Lawsuit Verdict, Then Mistrial

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A two-day personal injury civil jury trial in Perry County Circuit Court ended in a mistrial last week because of an issue with a verdict form.

The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Herman Hornbostel, a Perry County resident, against defendant Sprietler Enterprises, Inc. of Percy and owner Donald G. Sprietler of Cutler.

Hornbostel claimed in the complaint he was invited to inspect a debris-covered garage roof on the Sprietler property and stepped on a fiberglass skylight and fell through. He landed on the ground and was injured. The complaint alleges that Sprietler should have known there was a hidden skylight and advised the plaintiff.

The complaint sought damages to cover Hornbostel's medical bills.

The jury deliberated and found that each party was 50 percent at fault. So the 100 percent award of $128,038.8 was cut in half to $64,818.09 in favor of the plaintiff.

There were no other awards.

However, Judge James Campanella found fault with the jury form, declared a mistrial and ordered that the case be brought back to his court for the August docket.