A Porter County jury has awarded more than a half-million dollars to a woman who was injured when she stepped into a hole outside a Wal-Mart store in Valparaiso. 29-year-old Micela Earle of Hobart will receive $510,000 for her injuries. That's far short of the $5 million she had sought. The suit alleged Wal-Mart was negligent in removing a tree along a sidewalk outside its Portage store, leaving behind a hole that she stepped in and injured herself. Her attorney says Earle faces a lifetime of pain-related suffering, limitations and treatments from the injury. Wal-Mart's attorney argued a doctor hired by the store doesn't believe she suffered anything more than a sprained ankle.
