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Horta v. Sullivan, 92-1962 (1994)

Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Number: 92-1962 Visitors: 1
Filed: Sep. 29, 1994
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ____________________ No. 92-1962 DEBRA HORTA, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CHARLES B. SULLIVAN, ET AL., Defendants, Appellees. Horta v. Sullivan, 418 Mass. 615, _____ ________ 615 (1994). ________ 2. Count IV is vacated and remanded.
USCA1 Opinion












UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________

No. 92-1962

DEBRA HORTA,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

CHARLES B. SULLIVAN, ET AL.,

Defendants, Appellees.

____________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. A. David Mazzone, U.S. District Judge]
___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge,
___________

Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge,
____________________

and Stahl, Circuit Judge.
_____________

____________________

Sheila M. Tierney with whom Tierney Law Office was on brief for
__________________ ___________________
appellant.
Linda M. Walsh with whom Kroll & Tract was on brief for appellees
______________ _____________
Charles B. Sullivan, Paul G. Sadeck, Edward Mello and the Town of
Freetown.
James F. Gettens with whom Healy & Rocheleau, P.C. was on brief
_________________ ________________________
for appellees Jeffrey Mennino, James K. Bowles, and the Town of
Lakeville.
____________________

September 29, 1994
____________________




















CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge. In our earlier
______________________

disposition of this appeal1, we disposed of all claims

except appellant's claim against the town of Lakeville under

the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, Mass. Gen. L. ch. 258

(Count IV). We retained appellate jurisdiction over the

latter claim against Lakeville pending an answer to the

following question, which we certified to the Massachusetts

Supreme Judicial Court pursuant to its Rule 1:03:

Do the discretionary decisions of a police officer
to begin and continue the high-speed pursuit of a
vehicle then being operated in violation of law
involve policymaking or planning for purposes of
immunity under Massachusetts General Law ch. 258,
10(b)?

The Massachusetts court has now answered that

question in the negative. Horta v. Sullivan, 418 Mass. 615,
_____ ________

615 (1994). Accordingly, Mennino's actions were not entitled

to immunity under 10(b), and the district court's granting

of summary judgment on Count IV in favor of Lakeville was

improper.2 Horta v. Sullivan, 4 F.3d 2, 24 (1st Cir. 1993).
_____ ________


____________________

1. Horta v. Sullivan, 4 F.3d 2 (1st Cir. 1993).
________

2. Although for other reasons we earlier vacated summary
judgment on appellants' claim against Freetown under the
Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, Horta, 4 F.3d at 25, the
_____
answer of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to our
certified question appears germane to that claim as well, as
we thought might be the case. Id. Since that claim is no
___
longer before us, however, we do not address it at this time,
but leave to the parties and the district court any action
that may be appropriate in light of the Massachusetts court's
opinion.

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We therefore vacate summary judgment on this claim and remand

to the district court for further proceedings consistent with

our opinion herein and the opinion of the Massachusetts

Supreme Judicial Court. We note that while our certification

was pending before the Massachusetts high court, the

Massachusetts state legislature amended the Massachusetts

Tort Claims Act. See Act approved January 14, 1994, 1993
___

Mass. Legis. Serv. ch. 495, 57, 144 (H.B. 5620) (West).

The Supreme Judicial Court did not rule on how these

amendments might affect Horta's claim, if at all, since the

issue was not before it. See Horta, 418 Mass. at 622 n.14.
___ _____

We similarly do not reach this issue, but anticipate that the

district court, if called on to do so by one or more of the

parties, will rule on the materiality of these amendments to

the pending claim and will factor the amendments into its

final outcome if and to the extent appropriate.

Count IV is vacated and remanded.
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Source:  CourtListener

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