O'Connor v. State of New York
New York Court of Appeals
70 N.Y.2d 914, 524 N.Y.S.2d 391, 519 N.E.2d 302 (1987)
- Written by Steven Pacht, JD
Facts
Anna O’Connor (plaintiff) was the representative for a man who was struck and killed in a pedestrian crosswalk by a bicyclist who was participating in a time trial. O’Connor sued the cyclist and others in the supreme court. The State of New York (state) (defendant) was not a party to the supreme-court suit. The supreme-court jury fixed damages at $980,000 and determined that O’Connor’s decedent was 60 percent negligent as compared to the defendants in that case. O’Connor subsequently sued the state in the court of claims, alleging that the state failed to meet its duty of care to maintain the crosswalk in reasonably safe condition. The court of claims found the state liable, assessed damages at $680,870, and found O’Connor’s decedent to have been 50 percent responsible for the accident as compared to the state. The appellate division affirmed. The state appealed, arguing, among other things, that collateral estoppel barred O’Connor from relitigating the decedent’s responsibility for the accident.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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