Court Gets Case Of Bystanders Hit In NYPD Shootout

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York state's top court is set to hear oral arguments in a negligence case against the New York Police Department from a 2005 shootout with a robbery suspect during which a mother, her toddler and another innocent bystander were shot.

The Court of Appeals is weighing whether to reinstate the lawsuit dismissed by a divided lower court.

Three Appellate Division justices found the five officers took appropriate measures to protect themselves and the public endangered by the fleeing felon, who was shot and killed by police.

However, two justices disagreed, finding an issue to be decided at trial: whether two officers violated police department guidelines and failed to first ascertain whether innocent people were "unnecessarily endangered."

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