Bennetta v. Derby

Citations

• 212 Conn. App. 617

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant city for public nuisance in connection with injuries she sustained when she was physi- cally and sexually assaulted while walking along a public trail in the city. The plaintiff's complaint alleged, inter alia, that the city has a high crime rate and is one of the least safe municipalities in the state, that the city had created or participated in the development of the trail and had invited people of all ages to walk the trail and that the trail was isolated, lacked security and was prone to criminal activity. The plaintiff sought damages under the statute (§ 52-557n (a) (1) (C)) that imposes liability on a municipality when its acts constitute the creation or the participation in the creation of a nuisance. The city moved to strike the complaint, asserting, inter alia, that the plaintiff's public nuisance action was barred by governmental immunity. The trial court granted the city's motion to strike, concluding that the complaint failed to allege that the city created the nuisance by some positive act as required by § 52-557n (a) (1) (C) and that there was no logical nexus by which to attribute the criminal actions of the plaintiff's assailant to the city. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a substitute complaint, which contained the same allegations as the original complaint and an additional allegation that the city permitted ''vandals and other non-law-abiding people'' to loiter, roam and congregate on the trail, which created a dangerous condition for people walking the trail. The city filed a motion to strike the substitute complaint, which the trial court granted for the same reasons that it had granted the city's previous motion to strike. Subsequently, the trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for judgment and rendered judgment thereon, from which the plaintiff appealed to this court. Held that the plaintiff could not prevail on her claim that the trial court erred in granting the city's motion t