Perales v. City of New York

It has long been the rule that an instruction on the question of comparative negligence should be given to a jury when there is *351any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences that could possibly lead a rational person to conclude that the plaintiff was negligent (see, Nallan v Helmsley-Spear, Inc., 50 NY2d 507, 517; Wartels v County Asphalt, 29 NY2d 372, 379). Supreme Court, in rejecting defendant’s request to submit the issue to the jury, violated this well-established principle.

On January 22, 1994, plaintiff had been at his uncle’s home when he decided to go out and buy a pair of…