Case Title: MacNeil v. Perkins

Citation: 324 P.2d 211, 84 Ariz. 74

Docket Number: 6277-6279

State: arizona

Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Date: 1958-04-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
84 Ariz. 74 (1958) 324 P.2d 211 Sidney MacNEIL and Helen T. MacNeil, husband and wife, and Joe Field, Appellants, v. James PERKINS, a minor by his guardian ad litem, Ernest Perkins, and Ernest Perkins, Individually, and Roncevert Garrett, a minor by his guardian ad litem, Frank D. Garrett, and Frank D. Garrett, individually, and Jack Justice, a minor by his guardian ad litem, James Justice, and James Justice, individually, Appellees. Nos. 6277-6279. Supreme Court of Arizona. April 16, 1958. *77 Conner & Jones, and James M. Murphy, Tucson, for appellants. Udall & Udall, and Benjamin Lazarow, Tucson, for appellees Garrett and Justice. Benjamin Lazarow and Hymen D. Goldberg, Tucson, for appellees Perkins. W.E. PATTERSON, Superior Court Judge. This is an appeal from three personal injury cases which were consolidated for trial in the Superior Court of Pima County, and which were tried before a jury. The jury returned verdicts against the defendants, Sidney MacNeil and Helen T. MacNeil, his wife, and Joe Field, in favor of James Perkins, a minor, in the sum of $92,628, Roncevert Garrett, a minor, in the sum of $92,628, and in favor of Jack Justice, a minor, in the sum of $5,000. Motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict in each of the cases, were made and argued before the court. All motions were denied. Sidney MacNeil and Helen T. MacNeil, his wife, are the owners of certain property comprising 320 acres of patented land, situate near Silver Bell, Arizona. On the land is a mine and mining camp, which has not been in operation since 1949. The MacNeils employed defendant Joe Field as a watchman, who lived on the premises, and was an employee of the MacNeils. The evidence *78 showed that the MacNeils had hired Field as a watchman after due inquiry as to his fitness, and his duties were to live on the property and see that nothing was molested or stolen. In addition to the usual mining equipment such as gallus frame, ore bin, and buildings, there was a small powder magazine in the side of a small hill on the premises, and at the time of the accident, it contained dynamite caps, blasting caps, and electrical detonators, which remained after mining operations ceased in 1949. The explosives were in small cardboard boxes, 100 to a box when full. The magazine was built out of concrete and was covered in front by an iron door approximately 2' x 2' in size. The door had a hasp for a padlock. No lock had even been placed on the door before the accident. At times a wooden stick or a peg was placed into the hasp to keep the door closed. At other times, the door was left ajar so that any person could look into the magazine, put his hand in, or open the door wider. On the day of the accident, the door was open. There were no warning signs on the premises. On the day of the accident, Roncevert Garrett was 13 years of age, James Perkins was 11 years of age, and Jack Justice was 16 years of age. The boys lived in a trailer court some distance from the mining property. On the day of the injuries complained of, Perkins and Garrett left their home at the trailer court at about 9 a.m., and they walked up the mountain to the mine within about one and one-half hours. The purpose of the boys' trip was to talk to Mr. Field, the watchman; to look around and get some rocks, and to go hunting with a .22 rifle. When they arrived at the mine, Mr. Field was there but left soon after their arrival. The boys went hunting, and as they crossed the mining property, they noted that the magazine door, where the dynamite caps were stored, was open. When they returned from hunting they passed by the magazine and decided to take a box of the dynamite caps. The Perkins boy reached in and took the caps out of the magazine and handed them to Garrett. Garrett and Perkins testified that they knew the magazine was there from previous visits, that Field had taken caps out of the magazine about three or four days before the accident, put some of the caps on a rock and shot at them with a .22 rifle. Field told the boys that he would sell some of the caps to them for a nickel apiece. After the boys had taken the caps, they left the area and saw Field returning, but they did not stop to talk to him. On the way home they shot one cap with a gun. Before returning home for lunch, they put the caps under a tree. Neither Garrett nor Perkins told their parents anything about the caps. After lunch, the boys gathered in a creek with another boy by the *79 name of Jack Justice. They took the caps from under the tree, and one of the boys suggested that they shoot them. They shot a few of the caps with a .22 rifle. When the cap was hit, it sounded like a firecracker and raised a little dust. The three boys then put the caps in a cone from a piece of paper, and lit it, but the caps did not explode. Then the caps were placed on a piece of pasteboard, and the boys built up twigs on the board to start a fire. Justice took his cigarette lighter and started to light the twigs and the caps gave a terrific explosion. The Garrett boy lost his left leg and left arm as a result of the explosion, the Perkins boy was blinded in both eyes, and the Justice boy lost the sight of his left eye. Each boy denied that he had any knowledge as to the great danger of the blasting caps. No one had ever objected to the boys going on