Roman v. City of Stamford

In this negligence case, the dispositive issue is whether a municipality creates an actionable private duty by adopting a municipal charter in which it undertakes to provide for the care of public trees. The plaintiffs, Joann Roman and Madeline Roman, sued the defendant, the city of Stamford, for injuries that they suffered when their automobile was struck by a rotten tree located within the limits of a municipal roadway. The case was tried to a jury on the theory that the defendant could be found liable for negligence by *397virtue of a provision contained in the Stamford city charter that…