Opinion

Delaney v. Philhern Realty Holding Corp.

  • 280 N.Y. 461
  • 21 N.E.2d 507
  • 1939 N.Y. LEXIS 1339
Court
New York Court of Appeals
Filed
Jun 2, 1939
Status
Published
Author
Crane
On the bench
Finch, Crane, Rippey
Cited by
41 cases

The opinion

Crane, Ch. J.

(concurring in result). There has been so much written and said about the defense of negligence in an action of nuisance that the subject has become a mystery, smothered in verbiage.

The law in my judgment is, and should be, that except in rare cases of absolute nuisance of extreme danger, the negligence of the plaintiff contributing to the injury

may be

a bar to recovery. Whether it should be must be a question for the jury, and it is useless to attempt to define the degree of negligence which would thus be a defense. It must necessarily depend upon the circumstances. Where the plaintiff has exercised no care, or the care which the circumstances call for, and was thus injured by the nuisance, it must be that his own contributing negligence may prevent recovery. To try to distinguish between the different kinds of nuisance or the degree of nuisance, and the cases where the negligence of the plaintiff would or would not bar recovery, has led the courts into a maze.

I believe the rule to be as I have stated it, and, therefore, I cannot agree with the prevailing opinion, although I do concur in the result.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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