Title: Copeland v. Samford University
Citation: 686 So. 2d 190
Docket Number: 1931659
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: April 5, 1996

686 So. 2d 190 (1996)
William J. COPELAND, et al.
v.
SAMFORD UNIVERSITY.
No. 1931659.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
April 5, 1996.
Rehearing Denied December 13, 1996.
*191 J. Michael Campbell, Birmingham, for Appellants.
Edward O. Conerly and Matthew W. Veal, Birmingham, for Appellee.
COOK, Justice.
William J. Copeland and Emilea Copeland, parents of Rex Bartly Copeland, appeal from a summary judgment entered in favor of Samford University on their claim against Samford University based on the wrongful death of their son Rex. The complaint, filed against Samford University and William L. Slagle, a former professor at Samford, alleges in part that Samford University negligently hired Slagle; that Samford negligently supervised Slagle; and that Samford is liable under the theory of respondeat superior for the murder of their son, Rex, by Slagle. Slagle, who was convicted of murder pursuant to § 13A-6-2, Ala.Code 1975, is presently serving a life sentence for the crime. See Slagle v. State, 606 So. 2d 193 (Ala.Cr.App. 1992).
Following the entry of the summary judgment for Samford, the trial proceeded against Slagle, resulting in a $12,000,000 jury verdict and judgment for the plaintiffs. Although the plaintiffs' notice of appeal named both defendants as appellees, the issues they raised in their brief concern only the defendant Samford; therefore, we consider Samford to be the only appellee. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment for Samford.
We have written the following in regard to our review of a summary judgment:
Diamond v. Aronov, 621 So. 2d 263, 265 (Ala. 1993).
Rex Copeland was a junior at Samford University at the time of his death. He was a member of the debate team and had been a member of that team since entering Samford as a freshman. By all accounts, he was an accomplished debater. William Slagle, his debate coach, had been hired by Samford in September 1987, the year Copeland entered Samford as a freshman. Slagle came to Samford from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where he had been employed for approximately 10 years as debate coach. From 1987 until Copeland's death, the debate team at Samford was nationally competitive.
Several months before his death, in preparation for an upcoming debate, Rex had been assigned a particular topic to research for his team. The team held a practice debate on September 21, 1989. Rex's team lost the practice debate and, considering the evidence in a light most favorable to Copeland, one could conclude that both Rex and Slagle were upset. Several days later Rex's body was discovered in his apartment.
In his summary judgment order, the trial court stated, in pertinent part:
"The doctrine of the Gilliam case was followed in Goodloe v. Memphis &amp; C.R.R., 107 Ala. 233, 240, 18 So. 166, 167, 29 L.R.A. 729, 54 A.St.Rep. 67, [(1895),] when the Supreme Court said:
"Therefore, the issue to be determined here is whether ... the act committed by Slagle was done while acting within the line and scope of his employment. There are generally three tests to determine whether ... one is acting within the line and scope of his employment and whether... the employer is liable for the acts of the servant. Where there is a slight deviation from the master's business the court may determine as a matter of law that the servant was within the line and scope of the master's business. If the servant has [made] a radical deviation wholly for personal motives or to gratify his personal objectives or desires that is a marked and unusual deviation then the master would not be liable [,] as a matter of law. Cases that fall in between these two boundaries call for the finder of fact to determine the issue. Hendley v. Springhill Memorial Hospital, 575 So. 2d 547 (Ala.1990).
"The court finds from the evidence in this case that the actions of Slagle were not in the pursuance of the business of Samford University and that there was a radical deviation or departure from the authority given to him by Samford University.
C.R. 811-16.
The plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in entering the summary judgment while, they say, crucial discovery was pending. The record indicates that this case was placed on the "administrative docket" in February 1992 in order to allow Slagle to appeal his murder conviction before this civil action was tried. In Slagle's criminal case, this Court denied his petition for certiorari review on October 23, 1992. The Copelands then moved that this civil case be removed from the administrative docket and placed on the active docket; on November 30, 1993, the trial was set for May 2, 1994. Samford moved for a summary judgment on April 11, 1994, and a hearing was set on its motion for April 22. The plaintiffs then moved for an order to obtain deposition testimony from Slagle; the motion was granted on April 13, 1994. On April 18, the plaintiffs filed a "motion to extend time for filing affidavits and depositions in opposition to Defendants' Motion for summary judgment or in the alternative, motion to continue." That motion stated in pertinent part:
C.R. 345-46. That motion was denied. On April 19, 1994, Slagle, on the advice of his attorney, refused to answer most of the questions propounded to him.[1] The plaintiffs then moved for sanctions, requesting, in the alternative, that the hearing on the motion for summary judgment be continued until disposition of Slagle's pending habeas corpus petition or until Slagle could be deposed. The trial judge did not rule on the motion. The court held a hearing on the summary judgment motion on April 22, and the trial court informed the parties by telephone on April 29 that Samford's motion for summary judgment would be granted. The plaintiffs' brief in opposition to the motion for summary judgment did not address their earlier argument that Slagle's deposition testimony constituted crucial discovery. The court signed the summary judgment order on May 2, 1994. The plaintiffs then filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the judgment for Samford University. Again, they did not argue that crucial discovery had been pending when the motion was granted.
"`[C]ontinuances are not favored and ... a trial court's denial of a motion for continuance will be upset only when a palpable or gross abuse of discretion has been shown.' Johnson Publishing Co. v. Davis, 271 Ala. 474, 496, 124 So. 2d 441, 459 (1960)." Scullin v. Cameron, 518 So. 2d 695, 698 (Ala.1987). With regard to a court's entering a summary judgment while allegedly crucial discovery is pending, we have said:
Reeves v. Porter, 521 So. 2d 963, 965 (Ala. 1988). See also Diamond v. Aronov, 621 So. 2d 263, 265-66 (Ala.1993). The plaintiffs argue that Slagle's deposition testimony is crucial in this case; however, we note that this case had been taken off the administrative docket at the request of the plaintiffs, with a May trial date set. The record does not show that the plaintiffs made any attempt to depose Slagle before April 13, 1994. Furthermore, the Copelands did not address their crucial discovery argument in their brief in opposition to the motion for summary judgment or in their motion to vacate that judgment. Assuming that this issue is even preserved for our review, in light of these facts we conclude that the judge's refusal to grant a continuance based on pending discovery was not error.
The Copelands contend that Slagle was acting within the line and scope of his employment when he murdered their son Rex. The question here is whether, at the time of the murder, Slagle was on Samford's business when he went to Copeland's apartment. If, as the Copelands argue, Slagle went to Rex's apartment to discuss Rex's performance during the practice debate, was there a deviation from his master's business thereafter? The trial court considered the murder to be a major deviation from the master's business, as a matter of law, and granted Samford's motion for summary judgment.
In opposition to the motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs offered the testimony of Allegra Jordan, Scott Barber, and Steven Scott given during Slagle's criminal trial, along with a letter written by Slagle before he was arrested; the letter also had been put in evidence at Slagle's trial. Although the parties had stipulated as to the authenticity of the criminal trial record, Samford objected to the admission of this evidence in opposition to its motion for summary judgment.
We note that Samford was not a party to the criminal trial against Slagle. While the plaintiffs urge this Court to adopt the Federal rule set out in United States v. O'Connell, 890 F.2d 563 (1st Cir.1989)that testimony from previous adversarial proceedings should be admitted for consideration on motions for summary judgmentwe decline to do so in this case. The plaintiffs admitted in their motion to vacate the summary judgment that they could easily have obtained the affidavit *196 testimony of at least two of the persons whose prior sworn testimony was offered in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. C.R. at 819. In addition, as we have previously noted, the plaintiffs did not attempt to depose Slagle until a few days before the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. The trial court was correct in striking the evidence.
Next, the Copelands alleged that Samford had negligently hired Slagle as its debate coach and thereafter had negligently supervised him. The record shows that the Copelands did not present substantial evidence that Samford should have, or that it could have, foreseen that Slagle would or might commit the murder.
Finally, the Copelands contend that Samford did not file a narrative statement with its motion for summary judgment, as required by Rule 56(c). The Copelands made no objection on this basis at any time before the court ruled on the motion for summary judgment; therefore, that issue was not preserved for review.
The summary judgment for Samford University is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
HOOPER, C.J., and MADDOX, SHORES, and KENNEDY, JJ., concur.
[1]  At that time, Slagle had a petition for writ of habeas corpus pending.