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Estate of Pessin v. State of Illinois

Case Date: 01/20/1999
Court: 5th District Appellate
Docket No: 5-98-0137

Estate of Pressin v. State of Illinois, No. 5-98-0137

5th Dist. 1/20/99

January 20, 1999

NO. 5-98-0137

_______________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT

________________________________________________________________

ESTATE OF STUART I. PESSIN,

Deceased, as represented by

Donna Pessin n/k/a

Donna F. Spiegel, Executrix;

DONNA F. SPIEGEL;

JORDAN M. PESSIN, by and

through Donna F. Spiegel,

his mother and next friend;

and TRACY G. PESSIN,

by and through

Donna F. Spiegel, her

mother and next friend,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.

THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,

THE DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS,

THE ILLINOIS COURT OF CLAIMS,

and ROGER A. SOMMER, ANDREW M.

RAUCCI, NORMA F. JANN, ROBERT

FREDERICK, DAVID A. EPSTEIN,

RICHARD T. MITCHELL, and

FREDERICK J. HESS, Judges

of the Illinois Court of Claims,

Defendants-Appellees.

 Appeal from the Circuit

Court of Boone County.

No. 97--SC--184

Richard W. Vidal,

Judge, Presiding.

________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE KUEHN delivered the opinion of the court:

The estate of Stuart I. Pessin (the Estate) originally filed its claim for damages against the State of Illinois, the Department of Transportation, and the Division of Highways in the Court of Claims. In an opinion filed on October 27, 1995, the Court of Claims ruled against the Estate and upheld that ruling on rehearing on March 27, 1997. The Estate then filed its petition for certiorari in the circuit court of St. Clair County, alleging due process violations in the Court of Claims process. The Estate appeals from the trial court's February 6, 1998, order dismissing its certiorari petition, concluding that the Estate's due process rights were fulfilled because it "was afforded hearings on the merits before the Court of Claims." We reverse and remand with directions.

Stuart I. Pessin, a Belleville attorney, died in a tragic motor vehicle accident on December 9, 1985, leaving behind a wife and two children. The accident occurred at 6 p.m., and it was raining. Rain had been falling for approximately one hour before the accident and one-tenth of an inch of rain had accumulated on the roadway, which meant that in the area of the accident, the water was pooling in a maximum depth of 1 to 1