Continuance requested in personal injury trial against ESL church

A trial involving an East St. Louis woman’s case against the church where she fell may be continued after the attorney representing her requested a new trial date.

Marcella McCorn filed suit in 2011 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against New Jerusalem Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

According to the lawsuit, McCorn was attending the church in July 2010 when she slipped on a broken step and hurt her back, neck and leg. She accuses the church of negligence and requests more than $50,000 in damages for medical expenses, loss of income and court fees.

The case was set for trial May 6, but plaintiff's attorney Shaun Falvey indicated that he will not be able to obtain a deposition from his client's treating physician until November.

Falvey stated in his motion for continuance that he cannot properly prepare the case for trial without the deposition.

“Counsel further states that he has made a due and diligent effort to timely carry on with the proceedings of this case,” the document states.

In its answer to the plaintiff’s complaint, the New Jerusalem Church states that the injuries McCorn sustained were due to her own carelessness and negligence.

The church claims that McCorn allegedly failed to exercise care for her own safety and assumed the risk of injury and damages, based on her failure to keep a careful lookout.

The plaintiff’s fault amounts to more than 50 percent of the total fault for the alleged accident, the church claims.

Steven J. Hughes of Pitzer Snodgrass in St. Louis represents New Jerusalem Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Falvey works for Brown & Crouppen in St. Louis.

The case is assigned to St. Clair County Judge Andrew Gleeson.

The case is St. Clair County case number 11-L-514.