In a decision hailed by plaintiffs lawyers, the state Appellate Court has reinstated a lawsuit against Westbrook and two of its constables who decided not to investigate a woman’s seemingly strange behavior.

The woman, Elsie White, was in a field praying during a severe thunderstorm. Though her location was reported to a State Police dispatcher and the constables, nobody came to help White. She was found drowned near the Long Island Sound shoreline the next morning.