1. Colm Nolan and others brought suit against two City of Yonkers police officers and the City of Yonkers, New York, for alleged brutality and false arrest. The plaintiff's process server alleged that he had served both defendants at police headquarters (rather than at their place of residence), and also mailed copies of the summons and complaint to each officer at police headquarters. New York law provides that a summons can be delivered to"the actual place of business of the person to be served and by mailing a copy to the person to be served at his actual place of business."One defendant admitted receiving a copy of the summons and complaint at his police mailbox; the second officer denied ever receiving either document at police headquarters. Neither officer suffered any prejudice because both defendants did receive the summons and complaint, and both filed answers in a timely manner. Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits service"pursuant to the law of the state in which the district court is located."The two police officers asked the court to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. Was the service at police headquarters sufficient to conferin personamjurisdiction over these defendants?Nolan v. City of Yonkers,168 F.R.D. 140 (S.D.N.Y. 1996)
2. A car driven by James Murphy struck a boy and injured him. Immediately after the accident, according to the boy's mother, Murphy told her"that he was sorry, that he hoped her son wasn't hurt. He said he had to call on a customer and was in a bit of a hurry to get home."At trial, Murphy denied telling the boy's mother that he was involved in his employment at the time of the accident. It was shown, however, that part of his normal duties for his employer, Ace Auto Parts Company, included making calls on customers in his car. Can the plaintiff have the mother testify about Murphy's statement as being a spontaneous exclamation?