Missouri Highways And Transportation Commission Is Not Liable For Death Of Passenger Of Car Killed By Debris Thrown From Overpass By 15 Year Old Who Subsequently Pleaded Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter
01/02/08
To state a claim under the dangerous-condition waiver of sovereign immunity, a plaintiff must allege facts that show 1) a dangerous condition of public property, 2) that the injury directly resulted from the dangerous condition, 3) that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of harm incurred, and 4) that a public employee negligently created the condition or the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the condition. Waiver of sovereign immunity is strictly construed. “Directly resulted from” is the central concern in the current case. “The practical test of proximate cause is generally considered to be whether the negligence of the defendant is that cause or act of which the injury was the natural and probable consequence.” “To the extent the damages are surprising, unexpected, or freakish, they may not be the natural and probable consequences of a defendant’s actions.” “It would be unreasonable to subject the MHTC to suit for damages caused by this manslaughter.” “Even assuming that the overpass was in dangerous condition, that condition did not directly cause the death. The death was not the natural and probable consequence of the alleged condition of the overpass.” Tucker v. Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, Docket No. WD67892 (Mo.App.W.D. 1/02/2008).
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