The Charla Nash case brought national attention to Connecticut’s bizarre process for suing the state. Nash was the victim of a brutal attack by a friend’s chimpanzee. She suffered horrific injuries and underwent a face transplant along with multiple surgeries that cost millions of dollars. Nash sought to sue the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on the theory that state officials knew that the chimpanzee was dangerous and should not have allowed Nash’s friend, Sandra Herold, to keep it in her Stamford home.
It appears rather dubious that the state was, in fact, responsible for Nash’s injuries. But that question was never answered by a court of law.
