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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 97-C-1174

JUNE REED versus WAL-MART STORES, INC. AND ABC INSURANCE COMPANY

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF AVOYELLES

TRAYLOR, Justice

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We granted writs in this case to resolve a disparity among the Courts of Appeal regarding the standard for reviewing findings of an unreasonable risk of harm and to correct a decision which conflicts with this Court's recent decision in Boyle v. Board of Supervisors, Louisiana State Univ., 96-1158 (La. 1/14/97); 685 So.2d 1080. Because we find that the proper standard of appellate review is the manifest error standard and because we further find that no reasonable finder of fact could conclude that the defect at issue presented an unreasonable risk of harm and because the lower courts' finding of such conflicted with Boyle, we find that the lower courts were manifestly erroneous and reverse. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On February 3, 1995, June Reed fell in a Wal-Mart parking lot, breaking her arm. The parking lot is constructed of fifteen-foot concrete squares. She alleges that she tripped on an uneven expansion joint between two of the squares. At trial, Reed asserted that the expansion joint was defective and that it presented an unreasonable risk of harm. The plaintiff's safety expert testified that there were vertical height differences of 1/4 to 1/2 inch along the joint at issue. The expert testified that, while a 1/4 inch variance is acceptable, a 1/2 inch variance is unreasonably
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Victory, J., not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2,

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Louisiana Law