A Florida appeals court has reversed a $90,000 jury award to a woman who slipped and fell on a sidewalk because a Google Maps photo used to bolster her case was not properly authenticated.
The Third District Court of Appeal ruled against plaintiff Juanita Kho, who tripped and fell while walking on a Miami sidewalk in 2010.
Kho had introduced a Google Maps photo of the sidewalk with a November 2007 date stamp to help prove that the city of Miami should have known about the faulty sidewalk. Kho’s expert had testified that there was no substantial difference between the Google Maps photo and a photo of the same location on the date that Kho fell.
Kho had to prove that the city had “actual or constructive knowledge” of the faulty sidewalk, and she used the photo to show constructive knowledge, the appeals court said in its Oct. 16 opinion.
