SALON

Friday, Aug 10, 2012 6:45 PM UTC

Weird news of the day

Chimp attack victim: Let me sue state for $150M

By

Topics: From the Wires, Charla Nash, Travis the chimp,

Weird news of the dayCharla Nash sits before a hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. Nash who was mauled in a 2009 chimpanzee attack is attending a hearing to determine whether she may sue the state for $150 million in claimed damages. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)(Credit: AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The state attorney general’s office urged a key official on Friday to dismiss a $150 million claim filed by a woman who was mauled and disfigured by a chimpanzee that went to berserk in 2009.

But the victim, who has amassed millions of dollars in medical and other bills, said she’s holding out hope the claims commissioner will ultimately grant her permission to sue the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which she holds responsible for not seizing the animal despite a state biologist’s warning it was dangerous.

“I hope and pray that the commissioner will give me my day in court,” Charla Nash told reporters following the hearing. “And I also pray that I hope this never happens to anyone else again. It is not nice.”

Nash, 57, was attacked in February 2009 by a friend’s 200-pound pet chimpanzee after its owner asked Nash to help lure it back into her house in Stamford, Conn. The animal, named Travis, ripped off Nash’s nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being shot to death by police.

Nash was blinded in the attack. She underwent a face and double hand transplant in 2011, but the hands failed to thrive because of complications and were removed. She said Friday she still hopes to get a double hand transplant.

Assistant Attorney General Maite Barainca told Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. that Nash deserves sympathy for her plight and admiration for the courage she has shown in handling it, but argued that the state should not be held liable for actions of the privately owned animal.

“There is no claim that the state directly caused Ms. Nash’s injuries. The state did not own or possess the chimp that attacked her” and played no role in letting the chimp loose that day in 2009 on private property, said Barainca.

Charles Willinger, Nash’s attorney, said his client lives in a nursing home outside Boston “in total darkness,” ”without eyes, without hands.” He said she is “permanently scarred, emotionally, physically” and will never be able to see her daughter again or hold her hand. He said Nash “endures loneliness, despair and suffering beyond anyone’s comprehension in this room,” and urged Vance to be the “conscience of this state” when deciding whether to allow her to sue.

Nash told described her feelings of loneliness to reporters.

“I miss home,” said Nash, who wore sunglasses and a turquoise top, and was accompanied by her brother Steve. “You know, when you’re in a facility, you’re alone. It’s hard. But I’m thankful that I’m still here.”

Vance is expected to issue a decision on the state’s motion to dismiss the case within 30 days. If he rules in favor of the state, Nash cannot proceed with a hearing on the merits of her claim. She could, however, appeal to the General Assembly and ask state legislators to overrule the commissioner’s decision.

If, however, Vance denies the state’s motion to dismiss, a trial-like hearing will be held before him. Vance would then have to decide whether to allow Nash to sue the DEEP in superior court.

Willinger contends that Travis the chimp had been on the state agency’s radar since 2003, when it escaped from its owner and ran loose in Stamford. It was the only chimpanzee in the state and was commonly referred to as “the gorilla in Stamford.”

State officials have contended they did not have the authority to seize the animal.

Several months before the attack, a state biologist warned state officials in a memo that the chimpanzee could seriously hurt someone if it felt threatened, saying “it is an accident waiting to happen.”

In October 2008, the biologist warned that the chimpanzee had reached adult maturity and “is very large and tremendously strong.” The biologist said, “I am concerned that if he feels threatened or if someone enters his territory, he could seriously hurt someone.”

More Susan Haigh.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 14 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations