When you buy a product,
the expectation is that it
should perform in the way
it was intended to but that is
not always the case. When
damage or injury is caused
as the result of the use of a
defective product, the law
in New York recognizes
that those who manufacture
and/or distribute the
defective product, as well
as those who sell it, may be
held responsible for damages
for the injuries which
result.
Consider the case of the
young teenager who while
using a hair dryer in her
home, sustained severe
third degree burns to her
hands when the product
burst into flames. Her parents
had the foresight to
consult our office shortly
thereafter. Upon consulting
an expert who inspected
the hair dryer, he
advised that the product’s
wiring and/or loose electrical
connections allowed
it to overheat and catch on
fire. We sued the manufacturer,
as well as the neighborhood
store where the
hair dryer had been purchased,
claiming that this
product was defective as it
was improperly or poorly
designed, that there was a
mistake in its manufacture
or assembly, and/or the
manufacturer or distributor
placed the product into
the marketplace without
adequate warnings. Based
upon our expert’s opinion,
we were successful in
achieving a favorable outcome
for our client.
If you find yourself in
a similar situation, the
first thing to do is secure
and safeguard the defective
product. In situations
where the injury occurs
outside your home, for example,
in the workplace, it
is particularly important to
be vigilant and contact an
attorney promptly. A separate
court proceeding may
need to be commenced, as
soon as possible, to compel
preservation of the product
and to direct the person,
or entity, in possession or
control of the product, to
grant access so it can be inspected
and tested before it
is destroyed, altered or disposed
of.
If you believe that you
or a loved one have been
injured by any defective
product, whether a piece
of heavy machinery or a
seemingly harmless household
item, you should consult
an attorney. A timely
phone call could be very
important to protect your
rights.
COURIER L 12 IFE, MARCH 1–7, 2019 PS
Bed-Stuy man will spend
two decades in prison for
fatal C’Heights shooting
BY COLIN MIXSON
A Bedford-Stuyvesant man will spend
the next 21 years in prison for fatally
gunning another guy down in Crown
Heights.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice
John Ingram sentenced Andre Rodriguez,
31, to 21 years to life behind
bars after a jury found him guilty last
month of second-degree murder and
second-degree criminal possession of
a weapon, according to District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez, who said his offi ce
will continue to crackdown on perpetrators
of savage shootings.
“Such brazen shootings will not be
tolerated in Brooklyn,” the top prosecutor
said following the Feb. 21 sentencing.
“We are committed to ending
gun violence in our communities
and will continue to hold accountable
those who put others in harm’s way.”
Prosecutors alleged that Rodriguez
followed 46-year-old Kieth Vereen to
an Atlantic Avenue gas station near
Utica Avenue on June 17, 2017, when he
pressed a gun to the victim’s chest and
blew him away.
Following the incident, investigators
GARDEN
“Its towers could have signifi cant
shadow impact on the garden’s conservatory,
nursery, and other collections,”
Reina-Longoria told this newspaper
last June, months after the local
Community Board 9 expressed its own
reservations about the scheme.
Garden stewards’ concerns about
the complex only escalated when a local
anti-gentrifi cation group released a
study performed by two private architectural
fi rms , which found the tallest
structures of Continuum’s six-building
complex would cast shadows that
could darken parts of the Botanic Garden
— including its Children’s, Water,
and Herb gardens, and greenhouses
at the Steinhardt Conservatory — for
more than four hours a day during certain
times of the year.
The developer has since refashioned
the complex, however, reducing
it to two mixed-use buildings, but upping
their height to 39 stories each —
on a lot currently zoned for structures
no taller than seven stories. And the
project’s two buildings will now boast
a total number of 1,578 apartments,
half of which would still be so-called
affordable.
But the recent design changes did
little to quell garden leaders’ fears
about the lasting damage its shadows
could cause, according to Reina-Longoria.
District Attorney’s Offi ce
SENTENCED: A judge sentenced Andre Rodriguez
to 21 years to life for murdering a
man in Crown Heights.
“Buildings of the proposed height
will have a signifi cant, negative, and
permanent impact on BBG’s conservatories,
greenhouses, and nurseries —
where plants for the entire garden are
propagated and grown — by causing
the loss of as much as three hours of
sunlight daily in spring, summer, and
fall,” she said.
Continuum reps will present their
latest proposal at a March 12 scoping
meeting, where locals can weigh
in on terms for the project’s environmental
impact study — a survey of its
potential affects on area sewer systems,
roads, schools, and other forms
of infrastructure required before the
scheme and its rezoning application
begin their journey through the city’s
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
Botanic Garden bigwigs’ staunch
opposition to the Continuum project
is a departure from the neutral
stance they took against another controversial
development comprised of
two 16-story towers near the growing
patch, which Council ultimately approved
a rezoning for last December
after Crown Heights Councilman Laurie
Cumbo worked out a deal to pack
even more below-market-rate units
into the project.
Share your thoughts on Continuum
Company’s proposed Franklin Avenue
development at the Department of City
Planning (120 Broadway between Cedar
and Pine streets, City Planning Commission
Hearing Room, in Manhattan).
March 12 at 1 pm.
Continued from cover
recovered surveillance footage
that showed the defendant approach
the victim and point a gun at him,
along with a cellphone Rodriguez
dropped at the crime scene, which contained
his DNA, Gonzalez said.
A spokesman for the district attorney
could not immediately comment
on why Rodriguez shot Vereen, but
noted that prosecutors did not need to
prove motive to secure his conviction.