From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Rivas v. Parnes

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Apr 13, 1995
214 A.D.2d 400 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

April 13, 1995

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Anne Targum, J.).


This action is one for damages for injuries suffered by plaintiff when he was shot in the sixth floor hallway of his apartment building. Plaintiff claims that defendants, the owners of the building, negligently allowed the front door of the building to remain unlocked, that it was actually unlocked on the day of the assault and that his assailant must have gained entry thereby. Defendants contend that the door was repaired prior to the date in question and that, in any case, plaintiff has failed to show that his assailant was an intruder who gained entry by means of an unlocked front door.

Evidence that a building's doors were chronically unlocked and were actually unlocked at the time an intruder gained entry to the building can be enough to sustain a plaintiff's burden of showing that his or her assailant must have gained entry by means of those doors, thereby establishing that any negligence involved in leaving the doors unlocked was a proximate cause of his or her injuries (Padilla v 960 Mgt., 195 A.D.2d 333).

In this case, defendants have presented evidence that, shortly before the shooting, plaintiff was seen entering the front door in the company of another man with whom he was conversing, and getting on the elevator with that man. Moreover, even assuming the truth of plaintiff's self-serving statement in his deposition indicating that he entered the building alone and, when he reached the sixth floor, was accosted from behind and shot by an unknown gunman, it offered no evidence that his assailant was an intruder, and, in any case, was completely undermined by his statements immediately after the shooting indicating that he knew his assailant and, indeed, that he was able to name him. Under these circumstances, defendants are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

Concur — Ellerin, J.P., Rubin, Ross, Nardelli and Williams, JJ.


Summaries of

Rivas v. Parnes

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Apr 13, 1995
214 A.D.2d 400 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

Rivas v. Parnes

Case Details

Full title:SERVIO RIVAS, Appellant, v. LEONARA PARNES et al., Respondents

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Apr 13, 1995

Citations

214 A.D.2d 400 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
625 N.Y.S.2d 498

Citing Cases

Rivas v. Parnes

Decided September 7, 1995 Appeal from (1st Dept: 214 A.D.2d 400) MOTIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL GRANTED OR…