Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
HORAN, GINNETTE v. TOWN OF TONAWANDA
Citation: Not availableDocket: CA 10-02522
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; April 29, 2011; New York; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
The Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, affirmed a lower court's order granting the Town of Tonawanda's motion for summary judgment, dismissing Ginnette Horan's personal injury claim. Horan alleged she was injured by tripping over a pothole on a town-maintained road. The court found that, under Town Law § 65-a (1), a town may be liable for dangerous conditions only if it has prior written notice or constructive notice. The Town Code § 68-2 (A) requires prior written notice for liability, which the defendant established it did not have concerning the pothole. Although the defendant did not address constructive notice, the court concluded that it was not necessary for the defendant to prove the lack of constructive notice or to demonstrate that it did not create the condition through negligence to achieve summary judgment. The court recognized that the exceptions to the prior written notice requirement—where a municipality creates a defect through negligence or where a special use benefits the locality—did not apply, as the pothole developed over time rather than through immediate local action. Consequently, Horan failed to raise a triable issue of fact regarding these exceptions.