PLAINTIFF WAS SHOT INSIDE DEFENDANT’S BUILDING, DEFENDANT LANDLORD DEMONSTRATED IT DID NOT HAVE NOTICE OF AN ALLEGED BROKEN LOCK, THE EVIDENCE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE ASSAILANT WAS AN INTRUDER AS OPPOSED TO AN INVITED GUEST, AND THERE WAS EVIDENCE PLAINTIFF WAS THE VICTIM OF A TARGETED ATTACK, DEFENDANT LANDLORD’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the NYC Housing Authority’s (NYCHA’s) motion for summary judgment should have been granted in this third-party assault case. Plaintiff was shot inside the building. Defendant demonstrated it did not have notice of an alleged broken lock which would have allowed an intruder to enter the building. And the evidence did not demonstrate the assailant was an intruder as opposed to an invited guest. In addition, plaintiff admitted he was the victim of a targeted attack, which severed any causal relationship with defendant’s alleged negligence:
… [P]laintiff alleges that he was injured when, while visiting his wife in NYCHA’s building, he was shot by defendant Lawrence, who was able to enter the building because of a broken lock on the building’s front door. The record establishes that NYCHA lacked notice of a broken lock inasmuch as NYCHA submitted evidence showing that although the front door lock had been repaired a number of times in the months leading up to the incident, NYCHA’s supervisor of caretakers testified that the lock was working on the morning of the incident, and for almost a full week beforehand … .
The evidence also fails to show that the alleged assailant was an unauthorized intruder, rather than an invited guest … . The alleged assailant testified that he lived across from the subject building, that he had numerous family members and friends who lived in the building, and that he was a frequent visitor of the building. Furthermore, plaintiff admitted that he was the victim of a targeted attack by the alleged assailant, which severed the causal nexus between NYCHA’s alleged negligence and plaintiff’s injuries … . Roldan v New York City Hous. Auth., 2019 NY Slip Op 02462, First Dept 4-2-19