College Student Cleared of Liability in Friend’s Death

NEW YORK (CN) - A woman is not liable for the death of a male friend who was killed during a robbery after she left him with members of the Ghetto Mafia gang, the New York Appellate Division ruled.

While a student at Fairfield University, Mark Fisher encountered school friend Angel DiPietro at a bar in Manhattan, N.Y. They took a cab to Brooklyn, where they met DiPietro's friend, Albert Cleary.

After DiPietro left, Cleary's friends in the Ghetto Mafia gang forced the drunken Fisher to withdraw money from an ATM at gunpoint. When he only took out $20, he was murdered by gang member John Giuca.

Fisher's family sued under the "Good Samaritan" law, which prohibits someone who takes charge of a helpless person to leave him in a worse position.

The appellate justices upheld the trial court's decision to dismiss the Fisher family's case.

"There is nothing to suggest that DiPietro knew or should have known either that violence was planned against Fisher after she left the house, or that remaining there would have secured his safety," the justices wrote.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit