Iannucci v. Hessenberger
Iannucci v. Hessenberger
Opinion of the Court
In the instant action, the plaintiff seeks to recover for personal injuries alleged to have resulted from an automobile accident caused by the negligence of the defendants. The accident occurred on April 23,1965. The action was begun by process dated April 5, 1966, and returnable to this court on the first Tuesday of May, 1966, claiming $7500 damages. An answer and special defense were filed on May 6,1966. The pleadings were closed on the same day by the filing of a reply to the special defense. Also on the same day, the plaintiff claimed the case for the jury docket. There is no notation on the docket of the file that the case was ever pretried.
On February 17, 1967, new counsel filed his appearance for the plaintiff, and on the same day he filed the instant motion for permission to amend the complaint. The amendment, while it substantially repeats the alleged injuries set forth in the original complaint, does extend the nature and extent of certain of the injuries. It also increases the ad damnum to $14,000, which amount exceeds the jurisdiction of this court. The defendants do not object to the granting of the amendment in so far as it applies to the injuries, but do object to the increase of the amount claimed, which if granted, will necessitate the transfer of the case from this court to either the Superior Court or the Court of Common Pleas.
The allowance of an amendment to a complaint, after the time prescribed by § 52-128 of the General
The time of trial of this case is not imminent. The amendment does not introduce a new theory of liability into the case. The allegations of negligence remain the same. The amendment as to the nature and extent of the injuries is not objected to. There is nothing involved in the amendment which the defendants are not prepared to defend against, as evidenced by their pleadings. The amendment would require no further preparation on their part. They object to increasing the ad damnum for the reasons that the plaintiff has no right to do so, having elected to claim $7500 originally, that the case is not worth the increased amount claimed, and that it is likely that the court to which the case will be transferred will in turn send it back to this
The court is of the opinion that to deny the amendment will work an injustice to the plaintiff and that to grant it will not be prejudicial to the defendants.
For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiff’s motion for permission to amend the complaint is granted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.