DocketNumber: No. CV 01-0813660S
Citation Numbers: 2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1522
Judges: BOOTH, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 1/23/2003
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
On January 19, 2000, Tynesha Pridgen was a passenger in a motor vehicle driven by Taneisha Smith. Ms. Smith's vehicle was involved in an accident with a State Police cruiser driven by Michael O'Leary at the intersection of Capital Avenue and Oak Street in Hartford. Each vehicle entered the intersection from different directions at the same time. At the time the vehicles entered the intersection Hartford Police officers were directing traffic at the intersection due to an earlier, unrelated accident. Ms. Smith entered the intersection at the same time that a Hartford Police officer directed Trooper O'Leary to enter the intersection and a collision ensued. Ms. Smith has filed a cross claim dated September 24, 2001 seeking indemnity from the City of Hartford and its various police officers if she is found to be responsible to the plaintiff, Ms. Pridgen. The City and its officers have moved to strike Ms. Smith's cross claim.
Essentially the City and its officers make two claims. The City first claims that the municipality is immune from common-law indemnification and second, even in the absence of such immunity, that Smith has failed to allege facts sufficient to establish the elements necessary to maintain an action in common-law indemnification.
Personal injury actions against municipalities are specifically authorized by §
The cross-claim plaintiff might also avoid municipal immunity by utilizing the authority found in §
"The hallmark of a discretionary act is that it requires the exercise of judgment. On the other hand, ministerial acts are performed in the prescribed manner without the exercise of judgment or discretion as to the propriety of the action . . ." Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority,
Our Supreme Court has recognized an exception to the immunity for discretionary acts when the harm is to identifiable individuals and a narrowly defined class of foreseeable victims. Burnes v. Board ofEducation,
"In delineating the scope of a foreseeable class of victims exception to governmental immunity, our courts have considered numerous criteria, including the imminency of the potential harm, the likelihood that harm will result from a failure to act with reasonable care, and the identifiability of the particular victim." Burnes v. Board of Education,supra 647.
Most of the cases concerning imminent harm to identifiable class have concerned school children. Burnes v. Board of Education,
Evron v. Andrews,
The Court is of the opinion that when police officers are directing traffic at an accident scene at a busy intersection in the City of Hartford, the plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged an identifiable person subject to an imminent harm to come within the exception.
The Motion to Strike is granted because the claim for indemnity is barred by municipal immunity.
In Weintraub v. Richard Dahn, Inc.,
2. That his negligence rather than the plaintiff's was a direct immediate cause of the accident and injuries.3. That he was in control of the situation to the exclusion of the plaintiff.
4. That the plaintiff did not know of such negligence, had no reason to anticipate it and could reasonably rely on the other tortfeasor not to be negligent.
Relying on the Supreme Court opinion in Skuzinski vs. Bouchard Fuels,Inc.,
The Court agrees with the cross-complaint defendant that the cross-complaint plaintiff has failed to state a claim for common-law CT Page 1525 indemnity.
BY THE COURT
Kevin E. Booth, J. CT Page 1526