Carel Bainum v. Coventry Police Department

Citations

• 156 A.3d 418
• 2017 WL 1132508
• 2017 R.I. LEXIS 37

Syllabus

This case stemmed from allegedly unwelcomed visits to the Coventry Health and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home in Coventry, Rhode Island, by plaintiff, Carel Bainum. Bainum appealed pro se challenging the motion justice's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant, the Coventry Police Department. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that a genuine issue of material fact existed on her \[c]ollusion and [c]onspiracy\ claim, which she described as a scheme by the center's then-administrator to \set [her] up\ and \keep her out\ of the center. The Court gleaned the underlying tort of malicious prosecution from the plaintiff's papers but held that it failed as a matter of law. Without a viable underlying tort claim, the plaintiff's civil-conspiracy claim also failed. Thus, the Court affirmed the Superior Court's grant of summary judgment.