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Professional Reliability Exception to the Hearsay Rule (Re: Experts) Explained/Appropriate Date to Commence Prejudgment Interest in Breach of Contract Action Explained

The Fourth Department explained when an expert can rely on hearsay and when prejudgment interest should commence in a breach of contract action:

We reject defendant’s further contention that there was no evidentiary foundation for the testimony of plaintiffs’ damages expert, a construction cost estimator. It is well settled that” [o]pinion evidence must be based on facts in the record or personally known to the witness’ ” … . It is also well settled, however, that an expert is permitted to offer opinion testimony based on facts not in evidence where the material is ” of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable in forming a professional opinion’ ” … . “The professional reliability exception to the hearsay rule enables an expert witness to provide opinion evidence based on otherwise inadmissible hearsay, provided it is demonstrated to be the type of material commonly relied on in the profession’ ” … . Here, the expert’s damages testimony was based, in part, on measurements contained in a report that was not admitted in evidence, but those measurements were not otherwise disputed or challenged by defendant. Moreover, the expert testified that the information on which he relied was of the type relied on in his profession.

We agree with defendant, however, that the court erred in awarding prejudgment interest from April 18, 1990. The jury did not specify a date on which plaintiffs’ cause of action for breach of contract accrued and where, as here, “the precise date from which to fix interest is ambiguous, the date of commencement of the . . . action’ is an appropriate date to choose” … . We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the amount of prejudgment interest awarded from April 18, 1990 and providing that prejudgment interest is to commence from April 18, 1996, the date on which the action was commenced, to May 2, 2012, the date of the judgment. Caleb v Stevenson Envtl Servs Inc, 2014 NY Slip Op 03057, 4th Dept 5-2-14

 

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Double Jeopardy Does Not Bar Prosecution of a Lesser Included Offense Never Considered by the Trier of Fact in the First Trial

The Fourth Department noted that an Article 78/prohibition action is a proper vehicle for raising double jeopardy as a bar to a prosecution. Defendant was charged with two counts of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and one count of Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI).  In a bench trial, defendant was acquitted of one count of DWI and the second count of DWI, of which defendant was initially convicted, was subsequently dismissed pursuant to a post-trial motion because of the legal insufficiency of the evidence.  Under these circumstances, because the DWAI count was never considered in the bench trial, a second trial on that charge alone does not violate the double jeopardy prohibition:

“[I]n a bench trial, it is presumed that the Judge sitting as the trier of fact made his [or her] decision based upon appropriate legal criteria” … . Here, the court, upon acquitting defendant of common-law DWI, would have applied the “acquit-first” rule …, and next considered DWI, per se, before reaching DWAI as a lesser included offense under either count of DWI … . Inasmuch as the court convicted defendant of the count charging DWI, per se, it could not have reached the lesser included offense of DWAI. Consequently, we conclude that “double jeopardy concerns . . . are not present in the case at hand . . . [because] the People here d[o] not seek to retry defendant on the count[, i.e., DWI, per se, or common-law DWI] of which he was acquitted at the first trial. Rather, the only count at issue in the retrial [will be] the lesser [DWAI] charge for which the [court did not] reach a verdict. At no point during the retrial [will] defendant [be] in jeopardy of conviction of the greater offense. Thus, there [i]s no constitutional double jeopardy bar to [a] second trial” on the lesser included offense of DWAI … . Matter of Case v Sedita, 2015 NY Slip Op 03630, 4th Dept 5-1-15

 

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Manufacturers Responsible for Packaging a Product Owed a Duty to Plaintiff Injured When the Packaging Failed Under Negligence, Strict Products Liability and Contractual Theories

Plaintiff was injured when the packaging of a product failed. The product was manufactured pursuant to a contract between plaintiff’s employer and one manufacturer, ABS. ABS contracted with a second manufacturer, Keystone, to nickel-plate the product.  Both manufacturers were responsible for aspects of the product’s packaging.  The Fourth Department determined that the manufacturers’ motions for summary judgment were properly denied. Both owed a duty to plaintiff under negligence and strict products liability theories. In addition, ABS owed a duty to the plaintiff as a third-party beneficiary of the contract with plaintiff’s employer. And Keystone owed a contractual duty to the plaintiff as well because, although there was no third-party beneficiary relationship, Keystone had launched an instrument of harm.  Filer v Keystone Corp., 2015 NY Slip Op 03628, 4th Dept 5-1-15

 

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Defendant’s Indelible Right to Counsel Did Not Attach When the Attorney for Defendant’s Husband’s Estate Communicated with the Police—The Attorney Was Unaware that Defendant Was a Suspect In Her Husband’s Death at the Time of the Communication

