Opinion
No. 789 CA 22-00105
11-18-2022
JESSIE DAVIS, JR., CLAIMANT-APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT. (CLAIM NO. 125370.)
THE DRATCH LAW FIRM, P.C., NEW YORK CITY (BRIAN M. DRATCH OF COUNSEL), FOR CLAIMANT-APPELLANT. LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBANY (JONATHAN D. HITSOUS OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
THE DRATCH LAW FIRM, P.C., NEW YORK CITY (BRIAN M. DRATCH OF COUNSEL), FOR CLAIMANT-APPELLANT.
LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBANY (JONATHAN D. HITSOUS OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: LINDLEY, J.P., NEMOYER, WINSLOW, BANNISTER, AND MONTOUR, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the Court of Claims (Judith A. Hard, J.), entered July 7, 2021. The judgment dismissed the claim.
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.
Memorandum: Claimant commenced this action seeking damages for injuries he allegedly sustained while he was an inmate when he fell to the ground after the table he was directed to sit on collapsed. After a nonjury trial on the issue of proximate cause and damages, the Court of Claims dismissed the claim on the ground that claimant failed to prove that defendant's negligence was a proximate cause of claimant's injuries. Claimant appeals, and we affirm. Contrary to claimant's contention, we conclude that the court's determination is supported by a fair interpretation of the evidence (see generally Reames v State of New York, 191 A.D.3d 1304, 1305-1306 [4th Dept 2021], affd 37 N.Y.3d 1152 [2022]).