Gamette

In this action based on the alleged negligence of a landowner in the maintenance of residential property, plaintiff Raven H. (plaintiff) appeals from a summary judgment granted in favor of defendant Linda Gamette (defendant). Defendant is the personal representative of the decedent, Douglas Gamette II (decedent), who was plaintiff’s landlord.

Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that while she was a tenant in an apartment complex owned by the decedent, she was sexually assaulted by a man who broke into her apartment through an unsecured window, and although the decedent was allegedly aware that violent crimes of various kinds had been committed at or near his premises by criminals who had gained access to victims’ apartments by breaking into them, he failed to take adequate precautions to secure plaintiff’s safety in her apartment and such failure constituted negligence and was the cause of plaintiff’s injuries resulting from the attack on her.

Although defendant’s motion for summary judgment specifically did not concede that the decedent had owed or breached any duty to plaintiff, those elements of plaintiff’s cause of action were not specifically addressed in the motion.…