Legal Memorandum: Mental Illness in NY

Issue: Under New York law, can a person’s mental illness be construed as the proximate cause of his own injuries?

A mentally ill person may not be held to any greater degree of care for his own safety than that which he is capable of exercising. See A s "Campbell v. Cluster Hous. Dev. Fund Co., 247 A.D.2d " c 1 l "Campbell v. Cluster Hous. Dev. Fund Co., 247 A.D.2d 353, 668 N.Y.S.2d 634 (2nd Dep’t 1998)"Campbell v. Cluster Hous. Dev. Fund Co., 247 A.D.2d 353, 668 N.Y.S.2d 634 (2nd Dep’t 1998).  See A s "Mochen v. State, 43 A.D.2d 484, 352 N.Y.S. 2d 290 (1" c 1 l "Mochen v. State, 43 A.D.2d 484, 352 N.Y.S. 2d 290 (1974)"Mochen v. State, 43 A.D.2d 484, 352 N.Y.S. 2d 290 (1974).  If a person’s judgment has been impaired by his mental disability, his conduct should not be measured by external standards applicable to a person without such a disability.A s "Mochen v. State, 43 A.D.2d 484, 352 N.Y.S. 2d 290 (1" c 1  Id. at 488, 352 N.Y.S.2d at 295.

A negligent defendant may be relieved of liability where a superseding force intervenes after his negligence, but the intervening force does not break the chain of causal connection, unless it is unforeseeable, and actually causes the injury.  See A s "Derdiarian v. Felix Contracting Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 308" c 0Derdiarian v. Felix Contracting Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 308, 315, […]