Page 1

LEXSEE 772 NYS2D 367 Christopher Greco, Respondent, v. Thomas Begley et al., Respondents, and Dublin Pub, Inc., Appellant. (Action No. 1.) (Index No. 26904/99) Kellie M. Howard et al., Plaintiffs, v Thomas Begley et al., Defendants. (Action No. 2.) (Index No. 29635/95) Steve Ruhs, Plaintiff, v Kellie M. Howard et al., Defendants. (Action No. 3.) (Index No. 2513/00) Laura Kelly, Respondent, v Thomas Begley et al., Respondents, and Dublin Pub, Inc., Appellant. (Action No. 4.) (Index No. 5739/00) 2002--11405 SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, SECOND DEPARTMENT 4 A.D.3d 505; 772 N.Y.S.2d 367; 2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1871 January 16, 2004, Argued February 23, 2004, Decided HEADNOTES: [***1] Intoxicating Liquors---Dram Shop Act.--Appellant was entitled to judgment as matter of law in Dram Shop actions (see General Obligations Law 11-101) since it proffered evidence to show that almost 20-year--old customer to whom it sold beer was neither impaired nor intoxicated when she left its establishment, and even if she were, that her purported condition was not reasonably or practically connected with two-car accident in which she was involved only minutes after she drove away from appellant's premises. COUNSEL: Mahoney & Keane, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Cornelius A. Mahoney of counsel), for appellant. Baron Associates, P.C., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Richard T. Hunter of counsel), for plaintiff--respondent in Action No. 1. Doniger & Engstrand, LLP, Islandia, N.Y. (D. Daniel Engstrand, Jr., and Sean Conway of counsel), for plaintiff-respondent in Action No. 4. Montfort, Healy, McGuire, & Salley, Garden City, N.Y. (Donald S. Neumann, Jr., of counsel), for defendants-respondents in Action Nos. 1 and 4. Cheda & Sheehan, Jackson Heghts, N.Y. (Robert A. Siegel of counsel), for plaintiff in Action No. 3. JUDGES: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., ANITA R. FLORIO, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, WILLIAM F. MASTRO, JJ. SANTUCCI, J.P., FLORIO, SCHMIDT and MASTRO, JJ., concur. OPINION: [*505] [**368] In four related actions to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., Dublin Pub, Inc., a defendant in Action Nos. 1 and 4, appeals from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Franco, J.), dated November 13, 2002, as denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaints in [***2] those actions and all cross claims insofar as asserted against it. Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with one bill of costs, the motion is granted, the complaints in Action Nos. 1 and 4 and all cross claims insofar as asserted against the appellant are dismissed, and those actions are severed against the remaining defendants. The appellant, Dublin Pub, Inc., made a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law in these Dram Shop actions (see General Obligations Law 11--101). It proffered evidence to show that Kellie Howard, an almost 20--year-old customer to whom it sold beer, was neither impaired nor intoxicated when she left its establishment, and even if she were, that her purported condition was not reasonably or practically connected with a two-car accident in which she was involved only minutes after she drove away from the appellant's premises (see Gaige v Kepler, 303 A.D.2d 626, 628, 756 N.Y.S.2d 644 [2003]; Basile v Francino, 253 A.D.2d 779, 677 N.Y.S.2d 595 [1998]). In opposition to the appellant's motion, the respondents failed to raise a triable issue of fact connecting Howard's [***3] alleged impairment to the intersection accident in which a police ofcer at the scene who observed the other vehicle before the accident estimated its speed to have been 100 mph (Gaige v Kepler, supra; Basile v Francino, supra). Santucci, J.P., Florio, Schmidt and Mastro, JJ., concur.