Madison County Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs granted a man’s motion to dismiss his grandmother’s suit after she failed to retain new counsel in a complaint alleging she was injured when she was struck by a door to the garage and fell.
Stobbs dismissed the complaint with prejudice on Nov. 5 with each party bearing their own costs.
Defendant Mitchell Manns filed a motion to dismiss on Aug. 18 through attorney Adam Braundmeier of Neville Richards & Wuller LLC in Belleville.
Manns argued in his motion that former plaintiff attorney John Bitzer was granted his motion to withdraw as counsel in July. Plaintiff Wanda Robison was then given 21 days to retain new counsel.
The motion to dismiss stated that the plaintiff had failed to take any action.
Bitzer, of the Bitzer Law Firm in Collinsville, filed the motion for leave to withdraw on June 26.
“For the last few months the undersigned attorney has experienced several events that have lead him to conclude that he should withdraw as the attorney for the plaintiff in this case,” the motion stated.
Robison originally filed her complaint on May 2, 2017, against Kimmie and Mitchell Manns. Mitchell, who is Kimmie’s child, was the only remaining defendant when the suit was dismissed.
According to her complaint, Robison alleged she was in the utility room at the defendants’ home on April 10, 2016, when Mitchell Manns allegedly struck her with a door coming in from the garage. Robison claimed the door forced her against an adjoining wall before she fell to the floor.
Robison claimed she suffered serious and permanent injuries as a result of the incident.
She alleged the defendants failed to ascertain whether anyone was on the other side of the door prior to “bursting” through the garage door and failed to announce that the door was about to open so as to warn anyone on the other side to move away.
Manns had previously sought summary judgment in May.
“This case involves a claim by plaintiff that she was injured by her grandson when she was hit with a door at her daughter’s residence where she had been staying and where she had also visited numerous times before. Plaintiff brought this suit even though she chose to stand behind the door when she knew her grandson would be opening the door momentarily,” the motion stated.
Manns argued that Robison’s entire witness list consisted of people who intended to testify as to what Robison told them had happened. Also, Robison failed to include any healthcare providers
“In this case, it is plaintiff’s burden to prove that the alleged negligence acts of the defendant proximately caused any injuries she may have suffered,” the motion stated. “Discovery is now closed, and plaintiff has failed to identify a single treating healthcare provider who will testify that the incident alleged in the complaint was the cause of plaintiff’s injuries, nor that plaintiff was even injured.”
Madison County Circuit Court case number 17-L-580