STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined the wrongful death action against state police officers who stopped plaintiff’s decedent (for following too closely) but did not issue a traffic ticket was properly dismissed. Decedent told the officers he had had two drinks, was tired and would call his brother to take him home. The officers left decedent on the side of the road. Decedent was later found dead in his car. Although decedent’s blood alcohol content was above the legal limit, the officers testified they did not see any signs of intoxication when they spoke with decedent. The court found there was no special relationship between the decedent and the officers and the state was therefore immune from suit:

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Where, as here, a claim arises out of the performance of an act undertaken for the protection and safety of the public pursuant to general police powers … , the governmental entity is immune from liability for the negligent performance of that governmental function, unless it owed a special duty to the injured party… . As relevant here, a special duty arises when the governmental entity “voluntarily assumed a duty to the [injured party] beyond what was owed to the public generally” … . To establish a special duty through voluntary assumption, the injured party must demonstrate that the governmental agents assumed, through promises or actions, an affirmative duty to act on behalf of the injured party, that the agents knew that inaction could lead to harm, that there was some form of direct contact between the injured party and the agents and that the injured party justifiably relied on the agents’ affirmative undertaking … . Barnes v State of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 08564, Third Dept 12-7-17

 

NEGLIGENCE (GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/IMMUNITY (STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY (NEGLIGENCE, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/POLICE  (NEGLIGENCE, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/WRONGFUL DEATH (POLICE, GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY,  STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/TRAFFIC STOPS (GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED (GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))/SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, WRONGFUL DEATH, STATE POLICE STOPPED DECEDENT FOR FOLLOWING TOO CLOSELY, DID NOT NOTICE SIGNS OF INTOXICATION, AND LEFT WITHOUT ISSUING A TICKET, DECEDENT LATER FOUND DEAD IN HIS CAR, NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OFFICERS AND DECEDENT, STATE IMMUNE FROM SUIT (THIRD DEPT))