This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Ps, husband, and wife, were lodging as paying guests at D. They ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. When departing P left her purse behind. The purse was found by the hotel busboy who delivered the forgotten item to the restaurant cashier, a Mrs. Luster. The cashier gave the purse to a man other than P who came to claim it. There is no testimony on the question of whether identification was sought by the cashier. The purse allegedly contained $5.00 in cash, some credit cards, and ten pieces of jewelry said to be worth $13,062. Ps sued D alleging negligent delivery of the purse to an unknown person and seeking a recovery for the value of the purse and its contents. A jury found that the cashier was negligent in delivering the purse to someone other than Ps and that this negligence was a proximate cause of the loss of the purse. The jury further found that Ps were negligent in leaving the purse containing the jewelry in the hotel dining room and that this negligence was a proximate cause of the loss. Judgment was entered by the trial court for Ps in the amount of $11,252.00 plus interest and costs. D appealed.

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