The Fourth Department determined a communication with the police by the attorney who represented the estate of defendant’s husband did not trigger the attachment of her indelible right to counsel (rendering a subsequent statement inadmissible).  The defendant was convicted of murdering her husband.  At the time the probate attorney communicated with the police, he identified himself as the estate’s attorney and was not aware defendant was a suspect in her husband’s death:

The evidence established that defendant was the personal representative of the estate …, and that the attorney’s representation of her was only with respect to her role as personal representative of the estate. The attorney testified that at no time did he know that defendant was a suspect in decedent’s death, which he believed to have been a suicide; that he identified himself as the attorney for decedent’s estate in his communications with the police; and that he would not have given defendant advice related to a criminal investigation because to do so would be a conflict of interest with his role as the attorney for the estate. It is well established that, although “an attorney-client relationship formed in one criminal matter may sometimes bar questioning in another matter in the absence of counsel . . . , a relationship formed in a civil matter is not entitled to the same deference” … . People v Castor, 2015 NY Slip Op 03648, 4th Dept 5-1-15

 

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Attorney’s Charging Lien Based Upon a Judgment for Child Support Arrears Was Proper—Relevant Law Explained

The Fourth Department, in the context of plaintiff’s attempt to collect a judgment reflecting child support arrears, determined an attorney’s charging lien was appropriately attached to the proceeds of the sale of defendant’s property.  The court rejected the argument that child support payments are exempt from an attorney’s charging lien, at least under the facts of this case.  Here the children were already emancipated and the nonpayment was not enforced for 16 years.  The Fourth Department explained the law surrounding attorney’s charging liens, and noted the exemptions for proceedings before “a department of labor” and an award of alimony or maintenance:

Under the common law, “the attorney’s lien was a device invented by the courts for the protection of attorneys against the knavery of their clients, by disabling clients from receiving the fruits of recoveries without paying for the valuable services by which the recoveries were obtained’ “… . Judiciary Law § 475 “codifies and extends the common-law charging lien” …, by providing an attorney with “a lien upon his or her client’s cause of action, claim or counterclaim, which attaches to a verdict, report, determination, decision, award, settlement, judgment or final order in his or her client’s favor, and the proceeds thereof in whatever hands they may come” (§ 475 …). The statute is remedial in nature and therefore must “be construed liberally in aid of the object sought by the [L]egislature, which was to furnish security to attorneys by giving them a lien upon the subject of the action” … . “The lien comes into existence, without notice or filing, upon commencement of the action or proceeding,” and “gives the attorney an equitable ownership interest in the client’s cause of action” … .

The only exception contained in the statute is for proceedings before “a department of labor” (Judiciary Law § 475). In addition to that statutory exception, the Court of Appeals has held that, as a matter of public policy, a charging lien may not attach to an award of alimony or maintenance … . Mura v Mura, 2015 NY Slip Op 03639, 4th Dept 5-1-15

 

Spectator Watching People Sledding Assumed the Risk of Being Struck

The Fourth Department determined plaintiff assumed the risk of injury when she stood at the bottom of a hill to watch people sledding down the hill.  The court noted that in a suit against participants in a sport, a spectator is held to have assumed the risks inherent in the activity, including the risk of being struck:

To establish the defense, “a defendant must show that [the] plaintiff was aware of the defective or dangerous condition and the resultant risk, although it is not necessary to demonstrate that [the] plaintiff foresaw the exact manner in which his [or her] injury occurred” … . … [I]n a suit against participants in [an applicable activity], a spectator generally will be held to have assumed the risks inherent in the [activity], including the specific risk of being struck’ ” … . For instance, it has been held that a spectator at a baseball game assumes the risk of being struck by a foul ball … .

Here, we similarly conclude that, by standing on the side of the hill while watching other people sledding, plaintiff assumed the risk of being struck by a sled. Savage v Brown, 2015 NY Slip Op 03638, 4th Dept, 5-1-15

 

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Defendant Should Have Been Allowed to Present Expert Opinion-Evidence About the Reliability of Eyewitness Identification

The Fourth Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined defendant should have been allowed to present expert evidence about the reliability of eyewitness identifications.  The court explained the analytical criteria:

“Because mistaken eyewitness identifications play a significant role in many wrongful convictions, and expert testimony on the subject of eyewitness recognition memory can educate a jury concerning the circumstances in which an eyewitness is more likely to make such mistakes, courts are encouraged . . . in appropriate cases’ to grant defendants’ motions to admit expert testimony on this subject” … , the Court of Appeals established a two-stage inquiry for considering a motion to admit expert testimony on eyewitness identification … . “The first stage is deciding whether the case turns on the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and there is little or no corroborating evidence connecting the defendant to the crime’ … . If the trial court finds itself with such a case, then it must proceed to the second stage, which involves the application of four factors. The court must decide whether the proposed testimony is (1) relevant to the witness’s identification of defendant, (2) based on principles that are generally accepted within the relevant scientific community, (3) proffered by a qualified expert and (4) on a topic beyond the ken of the average juror’ … . If, on the other hand, sufficient evidence corroborates an eyewitness’s identification of the defendant, then there is no obligation on the part of the trial court to proceed to the second stage of analysis, because testimony concerning eyewitness identifications is unnecessary” … .

