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Statements in Hospital Records Attributable to Plaintiff Not Admissible Because Not Germane to Treatment or Diagnosis/Plaintiff’s Counsel Should Not Have Been Allowed to Comment on Defense’s Failure to Call the Nurse Who Was Going to Testify About the Statements—New Trial Ordered

The Second Department determined plaintiff's alleged statements about the trip and fall which were referenced in hospital records were not admissible because the statements were not germane to diagnosis and treatment and were not prior inconsistent statements.  The defense was therefore prohibited from calling the triage nurse who heard the statements.  Plaintiff's counsel, however, was erroneously allowed to comment on the absence of the nurse from the trial (the defense had indicated in its opening that she would testify about discrepancies in the plaintiff's account of the accident).  A new trial was therefore ordered:

Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in precluding the admission into evidence of the entries in the injured plaintiff's hospital records. The evidence, which purportedly constituted statements by the injured plaintiff indicating that the accident did not occur on the defendants' premises, were not germane to the injured plaintiff's diagnosis and treatment … . Further, those statements were either equivocal as to how the accident occurred, or consistent with the injured plaintiff's testimony at trial … . Accordingly, they were not admissible as prior inconsistent statements to impeach her credibility. Since those entries were not admissible, the testimony of the triage nurse with respect to those entries was not admissible.

However, permitting the plaintiffs' counsel to comment on the failure to call the triage nurse as a witness was error, since the defendants in fact produced the witness and were precluded from calling her to testify by the trial court. Further, the comments by the plaintiffs' counsel in summation were not supported by the evidence, and were inflammatory and unduly prejudicial, depriving the defendants of a fair trial … . Nelson v Bogopa Serv Corp, 2014 NY Slip Op 08612, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

Single Step Was Open and Obvious and Not Inherently Dangerous

The Second Department determined a single step separating the carpeted dining area from the rest of the restaurant was open and obvious and not inherently dangerous:

A property owner has a duty to maintain his or her property in a reasonably safe manner … . However, a property owner has no duty to protect or warn against an open and obvious condition, which as a matter of law is not inherently dangerous … . Here, the defendants … submitted evidence sufficient to establish, prima facie, that the single step separating the carpeted dining area from the rest of the restaurant in which the plaintiff allegedly fell, which consisted of wooden flooring, was open and obvious, and not inherently dangerous … . Dillman v City Cellar Wine, Bar & Grill, 2014 NY Slip Op 08598, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

Similar issue and result in Varon v New York City Dept of Educ, 2014 NY Slip Op 08633, 2nd Dept 12-10-14.

 

There Can Be More than One Proximate Cause of an Accident—Plaintiff, to Prevail On a Motion for Summary Judgment, Must Demonstrate Both Defendant’s Negligence as a Matter of Law and Plaintiff’s Freedom from Comparative Fault

The Second Department determined plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was properly denied, in part, because she failed to demonstrate she was free from comparative fault.  Defendant's truck and plaintiff's vehicle were stopped side by side in two left-turn lanes. When the light turned green both vehicles turned left.  Plaintiff alleged that defendant's truck crossed into her lane during the turn, striking her vehicle.  The court noted that there was a question of fact whether the truck crossed into plaintiff's lane, as well as whether plaintiff was comparatively negligent (two possible proximate causes of the accident):

A driver is negligent if he or she violates Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1128(a) by, inter alia, failing to drive “as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane” (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1128[a]…). However, there can be more than one proximate cause of an accident … . Accordingly, to prevail on a motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability, a plaintiff has the burden of establishing, prima facie, not only that the defendant was negligent, but that the plaintiff was free from comparative fault … .

Here, the deposition testimony of the parties, which the plaintiff submitted in support of her motion, was insufficient to demonstrate, prima facie, her entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. The deposition testimony raised triable issues of fact as to whether the defendant driver violated Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1128(a) by failing to drive the tractor-trailer “as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane,” and whether negligence, if any, on the part of the plaintiff, who admitted that she was not aware of what the defendant driver was doing while she made her turn, contributed to the happening of the accident. Kaur v Demata, 2014 NY Slip Op 08607, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

Sudden and Frequent Stops In Traffic Must Be Anticipated by Drivers

The Second Department, in finding no question of fact had been raised about the existence of a non-negligent explanation for a rear-end collision, explained the relevant law:

A rear-end collision with a stopped or stopping vehicle creates a prima facie case of negligence with respect to the operator of the rear vehicle and imposes a duty on that operator to rebut the inference of negligence by providing a nonnegligent explanation for the collision … .

