Cuozzo v. Orange

Summary

The court held that the plaintiff's claim could not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the record left unresolved whether the accident occurred on a public roadway subject to the statutory highway-defect notice requirement or on a private driveway governed by a different statutory scheme. Because that jurisdictional determination depended on disputed facts, the trial court was required to conduct an evidentiary hearing or postpone the issue until further factual development. The court therefore affirmed the Appellate Court's reversal of the dismissal.