Judgment on behalf of their client, a national real estate investment group and apartment owner

DAN HARTZOG (Raleigh) obtained summary judgment on behalf of their client, a national real estate investment group and apartment owner, in Wake County Superior Court in a negligent security case arising out of the brutal rape and murder of a tenant at their apartment complex. The case had been designated as an “exceptional case” pursuant to Rule 2.1 and had already undergone over 2 weeks of trial when the plaintiff took a voluntary dismissal following a ruling from the Court prohibiting a portion of plaintiff’s security expert’s testimony. The plaintiff re-filed the lawsuit, pursuant to Rule 41, and Mr. Hartzog successfully argued that the rape and murder of the plaintiff was not foreseeable to the apartment owner, nor was the crime preventable. The evidence showed that the perpetrator was a serial killer who stalked the tenant and who took numerous trophy items with him from the crime scene.