Johnson v. State

79 Misc. 2d 737, 360 N.Y.S.2d 981, 1974 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1741
New York Court of Claims·Decided November 12, 1974·No. Claim No. 57971·Published

Opinion

Henry W. Lengyel, J.

This a motion to dismiss the wrongful death claim herein on the ground that this court does not have jurisdiction thereof because the claim was not filed within 90 days after its accrual pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 10 of the Court of Claims Act.

Donald Johnson was killed on December 9, 1972, when he was struck by a motor vehicle while walking on or along Route 110, also known as New York Avenue, in the Town of Huntington, New York. Sandra Johnson Webster, decedent’s mother, filed a notice of intention to' file a claim with the Chief Clerk’s office of the Court of Claims and the Department of Law of the State of New York on March 9, 1973. Mrs. Johnson was, according to the notice of claim filed with our Chief Clerk on October 29, 1973 and served upon the Department of Law on October 30, 1973, granted letters of administration on July 17, 1973.

It is the State’s position that “ The notice of intention filed herein is a nullity since at the time it was filed there was no one legally authorized to institute an action. The claim having been filed 104 days after the appointment of the administratrix is not in compliance with the Court of Claims Act. The Court dobs not have jurisdiction of the claim.”

The statutory cause of action for wrongful death is embodied in EPTL 5-4.1 (previously Decedent Estate Law, § 130). That statute provides that the ‘ ‘ action must be' commenced within two years after the decedent’s death.” It was held by the Court of Appeals in Caffaro v. Trayna (35 N Y 2d 245, 249) that the restriction of time was a procedural limitation on the remedy and not párt of the substantive right created by the statute (contrast, e.g., Romano v. Romano, 19 N Y 2d 444 * * *).” The court cited with approval its prior decision in Sharrow v. Inland Lines (214 N. Y. 101).

The Court of Claims is, of course, a court of limited jurisdiction. It was stated in Buckles v. State of New York (221 N. Y. 418, 423-424): The state being sovereign is immune from action by a private suitor except with its consent. * * * It is not like a municipal corporation against which an action can be maintained and over which the courts have jurisdiction irrespective of the conditions precedent which may be hedged around the commencement and maintenance of an action. On the contrary, no claim can be litigated at all against the state, except by its permission. A valid cause of action may exist [739] but the state’s immunity prevents its enforcement. * * * When, therefore, the legislature in granting permission to prosecute an action against the state required notice of intention to be filed, that condition must be complied with in order to subject the state to an action. As was said in Gates v. State of New York (128 N. Y. 221): ‘ The state cannot be sued without its consent and it has the right, in authorizing the maintenance of proceedings for the recovery of claims against it, to impose such terms and conditions and to prescribe such procedure as its legislative body shall deem proper. The conditions imposed become jurisdictional facts and determine the status and right of the litigant. ’ Being thus a question of jurisdiction it could be raised at any time and could not be waived by any officer or authority representing the state.” (See, also, Trippe v. Port of N. Y. Auth., 14 N Y 2d 119, 123, 124; City of New York v. State of New York, 61 Misc 2d 517, 535-539.)

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Johnson v. State, 79 Misc. 2d 737, 360 N.Y.S.2d 981, 1974 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1741 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1974).

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