The trial judges held that the police were under no specific legal duty to provide protection to the individual plaintiffs and dismissed the complaints.

The women were awakened by the sound of the back door being broken down by two men later identified as Marvin Kent and James Morse.

They again heard Douglas' continuing screams; again called the police; told the officer that the intruders had entered the home, and requested immediate assistance.

Believing the police might be in the house, Warren and Taliaferro called down to Douglas, thereby alerting Kent to their presence.

On April 30, 1978, at approximately 11:30 pm, appellant Nichol stopped his car for a red light at the intersection of Missouri Avenue and Sixteenth Street, N.W.

In response to the officer's direction, appellant's companion ceased any further efforts to obtain identification information of the assailants.

In a 4–3 decision, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial courts' dismissal of the complaints against the District of Columbia and individual members of the Metropolitan Police Department based on the public duty doctrine ruling that "the duty to provide public services is owed to the public at large, and, absent a special relationship between the police and an individual, no specific legal duty exists".