Liddell v. State

182 Misc. 2d 133, 697 N.Y.S.2d 237, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 430
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedJuly 28, 1999
DocketClaim No. 94554
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 182 Misc. 2d 133 (Liddell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Liddell v. State, 182 Misc. 2d 133, 697 N.Y.S.2d 237, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 430 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Donald J. Corbett, Jr., J.

A motion by defendant for an order dismissing the claim is granted and a cross motion by claimants for permission to file a late claim is denied.

This claim accrued on or about July 14, 1995, when the decedent Richard Liddell died at the Attica Correctional Facility. The claim herein asserts, inter alla, the defendant’s negligence in failing to provide proper and adequate medical care,1 and for the failure to have returned decedent’s heart with the rest of decedent’s remains.

A notice of claim ([sic], notice of intention to file a claim) was personally served upon the defendant on October 10, 1995, and in August 1996 a claim - was served, by certified mail, return receipt requested (Court of Claims Act § 11 [a]), and filed with the Clerk of the Court. Both documents named Ernestine Lid-dell and Sonora (or Señora) Bailey, the mother and sibling of the decedent, respectively, as claimants. An answer was filed on August 19, 1996, which included, inter alla, as the third affirmative defense, the lack of standing or capacity to maintain a wrongful death action as neither claimant alleged that she is an executrix or administratrix of the decedent’s estate.

In its motion, the defendant seeks dismissal because of the failure of the claimants to aver that either was appointed as a representative of the .estate of the decedent. Dismissal is also sought because the claim purportedly sounds in medical malpractice, rather than medical negligence. Similarly, with respect to allegations relating to the absence of decedent’s heart [135]*135when the body was returned, defendant alleges that the allegations are time barred, do not state a cognizable cause of action and are factually insufficient, since the State purportedly had no responsibility for the absence of the heart.

In response, the claimant seeks permission to file a late claim pursuant to Court of Claims Act § 10 (6), invoking the ameliorative principles of CPLR 205 (a).

I will first address the allegations relating to the absence of decedent’s heart when the body was returned. An autopsy herein was conducted on or about July 14, 1995 by the Wyoming County Coroner’s Office, and then, at the request of decedent’s family, the body was transported to the New York City Medical Examiner for a second autopsy, whereupon the startling discovery was made that decedent’s heart was missing and could not be examined. These circumstances seemed significant from a medical perspective because the Wyoming County autopsy contained details about decedent’s heart and noted the immediate cause of death was acute congestive heart failure caused by coronary artery disease, with diabetes mel-litus and chronic emphysema as contributing factors. Needless to say the claimants were already upset by the death of the decedent, and the missing heart exacerbated their concern and distress.

However, that portion of the claim, as well as that of the proposed late claim, erroneously seeks to cast the State of New York responsible for this unfortunate occurrence. The defendant alleges without any dispute or refutation that a Coroner is obligated “to take charge of’ any dead person’s body within his or her county and that the State must, and here it did, turn over the body of a deceased inmate to the Coroner to perform an autopsy (County Law § 674 [1], [5]). It is also undisputed that a Coroner is an elected county official (County Law § 400 [1]), and it is not asserted anywhere that a Coroner is a State officer. After the Wyoming County Coroner took possession of the decedent’s body and performed an autopsy, the body was released to the Brunner Funeral Home of Buffalo, New York, who then apparently made arrangements for the body which was eventually delivered to the New York City Medical Examiner for the second autopsy. Thus, it is clear and undisputed that upon decedent’s demise, the defendant, to wit, officials at Attica Correctional Facility, released the body to the Wyoming County Coroner, and did not again take possession of the body. Since it remains undisputed that the Wyoming County Coroner is a county officer, and is not a State officer, [136]*136and since there is nothing in any of the papers before me to indicate any conduct whatsoever by the defendant after the release of the body for the autopsy where the decedent’s heart was examined, no culpable conduct by the State of New York is alleged, beyond the conclusory allegation by the claimants. Accordingly, that part of the claim is dismissed for the failure to state a cause of action against the defendant. Similarly, to the extent that the cross motion seeks a late claim based upon these underlying allegations, it is denied, as are the purportedly related causes of action sounding in the infliction of emotional distress.

With respect to the only remaining allegations relating to the medical care received by the decedent while he was incarcerated, the claim also must be dismissed. The defendant notes that neither of the claimants aver in the notice of intention or the claim, that they had been appointed as representatives of the decedent’s estate; thus purportedly neither has the authority or capacity to maintain a wrongful death, or any, action on behalf of the decedent or his estate. The defendant relies upon Lichtenstein v State of New York (252 AD2d 921, affd 93 NY2d 911) for the proposition that Court of Claims Act § 10 (2) and (3) contemplate that an executor or administrator be formally appointed before commencing an action against the State of New York. While temporary letters of administration were issued to Ernestine Liddell on March 25, 1997, by the Surrogate of Bronx County, and on January 25, 1999, said letters were extended by the Surrogate, the claim herein was filed on August 15, 1996, and there is no factual dispute that no one was appointed as executor or administrator before the claim was filed.

The factual background in Lichtenstein v State of New York (supra) is instructive. In that matter the decedent died intestate and three months after his death his widow filed a “claim” for decedent’s personal injuries and wrongful death, as well as her own derivative losses despite the fact that no letters of administration had yet been issued or even applied for. Unlike the claim at bar, she denominated herself as the “Proposed Administratrix.” However, the defendant there asserted the lack of capacity to commence the claim as an affirmative defense, much like the third affirmative defense herein. Letters of administration were issued some nine months after the death and six months after the claim was filed.

Defendant sought dismissal therein on the ground that the action was commenced prior to the issuance of letters of [137]*137administration; thus the widow lacked legal capacity to sue the State and asserting that the claim was a nullity. Claimant there sought similar relief pursuant to CPLR 205 (a) and Court of Claims Act § 10 (6). The trial court (Hanifin, J.) found that the widow was not entitled to CPLR 205 (a) relief or permission to file a late claim. The Appellate Division, Third Department, concurred, and found essentially that since no claim was ever filed within 90 days of the appointment of the administrator (Court of Claims Act § 10 [2]), and since these conditions must be strictly construed (citing Dreger v New York State Thruway Auth., 81 NY2d 721), it was not error to deny the relief afforded under CPLR 205 (a).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Estate of Fabiano v. State of New York
2025 NY Slip Op 50901(U) (New York State Court of Claims, 2025)
Matter of Gordon v. State of New York
2024 NY Slip Op 06300 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2024)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
182 Misc. 2d 133, 697 N.Y.S.2d 237, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liddell-v-state-nyclaimsct-1999.