Volume 60 — Washington Reports, Second Series

[1] JUDGMENT — NOTWITHSTANDING VERDICT — EVIDENCE — PRESUMPTIONS. In ruling on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict of a jury, the trial court must give to the prevailing party the benefit of all evidence and reasonable inferences from evidence favorable to his cause. [2] NEGLIGENCE — ACT OR OMISSIONS CONSTITUTING — USE OF PREMISES — BUSINESS INVITEES. It is the duty of an owner or proprietor to exercise reasonable care to maintain in a safe condition such portions of his premises as he invites the public to use for the purposes of the owner's or proprietor's business therein. [3] SAME — CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE — VOLUNTARY EXPOSURE TO RISK — EFFECT ON RIGHT OF RECOVERY — QUESTION OF FACT. Where a defendant's conduct in creating a dangerous situation constitutes a breach of duty to the plaintiff, the fact that the plaintiff chooses to subject himself to the risk as an alternative to refraining from exercising a right, does not bar him from recovery against the defendant for injuries sustained thereby so long as the plaintiff, in making his choice, acted as a person of ordinary prudence would have acted under the circumstances and in the light of the alternative open to him. [4] SAME. The issue of whether a business invitee had assumed the risk of injury in descending a flight of stairs with the knowledge that the floor and stairs were littered with debris was not a question of law, but was a question of fact, <italic>viz.</italic>, whether or not the business invitee, in using the stairway with knowledge of its condition, acted as a person of ordinary prudence would have acted under the same circumstances. [5] APPEAL AND ERROR — ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR — ARGUMENT IN SUPPORT — NECESSITY. The Supreme Court will not consider an assignment of error where there is no argument in the brief in support thereof; nor will it consider a proposition not supported by cited authority unless it appears on its face to be well taken. [2] See Ann. 33 A.L.R. 139, 43 A.L.R. 866, 46 A.L.R. 1112, 58 A.L.R. 136, 100 A.L.R. 716, 20 A.L.R. 2d 32; Am. Jur., Negligence § 131.