and other physical characteristics of the stairs were dangerous. The jury was instructed that a 42-inch railing height applied to existing buildings when the Chicago Building Code was adopted in the 1950s.
The Cook County deputy medical examiner testified the cause of death was injuries from a “fall from a height due to alcohol intoxication.” The medical examiner also testified that, based on the photographs taken of the scene and the decedent's injuries, the decedent fell from the defendants’ staircase, rather than a neighboring staircase leading to the gangway.
Defense experts included a medical toxicologist, who testified that the decedent was impaired at the time of his death, and a biomechanical engineer, who testified that there were multiple areas in the vicinity where decedent’s body was found that would have provided sufficient energy in a fall to cause the fatal injuries. The biomechanical engineer also recreated how the body could have landed where it was found from two positions, one from the defendants’ landing and another from the public sidewalk.
Mr. Johnston argued that the plaintiffs did not prove where the decedent was before he fell, or if the defects were involved in the mechanics of his fall. He further claimed that the decedent’s intoxication was more the cause of his fall than any negligence on the part of the defendants.
The Special Administrator (decedent’s fiancé) brought the action on behalf of the decedent’s two daughters, ages seven and three at the time of trial. Plaintiffs requested an unspecified amount (“six figures”) for the Survival Count for the decedent’s brief pain and suffering and an unspecified amount (“in excess of $1 million”) for the daughters on the Wrongful Death Count.
