A Bronx judge has thrown out a seven-year-old lawsuit against the city brought by two inmates who claimed they were shot inside Rikers Island.
Investigators were prepared to offer evidence that the inmates inflicted the wounds themselves in a hare-brained scheme, officials said.
Justice Alison Tuitt dismissed the case Friday, before it could reach a jury. She ruled that the city could not have foreseen or prevented the shootings.
Inmates Douglas Harris and Larry Browning claimed they were shot while sleeping in a jail dormitory on June 27, 1996.
A third inmate who also was shot, James Mingo, dropped his case before the trial began two weeks ago.