Ocasio v. Verdura Construction, LLC, 215
Conn. App. 139 (2022). The plaintiff brought an action against a
property owner alleging injury from a defective railing. The
defendant asserted the defense of the ongoing storm doctrine due to
evidence of inclement weather at the time of the accident.
The doctrine holds that a landowner has no duty to clear or clean
land of defective snow or ice until a reasonable time after an
ongoing storm had ceased. At trial, the plaintiff testified that he
fell due to the defective railing—not as the result of
snow—and the plaintiff's counsel indicated that was the
theory they would be presenting to the jury. Despite this
contention, and over the plaintiff's objection, the trial
court instructed the jury as to the ongoing storm doctrine,
instructing that if a storm was ongoing, and the storm was the
proximate cause of the plaintiff's fall and damages, the
plaintiff's claim would fail. Following a defendant's
verdict, the plaintiff
