Gonzalez v. New York City Housing Authority

572 N.E.2d 598 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The 76 years old grandmother was murdered in her apartment rented from D. She was discovered with her hands tied behind her back, a gag wrapped around her jaw and mouth, and her right foot tied to the leg of a bureau. There were fractures of her neck and eight ribs, bleeding where teeth had been knocked out, and bruises on the back of her head and hand. The cause of death was 'Asphyxia by gagging. Contusions of scalp, fractures of ribs, and cervical spine.' Her assailant was convicted of the murder, and of raping and robbing two other women in the same building. She was survived by her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren: plaintiffs Marta Gonzalez, 21 years old at the time of the murder, and her brother Antonio Freire, then 19. The grandmother had raised them both because their father (her son) had died in 1965 and their mother (her daughter-in-law) was mentally ill. For many years she had been a 'mother' to her grandchildren. At the time of the murder, both Ps were financially independent and they no longer lived with her. The grandmother had prepared dinner every night for her daughter-in-law, who was unable to cook for herself. Marta Gonzalez went to her mother's house every day and frequently had her meals with her mother and grandmother. The grandmother had more patience with her mother than she did, and would help her cope with her mother's condition. Antonio Freire testified that he visited his grandmother every other day and that she frequently prepared his meals as well. A month before the crime, when her granddaughter was having marital problems, decedent permitted her to live with her for a week until she could return home. At the time of the murder, Marta Gonzalez was pregnant, and together she and her grandmother planned that the grandmother would care for the child while she returned to school. A jury awarded $1,250,000 for wrongful death and $1,000,000 for conscious pain and suffering, which the trial court reduced to $100,000 and $350,000. D appealed and the court of appeals affirmed. D appealed. D claimed that wrongful death allowed only for pecuniary injuries and that the evidence did not support damages for conscious pain and suffering.