“One of several nonnegligent explanations for a rear-end collision [may be] a sudden stop of the lead vehicle” … . However, “vehicle stops which are foreseeable under the prevailing traffic conditions, even if sudden and frequent, must be anticipated by the driver who follows, since he or she is under a duty to maintain a safe distance between his or her car and the car ahead” … . Le Grand v Silberstein, 2014 NY Slip OP 08608, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

Defendant Driver Could Not Avoid Striking Bicyclist Who Did Not Stop at a Stop Sign

The Second Department determined summary judgment was properly granted to the defendant re:  a bicycle/car collision in which the bicyclist was killed.  Defendant driver demonstrated plaintiff's decedent rode through a stop sign and there was no time to avoid the collision:

The defendant was entitled to anticipate that the plaintiffs' decedent would stop at the stop sign and yield the right-of-way to him … . Moreover, the evidence submitted by the defendant eliminated any triable issue of fact as to the defendant's alleged negligence in failing to avoid the impact … . The defendant established, prima facie, that he had only a second to react … . The evidence further established that, in an attempt to avoid impact, the defendant braked and slowed his vehicle to a stop immediately after impact. In opposition, the plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact. Under the circumstances presented, the defendant's alleged failure to reduce speed or alter his direction prior to impact did not raise a triable issue of fact as to whether he was negligent … . Yun Lu v Saia, 2014 NY Slip Op 08635, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

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Fight On School Bus Was Not Foreseeable and Could Not Have Been Prevented

The Second Department determined that the duty to supervise students on a school bus is identical to the duty to supervise students in school.  Here infant plaintiff was injured on the bus when punched by another student.  The bus driver did not see the incident and neither the infant plaintiff nor the assailant had been involved in or witnessed any other fights on the school bus. The court held that brief incident was not foreseeable and could not have been prevented:

Like a school, a school bus company has a duty to adequately supervise children in its care, and to exercise the same degree of care toward them as would a reasonably prudent parent under similar circumstances … . However, schools and school bus companies are not insurers of their students' safety; rather, for liability to result, they must have notice of the specific dangerous conduct so as to render the injury foreseeable, as well as a reasonable opportunity to prevent it … .

Here, the bus defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that they had no notice of any violent propensities or disciplinary problems on the part of the assailant. Rather, the assailant's act of punching the infant was sudden and unforeseeable, and any lack of supervision was not a proximate cause of the infant's alleged injuries … . Braun v Longwood Jr High School, 2014 NY Slip Op 08595, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

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Action Dismissed Because Letters of Administration Had Not Been Issued to Plaintiff at the Time the Action Was Commenced

The Second Department affirmed the dismissal of the action because the plaintiff had not received letters of administration at the time the summons with notice was filed and because the plaintiff did not allege any injury to him individually.  The court also noted that the plaintiff did not have standing (no representative capacity at the time the action was commenced) to request more time to serve the complaint:

A personal representative who has received letters of administration of a decedent's estate is the only party who is authorized to commence a survival action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the decedent or a wrongful death action to recover damages sustained by the decedent's distributees on account of his or her death … . Here, at the time the action was commenced by the filing of the summons with notice, the plaintiff had not yet received letters of administration of the decedent's estate and, thus, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the defendants' cross motion which was to dismiss the action insofar as asserted by the plaintiff in a representative capacity … . Moreover, although the action was commenced by the plaintiff, both individually and as “executor” of the decedent's estate, no cause of action asserted any injury or wrongdoing to him … . Thus, the Supreme Court also properly granted that branch of the defendants' cross motion which was to dismiss the action insofar as asserted by the plaintiff individually.

