Marriott claims woman was negligent in her own ra

[CajunTim]

Which side are you on with this one?

http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_13048639?source=most_viewed

STAMFORD -- A downtown hotel being sued by a woman raped at gunpoint in its parking garage is claiming she was careless, negligent and "failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities," according to court documents.

The victim's attorneys also argue the hotel has inadvertently identified her to acquaintances by asking them to testify.

The Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, along with the firms in charge of managing the hotel and its parking garage, made the claim as part of a list of special defenses filed in state Superior Court in Stamford last month. Such defenses allow defendants in civil suits to argue they are not responsible for damages even if the plaintiff's story is true.

The special defenses, and the plaintiff's argument against them, are a few of the documents filed in a series of arguments and counterarguments as the case heads for trial, scheduled for April.

The woman filed the lawsuit in May 2008, six months after Danbury native Gary Fricker, 56, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a plea deal in the case.

On Oct. 10, 2006, Fricker stuck a handgun in the back of the then 40-year-old woman and forced her and her children, then 3 and 5, into their minivan as they left the hotel, according to court documents.

She let him go through her wallet and told him he could take it, but Fricker demanded she take off her clothes. Fricker sexually assaulted
the woman for several minutes, pointing the gun at her and her children and threatening to sexually assault one of her children.

When another car pulled up, the woman screamed, and Fricker fled. Police arrested Fricker near White Plains, N.Y., three days later, and he immediately confessed, police have said.

Fricker, a transient carpenter, had been arrested 20 times before and was wanted in Florida on an arson case, police have said.

The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Fricker had been in the hotel and garage acting suspiciously days before the attack, as well as the afternoon of the attack, and the hotel failed to notice him, apprehend him or make him leave. During the attack, security personnel did not see or stop him, the suit claims.

The hotel also claims as a special defense that the acts were unforeseen and beyond their control, that the woman and her children failed to properly "mitigate their damages," and that the hotel had not been notified about Fricker.

The hotel also subpoenaed several people involved with the family, including a Pilates instructor, friends, tennis partners and the children's baby sitter. The woman's attorneys argue the individuals subpoenaed do not know anything about the attack, that the subpoenas inadvertently identified her to those people and that it was merely an effort by the hotel's attorneys to intimidate her.

A general manager reached at the hotel declined to comment. An attorney for the hotel, Stephen Brown, did not return a call seeking comment. The woman's attorney, Ernest Teitell, also declined to comment.

-- Staff Writer Monica Potts can be reached at monica.potts@scni.com or 964-2266.

 

[LACamper]

I don't have a problem w/ the hotel asking family & friends to testify as to her character. They are within their rights to do that. She filed the suit...

The hotel is responsible for providing a reasonable level of security for their guests. Whether the hotel was negligent in providing that is up to the jury to decide. If this guy showed up and committed one random act of violence I would have a hard time blaming the hotel. If it can be proven that the guy was around for several hours and made no effort to avoid detection then I would fault the hotel.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

I don't have a problem w/ the hotel asking family & friends to testify as to her character. They are within their rights to do that. She filed the suit...

The hotel is responsible for providing a reasonable level of security for their guests. Whether the hotel was negligent in providing that is up to the jury to decide. If this guy showed up and committed one random act of violence I would have a hard time blaming the hotel. If it can be proven that the guy was around for several hours and made no effort to avoid detection then I would fault the hotel.

Except that we must remember that the ONLY person responsible for your safety, is you. Hell, the police are not responsible for your safety, hasn't the SCOTUS come down and said that the police have no legal obligation to protect the subjects?

 

[charlie12]

My girlfriend and I was going to stay in the Sheraton Hotel in BR acouple of years ago. She got there before me and checked in. They gave her the room key card she went up to the 7th floor opened the door and walked in. There was someones stuff on the bed and a man in the shower.
She hauled ass out of the room and went to the front desk.
They had given her the wrong room key.
The guy never knew anyboy was in his room.
That could have gotten bad.

 

[LACamper]

Except that we must remember that the ONLY person responsible for your safety, is you. Hell, the police are not responsible for your safety, hasn't the SCOTUS come down and said that the police have no legal obligation to protect the subjects?

True, but you're paying the Mariott for use of the hotel. That includes a reasonable expectation of your safety, moreso than in a motel with doors opening onto a parking lot.

 

[lefty]

said it happened in the parking lot. as far as im concerned its your job to get your ass from your car to the establishment!

 

[WILDCATT]

parking garage

I believe it said parking garage and also that the hotel had security guards.meaning to me they had expectations of trouble or they would not have security guards.

 

[blanepara9]

Arrested 20 times,wanted in another state for another crime...hmmmm....maybe a look at the justise system??????

 

[tigerfan_9]

So...."The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Fricker had been in the hotel and garage acting suspiciously days before the attack, as well as the afternoon of the attack, and the hotel failed to notice him, apprehend him or make him leave. During the attack, security personnel did not see or stop him, the suit claims."

how did she know this? did she see him there b/f and not report him? if she knew there was someone doing this then get a guard to walk her to her car.

 

[FishingBack]

It's the fault of the rapist. Case closed imo.

 

[Nolacopusmc]

I believe it said parking garage and also that the hotel had security guards.meaning to me they had expectations of trouble or they would not have security guards.

That is not entirely true. the guards could be there as preventive or as a marketing tool to show the hotel as having additional safety.

granted, the guard did not work in this case, as no security measure is 100% effective. But as the hotel's attorney, I would argue that the guards, cameras, lighting, etc were there specifically to show good faith in proactively attempting to prevent security issues, not that we were scared.


I see your point, but it could be argued both ways.