8-year-old Westport boy on trial for exuberance 
 
 facebook photo Jennifer Connell. Connell claims her 8-year-old nephew of Westport, acted unreasonably when he leaped into her arms, causing her to fall on the ground and break her wrist four years ago. The case is in court in Bridgeport, Conn. less facebook photo Jennifer Connell. Connell claims her 8-year-old nephew of Westport, acted unreasonably when he leaped into her arms, causing her to fall on the ground and break her wrist four years ago. The ... more Photo: Contributed / Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed / Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 8-year-old Westport boy on trial for exuberance 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 BRIDGEPORT — New York woman wants a jury to hold her 8-year-old nephew accountable for his youthful exuberance during his birthday party. 
 
 Jennifer Connell claims the boy, Sean Tarala of Westport, acted unreasonable when he leaped into her arms, causing her to fall on the ground and break her wrist four years ago. This week Connell is asking a six-member Superior Court jury to find the boy liable for his actions. 
 
 She is seeking $127,000 from the boy, who she described as always being “very loving, sensitive,” toward her. The boy is the only defendant in the case. 
 
 In court Friday, the boy, now 12 years old, appeared confused as he sat with his father, Michael Tarala, in the Main Street courtroom. The boy’s mother, Lisa Tarala, died last year. 
 
 On the witness stand before Judge Edward Stodolink, the 54-year-old Connell, a human resources manager in Manhattan, testified she loves Sean but believes he should be held accountable for her injury. 
 
 On March 18, 2011, Connell, who has no children of her own, arrived at the Tarala home at 25 Woods Grove Road to attend Sean’s birthday party. 
 
 The boy had gotten his first two-wheeler for his birthday, and was joyfully riding the bright-red bike around and around the home, according to testimony. 
 
 But when he spotted Connell, he dropped the new bicycle on the ground, exclaiming, “Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen.” 
 
 “All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground,” Connell testified of her encounter with the 50-pound boy. “I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen I love you,’ and there he was flying at me.” 
 
 Although hurt, Connell said, she didn’t complain to the boy at the time. 
 
 “It was his birthday party and I didn’t want to upset him,” she told the jury. 
 
 But, Connell continued, her life was turned upside down as a result of the injury. 
 
 “I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up so it has been very difficult,” she said. “And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan.” 
 
 And then there is the damage the injury has done to Connell’s social life. 
 
 “I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate,” she said. 
 
 “The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight years old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit claims. ||||| BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) — An Upper East Side woman who sued her nephew for injuries sustained during a greeting at his birthday party has lost her case. 
 
 Jennifer Connell filed a $127,000 lawsuit against Sean Tarala, now 12, claiming the Westport boy acted unreasonably when he leaped into her arms to greet her at his eighth birthday party. 
 
 But on Tuesday, a six-member Superior Court jury found Sean not liable for the injuries sustained by his aunt, CBS2’s Jessica Schneider reported. 
 
 “We just couldn’t find the little boy liable for what happened,” said one juror. 
 
 
 
 Connell said when the child jumped, she tumbled to the ground as she tried to catch him. 
 
 “I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen I love you,’ and there he was flying at me,” she said. “All of a sudden, he was there in the air. I had to catch him, and we tumbled to the ground.” 
 
 She said in a complaint that the fall caused a fracture in her wrist that required surgery. 
 
 Connell had asked the jury to find the boy liable due to lasting physical impairment, 1010 WINS’ Al Jones reported. 
 
 
 
 The 53-year-old Connell testified she loves her nephew but thinks he should be held accountable. 
 
 Connell admitted in court that she did not complain about the injury at the time, but did mention the injury made life tough over the next few years, WCBS 880’s Alex Silverman reported. 
 
 “I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up so it has been very difficult,” she testified, according to the Connecticut Post. “And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan. 
 
 “I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate,” she added. 
 
 As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, Connell ignored reporter’s questions inside and outside of the Fairfield County Courthouse. 
 
 The boy was the only defendant named in the case. Sean and his father were not in the courtroom when the verdict came down in their favor. 
 
 “I think it’s ludicrous,” said neighbor Curt Tetrault. 
 
 Tetrault, who lives next door to Sean and his father, was appalled to hear Connell was seeking more than $100,000 to pay for her medical bills. 
 
 “He’s 12. He’s very independent and he’s a good kid,” said Mrs. Tetrault. 
 
 Sean’s mother, Lisa, died last year. 
 
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– "If only they could just hug it out," laments the New York Daily News in the case of Connell v. Tarala—Connell being 54-year-old Jennifer Connell, Tarala her 12-year-old nephew Sean, who she claims was so excited at his birthday party four years ago that he broke her wrist, the Connecticut Post reports. The New York City woman, who's suing Sean for $127,000, testified in court Friday that when she arrived at her nephew's birthday party in Westport, Conn., on March 28, 2011, Sean was riding his brand-new bike outside. When he saw Connell, she said, he ran toward her yelling, "Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen!" and then flung his 50-pound body at her, knocking them both to the ground and breaking her wrist. "I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen, I love you,' and there he was flying at me," she testified. Connell told the jury she didn't complain about her injury at the time because "it was his birthday party and I didn't want to upset him," but she noted that the broken wrist upended her busy life. "I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up, so it has been very difficult," she said. "And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan." Not to mention how it affected her in social situations: "I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d'oeuvre plate," she noted. Even though Connell says Sean—who the Post notes listened with his dad to his aunt's testimony looking "confused"; his mom died last year—has always been "very loving" and "sensitive" toward her, she thinks he should still be liable and understand that his actions have consequences. (These parents got an invoice after their son was a no-show at a birthday party.)