Posted on 05/27/2006 6:01:39 AM PDT by Brilliant
NEW YORK --The mother of a 24-year-old graduate student from Boston who was found raped and strangled in February, allegedly at the hands of a Manhattan bar bouncer, has filed notice of her intent to sue New York State for $100 million.
Maureen St. Guillen, of Boston, filed the "notice of claim" with the state attorney general's office Thursday in connection with the slaying of her daughter Imette. The notice must be filed at least 90 days prior to a lawsuit against the city or state.
The mother's notice cites three state agencies: the Division of Parole, the Board of Parole and the Department of Correction. St. Guillen accuses them of "gross negligence" in letting Darryl Littlejohn, Imette's suspected killer, get out of prison on parole.
The notice, prepared by attorney Joseph Tacopina, calls Littlejohn "a convicted violent felon allegedly released from jail early" on parole.
Prosecutors say Littlejohn, on parole from a robbery conviction when police arrested him, abducted St. Guillen after ejecting her from the Falls, a SoHo bar, at closing time on Feb. 25. Her strangled body was found by a roadside in Brooklyn.
Littlejohn, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, assault, and robbery in connection with St. Guillen's abduction and slaying...
St. Guillen's body was found dumped in a desolate section of Brooklyn after she was raped, strangled and suffocated, police said. A white athletic sock was stuffed in her mouth, and her head was wrapped with packing tape, they said.
A manager at the bar told police that Littlejohn escorted her out after closing time and he heard the pair arguing.
Investigators said DNA evidence linked Littlejohn to blood found on ties that were used to bind St. Guillen's hands.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Another idea would be to sue the politicians for malpractice for allowing this to happen in the first place. Of course, you can't get away with it under current law, but then there was once a time that you could not get away with suing the tobacco companies or the gun manufacturers. If enough people sue, some judge will eventually give in.
"the Board of Parole and the Department of Correction. St. Guillen accuses them of "gross negligence" in letting Darryl Littlejohn, Imette's suspected killer, get out of prison on parole."
Agree with the parole BS, but any girl that goes bar hopping in Manhattan ALONE at wee hours, is a sure candidate for the DARWIN AWARD.
Sorry, but true.
She was not street smart. Many people come to NYC and think it is Disneyworld.
I was just wondering if Littlejohn was an indian name? (Why do you ask two dogs...?)
Littlejohn eh? Should be an interesting trial.
"Did you rape and strangle that woman?"
"WHAT?"
"Did you rape and strangle that woman?"
"WHAT?"
"Did you rape and strangle taht woman?"
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH."
The entire public should be sick to death and outraged over the fact that state governments ignore the obvious and continue letting these animals out into the general population.
WHY have prison at all? They do exactly the opposite of what prisons are SUPPOSED to do, which is PUNISH offenders.
I thought the 11th Amendment generally bars suing a State (but not a political sub-division of a State, like a town or city) for money damages. The lawyer involved is not an idiot, so I'm sure he has a credible argument citing some exception to this rule, but I don't know what it is.
Yes this is true. Doubly so considering she was studying to be a forensic criminologist. It doesn't excuse the state for letting a violent offender out on the street early, OR the bar owner for hiring a convicted, violent felon.
Do you actually think before you type?
It is too bad the mother wasn't brutally murdered along with her daughter?
That's sick.
The logic of the suit that is interesting as it is also the logic the left uses in its suit against gun manufacturers, but in this suit has a much more direct relationship.
The gov't knows the recidivision rates and in particular knows an individuals proclivity for crime.
Gun manufacturers, already distant from the customer through a distribution system, have no know such knowledgle a legal result in a crime, possibly through several more transactions distant from itself. The gov't here directly deals with a criminal with a known record.
I think that the "Darwin Award" might be a little harsh,but:
This girl was a criminal justice major studying in Manhattan,the best laboratory for the study of vilolent crime in the country.The reports are that she had been drinking and the implication was that she was drunk while bar hopping at 2 or 3 AM.
I'm a big,healthy guy who doesn't drink...at all...and I'm of the opinion that it's very unwise for *me* to be roaming the streets on Manhattan at that time of night.
One must feel bad for the girl and her family,but 100 million?? Now way!
I smell a lawyer here...and the stench makes me sick.
Because of the chance that they could get an OJ/Michael Jackson/John Edwards jury.
I doubt that they'd get such a jury in Manhattan or Brooklyn,but in Westchester County......
The 11th amendment says you cannot sue a state in FEDERAL court.
Most states have enacted laws abolishing sovereign immunity, which now allow you to sue the state in STATE court.
However, even though most states now allow you to sue them in their own court, they have adopted laws that would not result in liability on these facts.
For example, in my state, the Courts would invoke the "public duty doctrine." Under that rule, a duty owed to the public in general cannot form the basis for a lawsuit by an individual against the state for money damages.
Here, because the state owed the public only a generalized duty to keep potentially violent felons in prison, no individual would be allowed to recover damages for a breach of that duty.
Yes, I find those who want to make a $100 million dollar profit off a murder sick. I would revise my statement to include the mothers lawyers, along with the mother.
I think it is sick to expect the taxpayers to pay.
And I would have felt bad for the mother being a crime victim, now I only despise her. She has joined in with the dark side.
Manhattan is quite safe these days, even at 2-3 AM. What's not safe anywhere is going out to get drunk and not having someone covering your wing.
Safe compared to what? Baghdad?
"It is a shame that Darryl Littlejohn did not get the mother along with the daughter"
I really don't know what to say in response to that remark. How revolting a sentence, shame on you.
Safe compared to almost anywhere. NYC is one of the safest cities on the planet right now!
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