By Alan Sorensen
A Havre man won a judgment Wednesday against his landlord over loose steps that he said caused him to fall and break the little finger and possibly other bones on his right hand.
A Havre jury awarded Scott Moore $2,750 in compensation after determining that Moore, through his own negligence, was only 20 percent responsible for the accident on Oct. 26, 1998.
Bradley Lotton, the landlord, was 80 percent responsible for the accident, the jury said, because of his negligence for failing to fix the step that had been broken for a long time.
Moore claimed, according to court documents, that he and his wife had repeatedly informed Lotton that the porch was defective, damaged and dangerous from the time they moved in on June 1, 1998. Moore was asking for medical expenses, lost wages and other costs.
A document filed with the court after the trial claimed that Lotton offered Moore a $3,000 settlement on May 6, 1999. The document said the offer was good for 10 days and would be withdrawn if not accepted within those 10 days.
The one-day trial ended shortly after 6 p.m. with the dismissal of the jury.
