City of Dallas v. Donovan

The Donovan family (plaintiffs) sued the City of Dallas (defendant) after a car accident caused by a knocked-down stop sign; the jury found the sign had been knocked down by a third party, making the city liable only if it failed to replace the sign within a reasonable time after actual notice. A witness testified that a visibly shaken, emotional woman arrived at the accident scene minutes later and, upon seeing the injured Donovan children, stated she had told the city days earlier that the sign was down; the trial court admitted this as an excited utterance over the city's hearsay objection, and the jury found for the Donovans.