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Oral Arguments before the Intermediate Court of Appeals

No. 29502 – Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 11 a.m.

CHELSEA CRIVELLO, as Guardian Ad Litem for DOMINIC KAMELAMELA, a minor, Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. COUNTY OF HAWAI’I, Defendant-Appellee, and JOHN DOES 1-10; JANE DOES 1-10; DOE CORPORATIONS 1-10; DOE PARTNERSHIPS 1-10; DOE JOINT VENTURES 1-10; and DOE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES 1-10, Defendants.

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff-Appellant
Robert P. Marx

Attorney(s) for Defendant-Appellee
Lincoln T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel and Brooks L. Bancroft and Katherine A. Garson, Deputies Corporatioun

COURT:    Nakamura, CJ; Foley and Ginoza, JJ.

SPECIAL NOTE:    The above argument will take place in the Supreme Court courtroom on the Second Floor of Aliiolani Hale, 417 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief description:
Plaintiff-Appellant Chelsea Crivello, as Guardian Ad Litem for Dominic Kamelamela, a minor (Crivello) appeals from an order granting Defendant-Appellee County of Hawaii’s (County) Motion for Reconsideration of an order denying the County’s Motion for Summary Judgment, as well as rulings in the order denying the County’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

The case arises from an incident on January 1, 2006 when Puna K. Kamelamela (decedent) died while attempting to jump from a bridge railing on the Piʻihonua Bridge in the County of Hawaii.  At the time of the incident, a temporary wooden railing was in place, which snapped as decedent attempted to jump.

On appeal, Crivello contends, among other things, that the circuit court erred in ruling that: the County did not have a duty of care to make the bridge railing reasonably safe for decedent to jump off; the County did not have a duty to repair or maintain the bridge railing so as to make the railing safe for decedent to jump off; and the County did not owe a duty of care to decedent to warn or take other reasonable precautions as to the specific repair to the bridge railing.