| 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
________________________________________________________________ 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. 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
ESTATE OF STUART I. PESSIN, Appeal from the Circuit