Hardwick v State of New York
2011 NY Slip Op 09179 [90 AD3d 540]
Dcmbr 20, 2011
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, February 1, 2012


Lamar Hardwick et al., Appellants,
v
State of New York, Respondent.

[*1] Andrew H. Rosenbaum, New York, for appellants.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Paul Groenwegen of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment of the Court of Claims of the State of New York (W. Brooks DeBow, J.), entered January 6, 2010, after a nonjury trial, upon a finding that the injured claimant was 75% at fault and defendant 25% at fault, unanimously modified, on the facts, to apportion liability 60% to claimant and 40% to defendant, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

Since the trial court's apportionment of liability was based on a credibility determination, our review is limited to whether the court arrived at its conclusion by means of a fair interpretation of the evidence (see Northern Westchester Professional Park Assoc. v Town of Bedford, 60 NY2d 492, 499 [1983]; Green v William Penn Life Ins. Co. of N.Y., 74 AD3d 570, 571-573 [2010, Saxe, J., concurring]; see also Watts v State of New York, 25 AD3d 324 [2006]). The record supports the finding that claimant bears some responsibility for his injuries. However, it does not support the finding that the dangerous condition was open and obvious. Thus, we modify the apportionment accordingly. Concur—Gonzalez, P.J., Mazzarelli, Andrias, Sweeny and RomÁn, JJ.