Monroe held liable for road conditions

BRIDGEPORT-- Ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren were awarded $300,000 from the town of Monroe for injuries Lorraine Warren suffered when she slipped on a patch of ice in front of her home more than five years ago.
Lorraine Warren clutched a small silver medal of ´Padre Pio¡ in her right hand as the six Superior Court jurors filed into the jury box to deliver their verdict.
´He was there with us and told me everything would be all right,¡ she confided late of the medal which depicts a priest who may Catholics in the 1960s and 70s believed was destined for sainthood.
´This was such an emotional thing for Ed and I.¡
Added her husband: ´I am very happy justice prevailed and we had two very good lawyers.¡
The jury deliberated about six hours before finding the town of Monroe negligent for failing to properly plow snow from the front of the Warrenÿs home on Knollwood drive on Jan. 21, 1993.
The amount of the verdict was double the damages claimed in their lawsuit.
During the weeklong trial, the Warrensÿ lawyers, Arthur C. Laske III and Auden Grogins, argued that despite numerous calls from the Warrens, the town failed to remove a quantity of snow that blocked the street in front of their home a week after it had accumulated.
They related that at 7:30am on Jan 21, Lorraine Warren went out into the street to get to her mailbox when she slipped on an area of packed snow left in the roadway by the town.
They said Warren fell onto the road, breaking her right hip. She was found lying in the street by neighbors and her husband and taken to the hospital.
As a result of the fall, the lawyers said Warren had to undergo two hip replacements within the year and now suffers a 25 percent permanent disablitly of the right hip.
Both lawyers said the contradictory testimony of a Monroe police officer may have actually helped their case.
They said Officer Mark Caulfield testified Lorraine Warren told him at the scene that she had actually fallen in her driveway but had dragged herself the 10 feet into the street out of concern that the emergency personnel would have to drive into her icy driveway.
However, Ed Warren, who claimed a loss of consortium as a result of his wifeÿs injuries, testified Caulfield didnÿt speak to his wife at the scene.
´He just spoke to me and then left,¡ he said.
Phillip VonKuhn, who represented the town, was unavailable for comment.