Glenda Compton sued Huddle House, Inc. for injuries she sustained when she fell while she was an invitee at a Huddle House restaurant in Jonesboro. Compton claimed that her fall was caused by Huddle House’s negligent failure to exercise ordinary care to keep its premises safe for invitees as required by OCGA § 51-3-1. This claim was tried before a jury, and Compton appeals from the judgment entered on the jury’s verdict in favor of Huddle House. For the following reasons, we affirm. 1. Compton claims that the trial court erroneously denied her motion for a new trial because she produced unrebutted evidence at trial that Huddle House had constructive knowledge of the hazard that caused her fall. We find no basis in the record for this claim.
Compton testified at trial as follows: She exited the restaurant at about noon and walked down a covered sidewalk leading to the parking lot with the wall of the restaurant to her immediate left and the parking lot to the right. The sidewalk was elevated a few inches above the parking lot. A series of columns to Compton’s right supported the roof over the covered section of the sidewalk. Photographs introduced by Compton at trial showed that the sidewalk extended about two feet to the right of the columns. At the last column, the covered area ended and the sidewalk narrowed and continued adjacent to the building. As Compton walked down the sidewalk, she reached a point near the last column where her path was obstructed by a trash can which had been moved from its normal position to a position where it partially blocked the sidewalk. To avoid the trash can, Compton stepped to her right around the last column intending to walk on the portion of the sidewalk to the right of the column. As she stepped to the right of the column to continue on the sidewalk, Compton said that she could not see that the sidewalk narrowed at that point “on account of the shadows and cars” and because “the way it’s made it looks like it just keeps going.” According to Compton, when she stepped around the column to the point where the sidewalk narrowed, she stepped and fell into the parking lot. On cross-examination, Compton conceded that she had testified by earlier deposition that: “I don’t remember saying that the column blocked my view because nothing blocked my view. It looked like the sidewalk went on further than what it did. You know, that’s all I can say.”