the mining property, and the MacNeils had been advised by Field that the boys had been going across the property on their hunting trips. The MacNeils lived at Marana, about twenty miles from the mine and made occasional visits to the property. Defendants contend that the attractive nuisance doctrine is not applicable to the facts in this case, that the trial court should not have instructed the jury on the doctrine of attractive nuisance, and that the instructions given on attractive nuisance did not properly set out the rule and the elements. They further contend that the trial court should have only instructed the jury on the question of negligence in storage and the ordinary care required. Defendants assert that the case of Salt River Valley Water Users' Association v. Compton, 39 Ariz. 491, 8 P.2d 249; on rehearing 40 Ariz. 282, 11 P.2d 839, should govern the facts in this case, and that the case of Buckeye Irrigation Company v. Askren, 45 Ariz. 566, 46 P.2d 1068, has been repudiated by subsequent decisions of this court dealing with attractive nuisance. The history of attractive nuisance and an analysis of important cases adopting the attractive nuisance doctrine were reviewed in the original Compton case, and the denial of the motion for rehearing. This court determined in that case that the defendant did not in any way contribute to the building of the bird's nest on the electric pole, and the plaintiff could not prevail as he climbed the pole to see the bird's nest, therefore, the bird's nest was the attraction which was not an artificial creation of the defendant. Defendants emphasize that the third rule mentioned in the Compton case [40 Ariz. 282, 11 P.2d 842] on rehearing excludes this case from the attractive nuisance doctrine: In reviewing the cases in jurisdictions which have adopted the attractive nuisance doctrine, it is apparent that the courts have not construed the above rule as have defendants. An examination of the cases cited in the Compton case under the third rule mentioned do not sustain defendants' contention. In the case of Shaver's Adm'r v. Louisville Gas & Electric Co., 207 Ky. 180, 268 S.W. 1082, 1083 a path was used across defendants' property that went within eight feet of a mine air shaft which had been abandoned. The demurrer interposed by defendant was sustained. The court held: In the case of Giannini v. Campodonico, 176 Cal. 548, 169 P. 80, the employee according to plaintiff asked a boy of tender years to work in the stable. The stable door fell on the boy. The court held that the stable could not in any way be considered an attractive nuisance. In the case of Carr v. Oregon Washington R.R. & Navigation Co., 123 Or. 259, 261 P. 899, 60 A.L.R. 1434, the boy's mother operated the hotel portion of the station house on the railroad company's property. About 350 feet from the station house, on defendant's property was a stack of ties. The boy left the station house to play with another boy, and while playing on the ties, they fell on him, and he was killed. The boy was already on the property before he was attracted to the ties. None of the above cases hold that the instrumentality called for the application of the attractive nuisance doctrine and consequently are not legitimate authority to support this rule. In Downs v. Sulphur Springs etc., 80 Ariz. 266, 297 P.2d 339, the decedent came on the premises to play with the permission and knowledge of his father, who was an employee of the defendant, and was thereafter attracted to the automatic circuit breaker to see what was in the glass jars. So far as the Compton case, supra, conflicts with the Downs case in this respect, the former is disapproved. The case of Marino v. Valenti, 118 Cal. App. 2d 830, 259 P.2d 84, 95 clearly states the rule: (Emphasis supplied.) In the absence of prior decisions to the contrary this court has consistently followed the application of the Restatement of the Law of Torts in cases where the Restatement is applicable: Defendants insist that no trespass by the boys was shown, therefore, not being trespassers, plaintiffs cannot recover. Whether the Garrett and Perkins boys were trespassers when they first crossed the property to go hunting and returned to the magazine is immaterial, because when one of the boys put his hand in the magazine and took the dynamite caps and handed them to the other boy, they both became trespassers. Defendants assert that the pleadings remove the attractive nuisance doctrine and make the case one for the application, solely of the negligence in storage rule because plaintiffs allege in their complaint that Garrett and Perkins were invitees. There is no merit to this contention. Buckeye Irrigation Co. v. Askren, supra; Southwest Cotton Co. v. Clements, 25 Ariz. 124, 213 P. 1005. Dynamite caps are one of the items recognized as attractive to children under the attractive nuisance doctrine. No other conclusion can be reached from the evidence than the dynamite caps afforded the temptation, and yielding to that temptation they took the caps. Therefore, we have the element of temptation, the yielding to the temptation, and in addition, there existed the trespass. The facts and elements involving the attractive nuisance doctrine in this particular case which afforded the jury the foundation upon which to base its verdict may be listed as follows: The trial court did not err by instructing the jury on the law of attractive nuisance, as the evidence required such instructions. We find nothing in our decisions subsequent to the Buckeye Irrigation case