Architect's testimony in lawsuit limited by judge

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A judge in a jury trial Thursday refused to allow into evidence a Cape Girardeau architect's conclusion that the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse steps were building-code violations and posed a safety issue.

Stoddard County Judge Stephen Mitchell allowed a limited amount of testimony from architect Ronald Grojean to be entered into evidence in the personal-injury case.

The ruling came after defense attorneys voiced repeated objections to the testimony.

Pamela and Kelly Allen of Cape Girardeau sued over serious injuries Pamela Allen sustained in 2013 when she fell down stairs leading to the basement of the historic courthouse.

According to the lawsuit, Allen suffered severe injuries to her lower extremities, upper extremities and body as a whole, including a fracture of her left leg.

It's alleged she suffered "life threatening blood clots in her lungs" and was hospitalized in intensive care for a time.

Allen underwent surgery and extensive rehabilitation as a result of her injuries, according to the suit. She had a blood filter implanted in her leg. The suit alleges Allen has experienced and will continue to suffer physical pain from her injuries. "Her injuries are permanent and disabling," the lawsuit states.

By the start of this month, Allen's medical bills totaled more than $197,000, according to trial testimony.

The suit was filed in March 2016 against Cape Girardeau County, but was expanded in July 2016 at the plaintiff's request to include the city and state as defendants.

The case was moved to Stoddard County on a change of venue. The trial began Wednesday and is expected to conclude today.

Mitchell last year rejected arguments by all three governments that they bear no responsibility for the courthouse stairs.

The state claimed it was the county's responsibility, the county maintained it was the state circuit court's responsibility, and the city insisted the responsibility rested with both the county and the state.

Allen contends in the lawsuit the defendants knew the stairs were "dangerous and in a defective condition."

Grojean testified Thursday he inspected the basement stairs at the request of plaintiff's attorney, D. Matthew Edwards.

He told the jury the concrete steps did not conform to international-building-code standards in terms of the size of the steps and the height between the steps.

He testified the steps were not uniform in size and sloped forward.

"I felt very uncomfortable going down the stairs," he said. "It is just unsafe."

Mary Boner, a Jackson attorney representing the county, repeatedly objected to Grojean's analysis. She argued Grojean was not an expert in historic structures.

Grojean acknowledged that today's building codes did not exist when the courthouse was built in 1854.

But upon questioning by Edwards, the plaintiff's attorney, Grojean said today's standards should matter because "we are living in 2019, not 1854."

During cross-examination by Boner, Grojean said he didn't know what caused Allen to fall or where she fell on the stairs.

The judge ruled into evidence Grojean's testimony regarding measurements he made of the basement steps and the slope of the steps.

Allen worked for a real estate title company. She fell down the courthouse stairs as she was heading to the basement to retrieve a court file, according to the suit.

Circuit judges subsequently decided to have the court files moved from the basement to the county's Archive Center in Jackson, according to a document filed in the case.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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