Smith v. Fireworks by Girone

Argued February 19, 2004 On this appeal we are asked to interpret the language of the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (TCA) that requires, as a prerequisite to public entity liability, that the public property must be in a ""dangerous condition at the time of the injury."" N.J.S.A. 59:4-2. Here, the ten-year-old plaintiff suffered severe damage to his left hand after successfully igniting a firework he found in a municipal park following a municipal fireworks display. The explosion occurred on private property over a month after the child removed the firework from the park. Plaintiff sued and the public entity moved for summary judgment claiming, among other things, that plaintiff failed to satisfy the requirement in N.J.S.A. 59:4-2 that the public entity's property be in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury. The trial court denied the motion and a jury awarded a substantial verdict in plaintiff's favor. The public entity appealed and a divided panel of the Appellate Division reversed. The majority held that the firework was neither owned nor controlled by the public entity and that the infant plaintiff's removal of it from the park prevented the conclusion that the public property (the park) remained in a ""dangerous condition at the time of the injury."" The dissent countered that plaintiff's injury was an inevitable and foreseeable result of harmful ""contact"" or ""exposure"" to a dangerous condition on public property and fell squarely within the contemplation of the TCA.