Jenard v. Halpin, 88-535-A
| Decision Date | 21 December 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-535-A,88-535-A |
| Citation | 567 A.2d 368 |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
| Parties | Leonard J. JENARD, Jr. v. James HALPIN et al. ppeal. |
Leonard Decof, John S. Foley, Decof & Grimm, Providence, for plaintiff.
Joseph F. Penza, Jr., Olenn & Penza, Warwick, Fred Joslyn, Cranston, for defendants.
Before FAY, C.J., and KELLEHER, WEISBERGER, MURRAY and SHEA, JJ.
On December 7, 1989, counsel for the litigants in this Superior Court wrongful-death action appeared before this court to show cause why the issues presented in the plaintiff's appeal should not be summarily decided.
The defendants in this action are the city of Pawtucket and two members of the Pawtucket police department who have been sued for their alleged negligence in pursuing plaintiff's thirteen-year-old son. In late March 1982, plaintiff's son was operating a "dirt bike" along with two others when defendants attempted to stop them because both the deceased and his friends were operating unregistered motor vehicles. When the police initiated the stopping maneuver, the youths accelerated the bikes and rode off with defendants in pursuit.
Sometime during the chase the deceased and his companions took different routes. The police then pursued the deceased at speeds of up to thirty to thirty-five miles per hour for about a mile. During this period the deceased ignored five stop signs and drove up a one-way street the wrong way.
The police, however, gave up the chase when it became apparent to them that the driver was heading into Slater Park, an area into which the police had no access. As the deceased headed to the park, he continued through an intersection without diminishing speed and collided with another vehicle. The injuries he received as a result of the collision were fatal.
In his charge to the jury the trial justice reminded the jurors that in their deliberations they were confronted with the issues of "whether the defendants were negligent and whether the defendants' negligence was a proximate cause of that accident." He also emphasized that if the jury found defendants negligent, the jury was still required to determine if plaintiff had sustained the burden of showing that the negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries and fatality.
A verdict sheet was submitted to the jury, and it indicates that the jury was of the belief that all defendants were negligent but that their negligence was not the proximate cause of the decedent's death. The jury also...
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...resulting [from the alleged negligence]." Splendorio v. Bilray Demolition Co., Inc., 682 A.2d 461, 466 (R.I.1996) (citing Jenard v. Halpin, 567 A.2d 368, 370 (R.I.1989)). Gonsalves testified at her deposition that she received no medical treatment for lead Q. Have you yourself received any ......
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