Harris v. Village of East Hills

In the late afternoon of March 4, 1971, Walter Harris was driving his automobile along Locust Lane in the Village of East Hills. He had left his job in order to pick up some dinner for himself and his coworkers. It was a windy, rainy day, and as he proceeded along the road a large limb from a silver maple tree came crashing down on the top of his *448car, caving in the roof which struck him on the head and neck. As a consequence, he was rendered a quadriplegic and will require medical care for the rest of his life.

Although Locust Lane was a county road, the maple tree was not on the county right…