Date: Fri 28-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

tree-suit-accident-Murchison

Full Text:

Fallen Tree Limb Lands Town In Court

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

A former Sandy Hook resident is suing the town over a September 1995 auto

accident in which a massive tree limb fell onto the vehicle he was driving,

causing him serious injuries.

The lawsuit alleges the town was negligent in not maintaining the tree from

which the limb fell. The plaintiff seeks compensatory damages and medical

costs he incurred after the accident.

In the lawsuit filed in Danbury Superior Court, James E. Murchison, 28, who

now lives in Bethel, sues the town, Tree Warden John Mead, and Public Works

Director Fred Hurley. Mr Murchison lived in Sandy Hook at the time of the

accident.

According to the suit, on the afternoon of September 4, 1995, Mr Murchison was

driving a 1994 Geo Tracker westbound past 176 Boggs Hill Road when a large

dead maple tree limb, extending over the road, snapped and fell, striking his

vehicle.

The dead branch crushed the hood of the Geo and caused it to flip over,

throwing Mr Murchison from the vehicle, according to the lawsuit.

The tree was either wholly or partially within the road's public right of way,

the suit states.

The suit describes the limb as 18 inches in diameter, more than 45 feet long

and weighing about 3,500 pounds.

According to the suit, the limb had been wholly or substantially dead for at

least eight years before it fell, and the base of its stem had been dead for

at least three years.

The tree from which the limb fell was in a row of six large sugar maples trees

of similar age. all of which show signs of decay and structural unsoundness,

the suit states.

The town is required to locate and remove the rotted tree limbs of publicly

owned trees on a timely basis, according to the suit.

Although the limb that fell on Mr Murchison's vehicle had been noticeably dead

for years and posed a significant hazard to motorists and their passengers, no

town employee had taken steps to remove the tree limb or otherwise protect the

public from the hazards that its presence posed, the suit adds.

The care and maintenance of such publicly owned trees which hang over publicly

owned roads is the responsibility of Mr Mead and Mr Hurley, according to the

lawsuit. The suit asks the town to financially protect Mr Mead and Mr Hurley

from any personal financial liability in the case.

Injuries

According to the lawsuit, Mr Murchison received severe permanent and painful

injuries, including a traumatic brain injury; multiple fractures of the spine;

four broken ribs; a broken shoulder blade; a broken leg; a broken knee; a

punctured lung; and abrasions and bruises. The head trauma resulted in memory

loss, cognitive impairments, and other problems, according to the suit.

"These injuries have caused and will continue to cause Mr Murchison severe

pain and suffering, great mental anxiety, a loss of life's enjoyment and

distress of mind. ... Mr Murchison has also suffered permanent scarring and

disfigurement," it states.

Due to the accident, Mr Murchison incurred bills for medical care and

treatment, surgery, hospitalization, medicine, diagnostic work and

rehabilitation, it states. He will have to spend additional money in the

future for such purposes, it adds. Mr Murchison will be unable to work as he

had in the past, thus sustaining a loss of past and future earnings, according

to the suit.

Mr Murchison is seeking an unspecified amount of money exceeding $15,000

through the lawsuit. He is represented by attorney Steven D. Ecker of Cowdery

and Ecker, LLC, of Hartford. The town is scheduled to appear in court March 11

to answer the allegations made in the lawsuit.