Here, the People concede that this case hinges upon the accuracy of the eyewitness’s identification of defendant, and we agree with defendant that there was little or no corroborating evidence connecting him to the crime … . People v McCullough, 2015 NY Slip Op 02589, 4th Dept 3-27-15

 

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Plaintiff, a Pedestrian, Was Injured When a Traffic Sign Struck by a Car Broke Off and Hit Her—County Owed Plaintiff a Duty to Properly Install the Sign—Question of Fact Raised Whether Improper Installation of a “Break Away” Sign Was a Proximate Cause of the Plaintiff’s Injuries

The Fourth Department determined the County had a duty to properly install traffic signs and that duty extended to plaintiff, a pedestrian severely injured when a traffic sign broke off and hit her after the sign post was struck by a car. The court further determined that a question of fact had been raised about whether any negligence in installing the sign was a proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries:

“The existence and scope of a duty of care is a question of law for the courts entailing the consideration of relevant policy factors” … . “[A] contractual obligation, standing alone, will generally not give rise to tort liability in favor of a third party,” i.e., a person who is not a party to the contract … . An exception applies where the contracting party has ” entirely displaced the other party’s duty to maintain the premises safely’ ” … . Here, we conclude that the County’s duty to plaintiff arose from its comprehensive agreement with the City inasmuch as, pursuant to that agreement, the County has entirely displaced the City in fulfilling the City’s duty to be responsible for traffic signs … . Specifically, the County had a duty to properly reinstall the sign in October 1999, including using proper materials, installing the sign’s post at the appropriate depth in the ground on a proper base, and placing the sign at the required distance from the roadway. Moreover, that duty “extend[ed] to noncontracting individuals[, such as nearby pedestrians,] reasonably within the zone and contemplation of the intended [traffic engineering] services” encompassed by the County’s agreement with the City … .

…”[I]t is well settled that there may be more than one proximate cause of [an] accident” … . …[P]laintiff’s … expert raised an issue of fact … . Plaintiff’s expert opined in his opposing affidavit that the County improperly installed a breakaway signpost and that the accident would not have occurred but for that improper installation. Plaintiff’s expert also opined that the County’s negligence in installing the sign was a substantial factor in causing plaintiff’s injuries. Specifically, he opined that, had the sign been properly placed, it would not have struck plaintiff because its placement one foot above the ground created a risk that the sign would become a high-flying projectile if hit, rather than bending or projecting closer to the ground. We conclude that the court properly denied the County’s motion because the submission of conflicting expert opinions “present[ed] issues of credibility to be determined by the trier of fact” … . Honer v McComb, 2015 NY Slip Op 02662, 4th Dept 3-27-15

 

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Town, Not the Town Board, Was the Proper Party/Town Could Not Use Article 78/Declaratory Judgment to Enforce a Contract/Town Entitled to Specific Performance of Contract

The Fourth Department, in the context of an action by the town for specific performance of a contract with a volunteer fire department, determined: (1) the town, not the town board, was the proper party to bring the action; (2) the hybrid Article 78/declaratory judgment action could not be brought by the town to enforce a contract; (3) the action should have been brought as one seeking specific performance; (4) the town was entitled to specific performance of the contract:

…[T]he Town Board lacks capacity to bring this proceeding/action.  As “artificial creatures of statute,” governmental entities such as the Town Board “have neither an inherent nor a common-law right to sue. Rather, their right to sue, if it exists at all, must be derived from the relevant enabling legislation or some other concrete statutory predicate” … . Here, Town Law § 65 (1) provides in relevant part that “[a]ny action or special proceeding for or against a town, or for its benefit, . . . shall be in the name of the town,” and that “[t]he town board of any town may authorize and direct any town officer or officers to institute, defend or appear, in any action or legal proceeding, in the name of the town, as in its judgment may be necessary, for the benefit or protection of the town” … . Under the circumstances of this case, we exercise our power pursuant to CPLR 2001 to correct that irregularity and to amend the caption by substituting the Town for the Town Board, “on behalf of” the Town … . …

