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A woman who allegedly fell down poorly maintained steps outside the building where she lived cannot proceed with her claims against her deceased landlord's estate, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel has ruled, finding that her claims are barred under the Dead Man's Act.

On Wednesday, a three-judge Superior Court panel determined that the plaintiff in the case Jones v. Plumer would not be able to testify in the case because her landlord, who allegedly neglected to properly maintain the stairs, died before he could provide counter testimony. Without the plaintiff being able to testify, there was not enough causation evidence to allow the case to proceed past summary judgement, the court held.

The decision affirmed a ruling from the Venango County Court of Common Pleas.

The plaintiff, Jessica Jones, had argued the Dead Man's Act should not apply to her case because the deceased landlord, James Stover, had not actually witnessed her fall, and therefore, the defense's case would not be hindered without Stover's testimony. Applying the Dead Man's Act, she contended, would go against the intent of the law.

However, Superior Court Judge Deborah Kunselman, who wrote the court's 15-page opinion, disagreed, saying the court did not need to look to the intent of the law, since its language was clear and Jones' case did not meet any exceptions.

"We may not ignore the express words of the act simply because Ms. Jones' circumstances may not have been the precise case the legislature had in mind when it authored the statute," Kunselman said. "Neither the General Assembly, nor the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania licenses this court to disregard the plain language of a statute in the name of vindicating the act's intended purpose, for the words themselves are the best evidence of such intent."

According to Kunselman, Jones was a tenant at Stover's property, and she claimed that the steps leading down from the porch to the side of the building had been poorly maintained and had no railing. She alleged that, as she walked down the steps, "the heel of her shoe caught the top of the riser [which] improperly projected beyond the stop-step nosing." Kunselman said Jones tried to break her fall by extending her arm, but ended up breaking several bones.

About a year after the incident, Stover died, Kunselman said, so she sued Marie Plumer, as administrator of Stover's estate.

The estate moved for summary judgment on the issue, arguing that the Dead Man's Act rendered Jones unable to testify, which eviscerated her causation evidence, since the fall was otherwise unwitnessed.

Along with arguing that the estate's position went against the intent of the act, Jones also contended that the 1976 Superior Court decision in Stathas v. Wade Estate meant that she should still be allowed to testify in the case.

In Stathas, an en banc Superior Court panel reversed a ruling that applied the Dead Man's Act to bar a plaintiff from testifying about the extent their damages. The en banc panel ultimately held that allowing the plaintiff's testimony would not put the defendant in a worse position to refute the damages evidence.

Kunselman, however, said Stathas specifically only applied to damages.

"In the 40 years since Stathas, we have never extended it to allow testimony on an element of negligence," Kunselman said. "Were we to do so, we would judicially repeal the Dead Man's Act in any tort action where the deceased defendant did not personally witness the thing in controversy."

Judges John Bender and Dan Pellegrini joined Kunselman's decision.

Neither Jonathan Stewart of Stewart, Murray & Associates, who represented Jones, nor Plumber's lawyer, William Kelly in Erie, Pennsylvania, returned a call seeking comment.