UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

M/V DREMA G. WOODS, Official 

Number 259718, for Exoneration

from or Limitation of Liability;

IN THE MATTER OF MADISON COAL &

SUPPLY CO., INC., AS OWNER OF THE,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,  No. 03-1924

v.

DANIEL E. JOHNSON, Individually,

and as Administrator of the Estate

of DWIGHT ANDREW JOHNSON,

Defendant-Appellee. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Huntington.

Robert C. Chambers, District Judge.

(CA-03-147-3)

Argued: February 24, 2004

Decided: May 27, 2004

Before WILLIAMS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges,

and William D. QUARLES, Jr., United States District Judge for the

District of Maryland, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Todd Matthew Powers, SCHROEDER, MAUNDRELL,

BARBIERE & POWERS, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellants. David
Jeffrey Ezra, WENDLER & EZRA, P.C., Collinsville, Illinois, for

Appellee. ON BRIEF: R. Scott Long, HENDRICKSON & LONG,

Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee. 

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c). 

OPINION

PER CURIAM: 

Madison Coal & Supply Co., Inc. appeals the district court’s order

dismissing, for lack of jurisdiction, its Complaint for Exoneration

From or Limitation of Liability. We affirm. 

Madison Coal operates tow boats that move coal on the Ohio River

and its tributaries. It seeks, through this federal action, to limit its liability in a state tort action arising from the following facts. On

December 10, 2000, Brett Castle, a deckhand on Madison Coal’s M/V

Drema G. Woods, received permission to leave the vessel to attend

to personal matters after his shift ended. Castle left the vessel at Winfield, West Virginia, and was to report for duty in a few hours at Point

Pleasant, West Virginia. Castle became intoxicated after leaving the

boat. While still intoxicated and driving an automobile, Castle crossed

the center line and struck and killed Dwight Andrew Johnson in Point

Pleasant. 

The administrator of Johnson’s estate sued Madison Coal in state

court, alleging several tort theories of liability. Madison Coal’s federal complaint asserts that the administrator’s state court action is an

admiralty or maritime claim and that Madison Coal is entitled to limitation of or exoneration from liability under admiralty law. The district court dismissed Madison Coal’s complaint for lack of

jurisdiction. Specifically, the district court rejected Madison Coal’s

argument that the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C. app. § 183

et seq., is an independent source of jurisdiction, citing David Wright

2 M/V DREMA G. WOODS v. JOHNSON
Charter Service of North Carolina, Inc. v. Wright, 925 F.2d 783 (4th

Cir. 1991). The district court also concluded that jurisdiction could

not be grounded in the general admiralty jurisdiction statute, 28

U.S.C. § 1333, because neither the location test nor either prong of

the connection test was met. See Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358 (1990)

(explaining that both tests must be met for § 1333 jurisdiction to lie).

Madison Coal now appeals, arguing that the district court has jurisdiction under both the Limitation of Liability Act and § 1333. 

After considering the joint appendix, the parties’ briefs and the oral

arguments of counsel, we are persuaded that the district court reached

the correct result. We affirm on the reasoning of the district court,

with one exception. On the § 1333 issue, we rely only on the district

court’s discussion of the location test, which is sufficient to dispose

of that issue. See In re: Madison Coal & Supply Co., Civil No. 3:03-

0147 (S.D. W.Va. June 24, 2003). 

AFFIRMED

M/V DREMA G. WOODS v. JOHNSON 3