A Long Island judge says people should expect to find shells when they order shellfish -- such as mussels -- and so he threw out a lawsuit by a woman who choked on a piece of shell.
   
Acting State Supreme Court Justice John Galasso on Friday dismissed the two-day civil case against the Blue Moon Restaurant in Rockville Centre. The judge said the lawsuit failed to prove that the shellfish dinner was defective.
   
The woman -- 46-year-old Mary Slaymaker of Atlantic Beach -- says she almost died from choking and a punctured throat that got infected, after eating the mussels marinara dinner. She says she spent 12 days in the hospital and she was suing for 750-thousand dollars.
   
But the restaurant\'s attorney -- William Croutier -- says the woman should have know that the dinner could contain shells when she was shoveling spoonfuls of sauce into her mouth.

Photo: CBS