… [A]lthough a CPLR article 78 proceeding may be brought against public or private corporations that “take on a quasi-governmental status” …, such “a . . . proceeding is not the proper vehicle to resolve contractual rights’ ” … . Moreover, a declaratory judgment action is also not a proper vehicle to resolve the contractual rights herein because ” a full and adequate remedy is already provided by another well-known form of action’ ” … . Pursuant to CPLR 103 (c), however, “[i]f a court has obtained jurisdiction over the parties, a civil judicial proceeding shall not be dismissed solely because it is not brought in the proper form, but the court shall make whatever order is required for its proper prosecution.” We thus exercise our discretion under CPLR 103 (c) and convert this hybrid CPLR article 78 proceeding/declaratory judgment action to an action for specific performance … .

“Specific performance is a discretionary remedy which is an alternative to the award of damages as a means of enforcing the contract’ . . . The right to specific performance is not automatic . . . The equitable remedy of specific performance is available in the court’s discretion when the remedy at law is inadequate . . . Finally, . . . the party seeking equity must do equity, i.e., he must come into court with clean hands” … . Here, the Town met its burden of proving that it “substantially performed [its] contractual obligations . . . within the time specified in the [2011 Contract, and] that [it] is ready, willing and able to perform those contractual obligations not yet performed and not waived by the [West Brighton Fire Department (WBFD)]” …, and the WBFD failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition thereto … . Matter of Town Bd. of Town of Brighton v West Brighton Fire Dept., Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 02581, Fourth Dept 3-27-15

 

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Frisk Not Justified Under DeBour Analysis

The Fourth Department determined the police officer did not have reasonable suspicion defendant was committing a crime and had no reasonable basis to suspect he was in danger at the time he frisked the defendant:

It is well established that, in evaluating the legality of police conduct, we “must determine whether the action taken was justified in its inception and at every subsequent stage of the encounter” (…People v De Bour, 40 NY2d 210, 215). In De Bour, the Court of Appeals “set forth a graduated four-level test for evaluating street encounters initiated by the police: level one permits a police officer to request information from an individual and merely requires that the request be supported by an objective, credible reason, not necessarily indicative of criminality; level two, the common-law right of inquiry, permits a somewhat greater intrusion and requires a founded suspicion that criminal activity is afoot; level three authorizes an officer to forcibly stop and detain an individual, and requires a reasonable suspicion that the particular individual was involved in a felony or misdemeanor; [and] level four, arrest, requires probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a crime” (People v Moore, 6 NY3d 496, 498-499).

Here, contrary to defendant’s contention, we conclude that the information provided in the 911 dispatch coupled with the officers’ observations provided the police with “an objective, credible reason for initially approaching defendant and requesting information from him” … . The officers pulled up next to defendant and, without exiting the vehicle, asked to see defendant’s identification and asked defendant where he was going and where he was coming from, which was a permissible level one intrusion … .

Contrary to the further contention of defendant, we conclude that his failure to answer the officers’ questions about where he was going and where he was coming from, when added to the information acquired from the police dispatch and defendant’s heightened interest in the patrol car, created a “founded suspicion that criminality [was] afoot,” justifying a level two intrusion … . The common-law right of inquiry “authorized the police to ask questions of defendant—and to follow defendant while attempting to engage him—but not to seize him in order to do so” … . The police therefore acted lawfully in following defendant for the purpose of obtaining an answer to their valid questions about his whereabouts. The encounter, however, quickly escalated to a level three intrusion when one of the officers grabbed defendant’s hand and patted the outside of his pants pocket. “[A] stop and frisk is a more obtrusive procedure than a mere request for information or a stop invoking the common-law right of inquiry, and as such normally must be founded on a reasonable suspicion that the particular person has committed or is about to commit a crime” … . ” [W]here no more than a common-law right to inquire exists, a frisk must be based upon a reasonable suspicion that the officers are in physical danger and that defendant poses a threat to their safety’ “* * * …[U]nlike in other cases where we have sanctioned a frisk for weapons, there was no evidence in this case that defendant refused to comply with the officers’ directives or that he made any furtive, suspicious, or threatening movements … . Indeed, under the circumstances of this case, the presence of defendant’s hand in his left pants pocket was particularly innocuous and ” readily susceptible of an innocent interpretation’ ” … . Defendant retrieved his identification from his left pants pocket and returned it to that pocket after complying with the officers’ request to produce identification … .

We therefore conclude that, “[b]ecause the officer lacked reasonable suspicion that defendant was committing a crime and had no reasonable basis to suspect that he was in danger of physical injury, . . . the ensuing pat frisk of defendant was unlawful” … . People v Burnett, 2015 NY Slip Op 02613, 4th Dept 3-27-15

 

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