A Dane County judge ruled Wednesday a negligence claim filed by the family of slain UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann against Dane County and 911 dispatcher Rita Gahagan should be halted pending release of evidence from an ongoing criminal investigation.
But, at the same time, Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi did not dismiss the claim, which was brought by the slain student's parents, Jean and Kevin Zimmermann.
Zimmermann, 21, was strangled and stabbed to death by an intruder on April 2, 2008. Her killer has not been found. A 911 call from Zimmermann's cell phone was made around the time she was killed, police and county officials have said. Gahagan handled the call, but union officials have said she heard nothing on the other end. They have said Gahagan did not end the call, and county officials have said they cannot determine how the call ended.
Earlier this year, Sumi also allowed to proceed a claim the Zimmermanns filed against Wisconsin Management, which managed the apartment building at 517 W. Doty St. where Zimmermann lived, and building owners Russ Endres and Carl Van Rooy.
In both cases, Sumi ruled there are too many issues of fact that, by law, should be addressed by a jury and not by a judge.
In her ruling Wednesday, Sumi said there are enough disputed facts as to the timing of the 911 call, whether the call revealed distress, and the cause of the call's disconnection, that a jury should decide whether Brittany Zimmermann suffered emotional distress caused by the handling of the call.
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