Volpe v. Gallagher

OPINION

FLANDERS, Justice.

“Who knew?” In essence, that was the defense to the charge of negligence in this lawsuit. The plaintiffs, Raymond Volpe and Joyce Amonte, accused the homeowner-defendant, Sara Gallagher (defendant), of negligently allowing her adult son, James Andrew Gallagher (Gallagher), who was mentally ill, to keep guns and ammunition on her property. On July 3, 1994, Gallagher misused these firearms to shoot and kill Ronald Volpe (victim), the plaintiffs’ next of kin and the defendant’s next-door neighbor. But the defendant asserted that she did not know that her son kept guns or…