Orzechowski v. State, 81-563-A

• Decision Date: 05 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. 81-563-A,81-563-A
• Citation: 485 A.2d 545
• Parties: John ORZECHOWSKI et al. v. STATE of Rhode Island. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 545

485 A.2d 545

John ORZECHOWSKI et al. v. STATE of Rhode Island.

No. 81-563-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Dec. 5, 1984.

Leonard Decof, R. Daniel Prentiss, Peter J. Cerilli, Decof & Grimm, Providence, for plaintiffs.

Dennis J. Roberts, II, Atty. Gen., William M. Walsh, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Charles

McKinley, Providence, on brief, for defendant

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This is a civil action brought by Patrolman John Orzechowski and his wife, Jeannine, against the members and staff of the Rhode Island Parole Board and, through the doctrine of respondeat superior, the State of Rhode Island. The case comes before us on the plaintiff's appeal from a Superior Court order granting the defendants' motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The plaintiffs vigorously contend that the judge below erred in granting that motion.

Before setting forth the facts pertinent to this appeal, we reiterate our scope of review following the grant of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Dismissal of a cause of action under Rule 12(b)(6) is a harsh remedy and is proper only where plaintiff is not entitled to relief under any conceivable set of facts that might be proved in support of his claim. Salvadore v. Major Electric & Supply, Inc., R.I., 469 A.2d 353, 357 (1983); Bragg v. Warwick Shoppers World, Inc., 102 R.I. 8, 12, 227 A.2d 582, 584 (1967). In testing the sufficiency of a plaintiff's cause of action, all allegations are taken as true and all doubts are resolved in the plaintiff's favor. Dutson v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., 119 R.I. 801, 803-04, 383 A.2d 597, 599 (1978). Only where it appears beyond a reasonable doubt that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief should a Rule 12(b)(6) motion be granted. Id. With these standards in mind, we consider plaintiffs' factual allegations.

John Orzechowski is, and has been for some ten years, a member of the Pawtucket police department. On the night of April 9, 1976, Officers Orzechowski and George Kelly were on routine patrol in the city of Pawtucket when a call came in reporting a holdup in progress. The two officers responded to the call. Upon arriving at the scene, the Woodlawn Liquor Store, they observed two suspects, later identified as Anthony J. Souza and David R. Cochrane, whom the officers attempted to apprehend. During an ensuing struggle Patrolman Orzechowski was shot in the stomach by Souza.

The shooting left Patrolman Orzechowski seriously and permanently injured. He has experienced extreme pain and suffering, damage to his nerves and nervous system that has resulted in a loss of feeling in his right leg and toes, and chronic lower-back pain. He has incurred substantial medical expenses. Patrolman Orzechowski was unable to return to work until February of 1977, and then only at light-duty status. Jeannine Orzechowski has suffered from the loss of companionship, society, love, and consortium of her husband John.

An investigation made into the assailant's background turned up facts that form the basis of the Orzechowskis' complaint. In 1966 Souza had been tried and convicted of a 1964 murder. He was originally sentenced to life imprisonment for that murder. Appeals resulted in his resentencing, again for life, in 1972. That same year, Souza escaped from the Adult Correctional Institution. He was later apprehended, convicted of actual escape, and sentenced to an additional six months imprisonment for this offense. Souza's prison record indicated the occurrence of multiple violations and infractions of prison regulations. Notwithstanding the above, Souza applied for and was granted parole in February of 1976, some ten years into his life-plus-six-months sentence. The parole was granted approximately two months before the night Souza shot John Orzechowski.

The law governing the parole of a prisoner who is convicted of escape while serving a life sentence is governed by statute. That statute mandates that such a prisoner is not eligible for parole until at least twenty-five years of the prison term has been served [I]n [the] case of a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment for life who is convicted of escape * * * such permit [for parole] may be issued only after such prisoner has served not less than twenty-five (25) years imprisonment * * *. G.L.1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 13-8-13, as amended by P.L.1975, ch. 190, § 1. ¹

Anthony Souza, who clearly fits within the ambit of the above provision, was released from prison fifteen years before he became statutorily eligible for such release. The essence of plaintiffs' complaint is that had Souza been incarcerated for the length of time mandated by § 13-8-13, he could not have attempted to hold up the Woodlawn Liquor Store, and he could not have shot John Orzechowski.

On April 7, 1978, the Orzechowskis filed a complaint in Providence Superior Court, naming as defendants the State of Rhode Island and each individual who served as a member of the parole board in February of 1976, when Souza was granted parole. On November 15, 1980, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding an Executive Secretary and an employee of the parole board as named defendants. All parole board members were named in both their official and individual capacities.

The Orzechowskis' complaint alleged that defendants owed them a duty not to grant Souza a parole in contravention of state law, that this duty was breached by the negligent and unlawful parole of Souza, and that plaintiffs suffered personal injuries and consequential damages as a result of that breach. Judgment was prayed for against the state in the amount of $300,000 ² and against the individual defendants in the amount of $300,000 compensatory and $100,000 punitive damages.

Following discovery and a number of pretrial motions, defendants moved the Superior Court to dismiss plaintiffs' action pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). On October 28, 1981, a hearing was held and defendants' motion was granted. The justice below based his ruling on a lack of duty running from defendants to the individual plaintiffs in this case.

At the outset, we find it helpful to point out what this case is not about. It does not involve the liability of the state for its negligence toward a specific, identifiable individual or class of individuals. Even accepting, as we must, that the parole board acted unlawfully in granting Souza's parole, there are no allegations that even hint that John or Jeannine Orzechowski were reasonably foreseeable as victims of that unlawful action. Had there been any such allegations, this would be a different case. The law of this jurisdiction is clear that the state, or any political subdivision of the state, may be held liable for a breach of duty toward an identifiable person or class of persons. For example, in Becker v. Beaudoin, 106 R.I. 562, 261 A.2d 896 (1970), a municipal police department negligently permitted a prisoner with known suicidal tendencies to occupy a cell that contained articles capable of assisting in a suicide. The prisoner, who did in fact take his own life using a blanket which was left in his cell, was an identifiable individual to whom the police department owed a duty of reasonable care, at least while in their custody and known to be suicidal. The same was true in Calhoun v. City of Providence, 120 R.I. 619, 390 A.2d 350 (1978), where the plaintiff wrongfully was arrested and detained because a court clerk negligently had failed to record a recall order for an outstanding capias. The clerk's duty to record the order ran directly to the plaintiff, and it was reasonably foreseeable to the clerk that failure to record the order would result in the plaintiff's arrest. In both these cases, the public officials involved were under a duty to the public as a whole. But in addition to their public obligations, these officials were also under a duty to a particular individual, and it was reasonably foreseeable that that specific individual would be harmed if this duty was breached.

In contrast to the above cases are Ryan v. State Department of Transportation, R.I., 420 A.2d 841 (1980), and Saunders v. State, R.I., 446 A.2d 748 (1982). In Ryan, the plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that the state's negligent administration of the motor vehicle licensing laws caused them to suffer personal injuries and consequential damages arising out of an automobile accident. The accident occurred with one Bruce A. Eaton, a licensed driver who the plaintiffs claimed did not merit possession of a license in light of his lengthy record of motor vehicle violations. In fact, the plaintiffs claimed that the registrar had violated two separate statutes in restoring Eaton's license, which had been suspended. This court affirmed the trial justice's grant of the defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion, holding that

The law of negligence does not impose liability upon an individual unless there is a breach of a duty owed to the plaintiff. * * * In suits brought against the state, plaintiffs must show a breach of some duty owed them in their individual capacities and not merely a breach of some obligation owed the general public. Ryan, 420...