Moreover, as the plaintiff lacked standing to sue in his representative capacity at the time he commenced the action, he could not establish any meritorious basis to extend his time to serve the complaint … . Shelley v Sooth Shore Healthcare, 2014 NY Slip Op 08625, 2nd Dept 12-10-14

 

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Criteria for a Legal Malpractice Action Re: the Attorney’s Performance In a Criminal Trial Explained—Here Plaintiff’s Conviction Was Reversed and Plaintiff Made a Colorable Claim of Innocence

The Third Department determined a legal malpractice action brought by a client represented by the defendant-attorney in a criminal trial properly survived summary judgment.  The defendant's conviction had been overturned by the Third Department and he was not reprosecuted.  Deficiencies in defendant's representation were noted in the reversal-decision:

In a legal malpractice claim, proximate cause is established by demonstrating that “but for the attorney's negligence, [the plaintiff] would have prevailed in the underlying matter or would not have sustained any ascertainable damages”… . Stated differently, “[t]he test is whether a proper defense would have altered the result of the prior action” … which, in the context of a criminal action, requires proof that the criminal defendant would not have been convicted … . Further, “[f]or malpractice actions arising from allegations of negligent representation in a criminal matter, the plaintiff must have at least a colorable claim of actual innocence” … . We find that a colorable claim has been demonstrated here based upon plaintiff's expressed assertions of innocence, together with our reversal of the judgment of conviction, as well as the District Attorney's decision not to reprosecute plaintiff and the consequent dismissal of the indictment … . * * *

Contrary to defendant's argument, plaintiff has sufficiently alleged pecuniary damages …, i.e., damages that “compensate the victim for the economic consequences of the injury” … . Arnold v Devane, 2014 NY Slip Op 08534, 3rd Dept 12-4-14

 

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“Expert” Affidavit Did Not Address the Affiant’s Qualifications for Rendering an Opinion Re: the Safety of a Curb and Sidewalk—Affidavit Should Not Have Been Relied Upon by the Motion Court

In finding that defendant's motion for summary judgment in a slip and fall case should have been denied, the Third Department noted that the expert affidavit should not have been relied upon by the motion court because it failed to include sufficient information to qualify the affiant as an expert:

Defendant … submitted the affidavit of an alleged expert engineer who opined that the sidewalk and curb complied with all state and local building and fire codes and the sidewalk was in a good state of repair. A precondition to the admissibility of expert testimony is that the proposed expert is “possessed of the requisite skill, training, education, knowledge or experience from which it can be assumed that the information imparted or the opinion rendered is reliable” … . Defendant's proffered expert affidavit does not include the information necessary to permit a court to reach such a determination. In his affidavit, defendant's proffered expert listed the initials “P.E.” after his name, stated that he is a principal in a specific engineering firm, and stated his opinion based on his inspection, review of codes and his “experience as an engineer.” While the “P.E.” would indicate that he is licensed as a professional engineer (see Education Law § 7202), the expert did not explicitly state whether he is licensed in any particular state. He also did not mention anything about his education, what type of engineer he is (e.g., mechanical, chemical, electrical), or any experience he may have that would be relevant to the design and maintenance of curbs and sidewalks. Nor did he attach a curriculum vitae that presumably would have included some or all of that information … .

Even assuming from the “P.E.” designation that this person is licensed as a professional engineer somewhere, merely stating that a person is a licensed engineer is insufficient to qualify that person as an expert in a particular case, absent any proof that he or she had any specialized training, personal knowledge or practical experience related to the subject at issue … . Flanger v 2461 Elm Realty Corp, 2014 NY Slip Op 08532, 3rd Dept 12-4-14

 

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Condition Which Resulted in Plaintiff’s Injury Was Not the Cause of the Injury

The Second Department determined a personal injury action was properly dismissed because the condition which led to plaintiff's injury (a five-foot drop from the top of a retaining wall to the sidewalk) was not the cause of the accident.  Infant plaintiff lost control of her bicycle, left the path, and was injured when she went over the top of the retaining wall and fell to the sidewalk:

Although the issue of proximate cause is generally one for the finder of fact …, “liability may not be imposed upon a party who merely furnishes the condition or occasion for the occurrence of the event but is not one of its causes” … .

Here, the evidence submitted in support of the defendant's motion, which included a transcript of the deposition testimony of the infant plaintiff, demonstrated that the accident was proximately caused by the infant plaintiff's failure to control her bicycle and the failure of the bicycle's brakes … . The retaining wall, which was erected a considerable distance from the portion of the paved pedestrian path from which the infant plaintiff deviated, merely furnished the condition or occasion for the infant plaintiff's accident, and was not one of its causes … . Any alleged negligence in the design, maintenance, or management of the retaining wall did not proximately cause the subject accident … . Rattray v City of New York, 2014 NY Slip Op 08416, 2nd Dept 12-3-14

 

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