Berkeley couple sue home builder over fall

MARTINSBURG - A Berkeley County couple has filed a suit against a home building company.

Marsha and Carlo Leto filed a suit May 8 in Berkeley Circuit Court, against Dan Ryan Builders, Inc. Dan Ryan Builders built the townhouse the Letos leased.

On the house was a door that appeared to open onto a porch, but there was no porch constructed. Instead, a wooden guard, like a picket fence, was blocking the door, the suit says.

On Sept. 18, 2005, Marsha Leto was called by her son, who was in the backyard, and asked her to pass him a cellular phone, the suit says.

"Marsha Leto opened the sliding glass door, and leaned with one hand on the wooden guard through the door to loft the cellular phone to her son," the suit says. "At that point, the wooden guard pulled away from the side of the house, and Marsha Leto fell to the ground, and was seriously injured."

According to the suit, Leto was seriously injured. The Letos claim the builders were responsible for the guardrail coming loose.

Carlo and Marsha Leto, through attorney Michael Santa Barbara, seek compensatory damages.

Berkeley Circuit Court case number 07-C-387