For the second time, the Arkansas Court of Appeals has reversed a summary judgment in favor of Wayne and Patty Styles, owner of the Centerville Dragway, which was sued by a racing fan injured when she fell from bleachers on account of what she believed was an unsecured plank.

The court had earlier reversed a summary judgment that held the plaintiff, Susan Ver Weire, who suffered multiple ankle fractures, had signed a liability release form. The court held that didn’t protect the owners of the dragstrip from acts of negligence. In the latest appeal, the court reversed a summary judgment that Ver Weire couldn’t sustain a claim of negligence. 

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The property owner has a duty to provide reasonable care of premises for visitors, the court said.The court said the plaintiff had provided testimony about a loose bleacher board. The defendants said they’d inspected the bleachers and found no problem. Though material facts were not in dispute, the court said reasonable jurors could reach a different conclusion on whether the defendants had provided safe premises.

Back to Pope Circuit Court.

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Here’s today’s opinion.

The Court of Appeals today also affirmed the negligent homicide conviction of Michael Gene Fowler, sentenced to 40 years in a 2012 drunk hit-and-run accident that killed a 12-year-old in Faulkner County. He argued that the state hadn’t proved he had a blood alcohol level of .08 at the time of the accident. But a blood test three hours later showed him at .16. That was sufficient  to meet the statute’s requirements on a blood alcohol level within a four-hour time frame, the court said.

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