Opinion ID: 2257808
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Viability of Plaintiffs' Negligence Cause of Action

Text: The Bandonis also seek relief based upon a common-law negligence theory. They claim that their complaint states a prima facie case for the breach of a duty owed them by defendants, which proximately caused the deprivation of their statutory and constitutional rights as victims. In response, defendants maintain that a negligence cause of action is inappropriate because it would be contrary to the Legislature's intent. [71] It is well established in this state that the violation of a statute constitutes prima facie evidence of negligence. This evidence can be used as an aid to the trier of fact in determination of the negligence issue. See, e.g., Brodeur v. Desrosiers, 505 A.2d 418, 422 (R.I.1986): Salcone v. Bottomley, 85 R.I. 264, 267, 129 A.2d 635, 637 (1957); Rossi v. Ronci, 63 R.I. 250, 254, 7 A.2d 773, 775-76 (1939). Unlike some other states, in Rhode Island the violation of a statute is not conclusive evidence of negligence, nor does it create a presumption of a violation of a duty of care or relieve a jury of finding a breach of such a duty. Rossi, 63 R.I. at 254, 7 A.2d at 775-76; see also Paquin v. Tillinghast, 517 A.2d 246, 248 (R.I.1986). However, in this state a statutory violation can be considered by the fact-finder as evidence of negligence when the plaintiff demonstrates that he or she is a person whom the statute was designed to protect, see Paquin, 517 A.2d at 248, and that the harm that occurred was the kind of harm the statute was designed to prevent. Restatement (Second) of Torts ง 286, at 25 (1965). But if the injured person falls outside the protective orbit of the statute, his claim based on breach of a statutory duty of care will not be presented to the jury for no such duty was owed to him. Paquin, 517 A.2d at 248. In reviewing our cases on this subject, I note that we have applied the statutory-violation-as-evidence theory to cases involving penal statutes, see, e.g., id. (motor vehicle statute imposing fine for violation), as well as to statutes not imposing any explicit penal sanction, see, e.g., Rossi, 63 R.I. at 254, 7 A.2d at 775 (workers' compensation act prohibiting employment of minors). Significantly, I observe that we have permitted plaintiffs to proceed with common-law negligence actions beyond the pleading stage when they are able to establish the violation of such statutes. The violation becomes prima facie evidence of liability, which, unless rebutted by evidence in favor of the defendant, entitles the plaintiff to recover. If such rebutting evidence is introduced, the plaintiff is entitled to recover, if the evidence in favor of the plaintiff is of greater weight than the evidence in favor of the defendant on the question of liability. Rossi, 63 R.I. at 254-55, 7 A.2d at 776. The common thread in these cases is that this Court has found a duty running from a defendant to an intended beneficiary plaintiff vis-เ-vis a statute. See, e.g., Sitko v. Jastrzebski, 68 R.I. 207, 27 A.2d 178 (1942) (concluding that child tenant was in a class of plaintiffs intended to benefit from buildingcode regulations); Rossi, 63 R.I. at 253, 7 A.2d at 775 (finding that statute and its amendment demonstrate clear intent of Legislature to impose direct duty on employer not to permit a minor to work on certain machinery). Similarly, it is clear that victims of crime were the intended beneficiaries of the statutory notice and hearing provisions in the Victim's Bill of Rights Act. Two of the legislative purposes of that act were to treat crime victims with dignity, respect, and sensitivity at all phases of the criminal justice process and to ensure that the full impact of the crime upon the victim is brought to the attention of the court. Section 12-28-2. Clearly when a crime victim is never notified of his or her rights enumerated in the act, its central purposes are eviscerated. Moreover, just as the building code in Sitko and the workers' compensation act in Rossi placed duties on landlords and employers, respectively, the Victim's Bill of Rights Act places an affirmative and special duty on defendants in the case at bar to notify victims of their enumerated rights. I see no reason why the violation of a constitutional provision would not similarly provide the basis for a common-law negligence action. First, as previously discussed, the constitutional right under article 1, section 23, necessarily incorporates the rights and duties of the Victim's Bill of Rights Act. In addition, as the expression of the will of the People of Rhode Island, our state's Constitntion is preeminent over statutory law. [W]here a constitution asserts a certain right, or lays down a certain principle of law or procedure, its speaks for the entire people as their supreme law, and is full authority for all that is done in pursuance of its provisions. Shields, 658 A.2d at 927 (quoting Davis v. Burke, 179 U.S. 399, 403, 21 S.Ct. 210, 212, 45 L.Ed. 249, 251-52 (1900)). Accordingly, just as I conclude that the absence of legislative action cannot nullify a crime victim's constitutional right, I also would hold that a violation of rights and duties delineated in our Constitution can equally serve as prima facie evidence of negligence. IV