Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- A Utah judge says a state agency was negligent in its handling of a nuisance bear but can't be sued by the family of an 11-year-old boy the animal fatally mauled.
In a ruling issued last Friday, 4th District Judge Gary Stott dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed against the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources by the family of Samuel Ives.
Stott says the courts can't carve out exceptions in state laws that provide governmental immunity to state agencies.
In June 2007, Ives was ripped from a tent and dragged away by a black bear in American Fork Canyon during a Father's Day camping trip.
Stott's ruling was issued the same day that U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball refused to throw out a similar lawsuit filed by the family against the U.S. Forest Service in federal court.
------
Information from: Deseret News
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
