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26 ¦ OCTOBER 26, 2020 NEWS

Connecticut Supreme Court Reverses
Immunity for New Haven Police Officer

By Robert Storace

T Connecticut Supreme Court building in Hartford. Photo: Michael Marciano/ALM
he Connecticut Supreme Court has reversed While Superior Court Judge James Abrams sided
a lower court ruling that hinged on whether a with the city and said the officer was entitled to gov-
New Haven police officer had immunity after ernmental immunity, the high court said she wasn’t.
her attempt to curtail dirt bikes led to a traumatic The city argued and Abrams agreed that Curry’s
brain injury for one of the bikers. actions were discretionary and an exception to
A Superior Court judge agreed with the city of the discretionary act immunity. The plaintiffs had
New Haven in Cole v. City of New Haven that Officer maintained that Curry breached a ministerial duty
Nikki Curry was entitled to governmental immunity in conducting the roadblock maneuver. Ministerial
after she pulled her cruiser directly into an oncom- duties are not governmental immunity exceptions.
ing traffic lane in which Amaadi Cole was traveling In writing the court’s 6-0 ruling Oct. 15, Chief
on his dirt bike. The officer’s actions, which were in- Justice Richard Robinson said, “Having reviewed
tended to stop the dirt bikes, caused Cole to swerve the record, we first conclude that there is a genuine
and strike a tree. issue of material fact with respect to the predicate
Cole sustained a traumatic brain injury, near total for a ministerial duty, namely, whether a ‘pursuit’
blindness of his right eye and a skull fracture. He occurred, thus rendering summary judgment im-
sought financial damages. proper in this case.”

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