Dunaisky v. State

The issue in these cases is whether the State of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Hospital are liable to the plaintiffs, a Connecticut police officer and his wife and town which employed him, for personal injuries and property damage caused by an escaped mental patient who forced a police car off the road in Connecticut.

On October 19, 1973, Jacinto Oliveria was admitted to the New Hampshire Hospital for involuntary emergency hospitalization because he posed a strong likelihood of harm to himself and others. See RSA 135-B:19 (Supp. 1981). He escaped from the New Hampshire Hospital on…