that either reverses or overrules it. Lee v. Salt River Valley Water Ass'n, 73 Ariz. 122, 238 P.2d 945; Downs v. Sulphur Springs Co-op, supra. Defendants complain that plaintiffs knew right from wrong and had the capacity and did realize the danger involved in handling the dynamite caps. The question of the intelligence of the boys, their ability to appreciate danger and their judgment were questions of fact for the jury to determine, and this matter was submitted to the jury. Marino v. Valenti, supra; Consolidated City & C.P. Ry. Co. v. Carlson, 58 Kan. 62, 48 P. 635-636. Objection is made that the court refused defendants' instruction No. 5 which defines the duty of plaintiffs to use due care and the consequence of failure so to do. The court covered this subject matter thoroughly and more adequately in other instructions and, therefore, there was no error in refusing this one. Defendants contend that even assuming they could legally be charged with negligence, it could not be the proximate cause of the injuries for the reason that the unlawful taking of the caps was an independent intervening wrongful act that broke the chain of causation and relieved the defendants of liability. Whether there is a break in causation by reason of an intervening act which will relieve a defendant from liability for negligence is dependent upon whether the intervening act is one that should have been reasonably anticipated by the defendant. Lyric Amusement Co. v. Jeffries, 58 Ariz. 381, 120 P.2d 417. Applying this principle to cases where children wrongfully acquire possession of explosives, it has been held under circumstances *84 similar to those involved herein that the defendant should reasonably anticipate the wrongful act of a child. Olson v. Gill Home Inv. Co., 58 Wash. 151, 108 P. 140, 27 L.R.A.,N.S., 884; Byrd v. Rector, 112 W. Va. 192, 163 S.E. 845, 848, 81 A.L.R. 1213. In the latter case the court said: In the Olson case [58 Wash. 151, 108 P. 142] the court said: This question of reasonable foreseeability was submitted to the jury with appropriate instructions. There was no reversible error in this respect. Defendants particularly designate plaintiffs' instructions No. 10 and No. 11 given by the court as error. Instruction No. 10 is as follows: Instruction No. 11 reads as follows: The foregoing instructions properly state the law as applicable to the facts in this case, and all of the instructions must be considered in their entirety. Defendants contend the court erred in not striking all evidence pertaining to activities and statements of Field, on motion by MacNeils and the trial court should have submitted separate verdicts to the jury as to Field and the MacNeils. Defendants MacNeil admit that Field was their agent. His duty was to guard the property and take care that it was protected and not molested by anyone coming on the premises. Where an employee is doing what he is supposed to do, the fact that he does it in a manner other than as expected is immaterial, and the employer remains liable for the employee's acts and conduct. Brooks v. Neer, 46 Ariz. 144, 47 P.2d 452. The negligence which caused the injuries was the failure of Field and MacNeils to keep the magazine door locked or to prevent the dynamite caps from being accessible to children. This duty reposed upon each of the defendants. Therefore, if one is liable, all are liable because none of the defendants fulfilled their legal duty. Separate verdicts were not required. Neither the statements by Field, nor the showing of the caps, was the proximate cause of the injury. This conduct by Field was certainly admissible as against him. The court limited the MacNeils' liability as arising "only on the basis of actions by the defendant Field for the defendants MacNeil done within the course and scope of his employment and unless on all the evidence you find that to be true, your verdict must be for the defendants MacNeil." The general rule is that a master who entrusts the custody and control of a dangerous instrumentality to his servant may not avoid liability for injuries on the ground that the servant in doing the particular act was acting outside the scope of *87 his employment. 57 C.J.S. Master and Servant § 570(e) (2), p. 314; Euting v. Chicago & N.W. Ry. Co., 116 Wis. 13, 92 N.W. 358, 60 L.R.A. 158. The court did not err in denying MacNeils' motion to strike. Defendants complain that the trial court erred in admitting in evidence erroneous conclusions of law regarding rules and regulations of Arizona pertaining to explosives in testimony given by Mr. Munroe, a deputy state mine inspector, who qualified as an expert on explosives. He expressed his opinion as to safe practice in the handling and care of explosives. The testimony was properly admitted. Gila Valley, G. & N. Ry. Co. v. Lyon, 9 Ariz. 218, 80 P. 337; Annotation 146 A.L.R. 5. The testimony regarding rules and regulations was adduced on cross-examination by defendants, hence they cannot complain. Realizing the grave import to all parties involved in this case, we have carefully reviewed the evidence and instructions given and refused by the trial court and do not find any serious error in the proceedings. The judgments are affirmed. WINDES, PHELPS and STRUCKMEYER, JJ., concur. Note. Chief Justice UDALL and Justice JOHNSON having announced their disqualification, Honorable W.E. PATTERSON, Judge of Superior Court, Yavapai County, and Honorable ALEX B. BAKER, Judge of Superior Court, Maricopa County, were called to sit in their stead. (Judge BAKER has since passed away.)