483 A.2d 1111 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1984
Before the court is the defendant Steven Rosenthal's motion to strike the complaint brought by the plaintiff Susan Barnett to recover damages for very serious injuries she sustained as a result of being struck by an automobile operated by one Jonathan Banquer. In addition to the allegations that Banquer was negligent, the plaintiff also alleges the following: "On October 14, 1980, said defendant, Steven Rosenthal, allegedly sold said motor vehicle to Jonathan Banquer, but he left the license plate bearing said number Y037998 with and in the possession of said Jonathan Banquer. The injuries sustained by the plaintiff were caused by the negligence of the defendant in that he allowed said license plate to remain in the possession of said Jonathan Banquer when he knew or should have known that said Jonathan Banquer would utilize same in the operation of said motor vehicle and cause the injuries alleged herein. Said defendant was also negligent in that he failed to return the registration number *150
plates to the motor vehicle commissioner as required by Section
The motion to strike is designed to test the legal sufficiency of a complaint. In doing so, the court "must take the facts to be those alleged in the plaintiff's complaint as amended, and must construe the complaint in the manner most favorable to the pleader." Sheets v.Teddy's Frosted Foods, Inc.,
Under Connecticut law, the leaving of a key in the ignition switch of an automobile which enables an intermeddler to misappropriate the automobile and subsequently cause an injury could constitute negligence.Block v. Pascucci,
Nevertheless, it is also clear that merely leaving the license plate on or in the automobile would be insufficient, as a matter of law, to constitute negligence just as the mere leaving of the key in the ignition, without something more, would not constitute negligence. SeeSmith v. Leuthner,
The next issue is whether the negligent leaving of a license plate in an automobile which facilitates its use can, as a matter of law, be a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. "The issue of proximate causation is ordinarily a question of fact for the trier. Tetro v.Stratford,
Accordingly, the motion to strike is denied.