Opinion ID: 1903075
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict in favor of appellee.

Text: ¶ 10. Williamson also complains that the trial court erred in sustaining Daniels's motion for a directed verdict and dismissing his case. This Court conducts a de novo review of motions for directed verdict. If the Court finds that the evidence favorable to the non-moving party and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom present a question for the jury, the motion should not be granted. Little v. Bell, 719 So.2d 757, 760 (Miss.1998)( quoting Pace v. Financial Sec. Life of Mississippi, 608 So.2d 1135, 1138 (Miss.1992)). Therefore, unless the evidence presents a question of fact over which reasonable jurors could disagree, a motion for directed verdict should be sustained. Id. ( quoting Vines v. Windham, 606 So.2d 128, 131 (Miss.1992)). ¶ 11. Williamson's claim involves the question of the liability of parents for the intentional or malicious acts of their minor children. Mississippi has long adhered to the general rule that a parent will not be held liable for the tortious acts of its minor child on the mere ground of the parental relationship. Tatum v. Lance, 238 Miss. 156, 161, 117 So.2d 795, 797 (1960) ( quoting Dempsey v. Frazier, 119 Miss. 1, 80 So. 341, 342 (1919)); Winn v. Haliday, 109 Miss. 691, 69 So. 685 (1915). There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. In addition to the common law cause of action for negligent supervision, the Mississippi Legislature, in keeping with the majority of states, has enacted statutes which make even non-negligent parents, in certain limited circumstances, liable for the malicious and willful acts of their children. See Miss.Code Ann. § 93-13-2 (1994) and Miss.Code Ann. § 43-21-619 (1993). ¶ 12. Williamson cites In the Interest of B.D., 720 So.2d 476 (Miss.1998), in support of his claim for recovery. In that case, this Court upheld the constitutionality of § 43-21-619 empowering youth courts with the discretion to impose damages or restitution against parents for the willful or malicious acts of their children regardless of parental negligence. B.D. at 481. Williamson's reliance on § 43-21-619, however, is misplaced as the statute is applicable only to the youth court. It is the Legislature's intent that [restitution] be accomplished through the youth court instead of the circuit court. It is not this Court's place to negate such a decision because we might prefer a different procedure. B.D. at 479. Being without other remedy, Williamson relies on common law, which is inadequate for deciding the present case and emerging legal theories on the issue. ¶ 13. Under common law, parents can be liable for their children's acts where the parents [own] negligence has made it possible for the child to cause the injury complained of and probable that the child would do so. Tatum, 238 Miss. at 162, 117 So.2d at 797 ( quoting 67 C.J.S. Parent and Child § 68, p. 798). This is the cause of action known as negligent supervision, and it is based on the simple premise that parents have a societal duty to exercise reasonable care in the supervision of their minor children so as to prevent them from intentionally injuring others. ¶ 14. In the case sub judice, Williamson alleges that Daniels failed to reasonably supervise her 15 year old, and this negligence was the proximate cause of his injuries. An actionable claim of negligent supervision, as is the case with all negligence claims, requires that the plaintiff establish the existence of a duty of care, a breach of that duty, proximate causation, and compensable damages. Each element must be satisfied. This requires not only that the plaintiff show negligence and injury, but that the injury sustained by the plaintiff was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant's negligence. The rule is firmly established in this state, as in nearly all the common law states, that in order that a person who does a particular act which results in injury to another shall be liable therefor, the act must be of such character, and done in such a situation, that the person doing it should reasonably have anticipated that some injury to another will probably result therefrom, ... but that the actor is not bound to a prevision or anticipation which would include an unusual, improbable, or extraordinary occurrence, although such happening is within the range of possibilities. Mauney v. Gulf Ref. Co., 193 Miss. 421, 427-28, 9 So.2d 780 (1942) (citations omitted). ¶ 15. It follows therefrom that parents have a duty to take reasonable measures to supervise their children so as to protect others from acts of their children which are reasonably foreseeable. Other courts have faced this question in similar circumstances. See, e.g., Dinsmore-Poff v. Alvord, 972 P.2d 978 (Alaska 1999); Barth v. Massa, 201 Ill.App.3d 19, 146 Ill.Dec. 565, 558 N.E.2d 528 (1990); Duncan v. Rzonca, 133 Ill.App.3d 184, 88 Ill.Dec. 288, 478 N.E.2d 603, 612 (1985); Prather v. Brandt, 981 S.W.2d 801, 806 (Tex.App. Houston 1st Dist.1998). ¶ 16. The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 316 has attempted to clarify the common law as it pertains to the liability of parents for the willful or malicious acts of their children by imposing upon parents a duty to exercise reasonable care so to control [one's] minor child as to prevent it from intentionally harming others or from so conducting itself as to create an unreasonable risk of bodily harm to them, if the parent (a) knows or has reason to know that he has the ability to control his child, and (b) knows or should know of the necessity and opportunity for exercising such control. Under § 316, the duty to take reasonable measures to control the child arises when the parent knows or should know of the need to control the child and has both the ability and the opportunity. In other words, the parent must actually be capable of controlling the child as well as aware of a specific need to do so. Although we do not find it necessary at this time to adopt the Restatement's version of parental liability, we find it helpful in analyzing such claims. ¶ 17. Both the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 316 and the general common law principles of negligence regarding parental supervision of the minor child suggest that the parent must have knowledge of prior malicious acts similar enough to the specific act complained of to put the parent on notice of the necessity to control the child. The parent will be charged with the knowledge of such acts as would be discovered in the exercise of reasonable supervision. The parent must also have failed to act as a reasonably prudent parent would to control the child's behavior so as to prevent a recurrence. We think it important to note that the mere fact that the parents failed to control the child is insufficient to prove negligence; they must have failed to act as reasonably prudent parents based on notice of the child's propensity to do harm. ¶ 18. In Dinsmore-Poff, the Alaska Court recognized that parents have a duty to act reasonably in preventing the torts of their minor children where the parents have notice of the child's dangerous propensities. 972 P.2d at 981. Parents are on notice of their child's dangerous propensities and the need to impose corrective measures if they know of similar past conduct. Id. ¶ 19. More recently, in Tatum v. Lance , we found that where parents exercised due care to prevent inappropriate use of a BB gun, they were not liable for injuries their son inflicted on another child. In Tatum, no proof was elicited to show that the child had a vicious or violent nature, and we found that, given the circumstances, the parents could not have foreseen the injury. We posited: The further question is whether or not the parents of the Lance child as reasonably prudent persons should have reasonably foreseen or anticipated that the maid in the Lance home would be sick, that it would become necessary for Mrs. Lance to take her to a doctor, and that Mr. Lance, who had gone for his child at the school, would miss the bus, and that during such interval the Lance child would be left in the home alone, and that he would search the house for the shots which his father had concealed therein and would succeed in locating the same, and then use the gun to the injury of another. 238 Miss. at 162-63, 117 So.2d at 798. ¶ 20. In the case at hand, Williamson contends that Daniels had full knowledge of her son's propensity towards violence. In support of this claim he cites specific instances of Eddie's prior misconduct of which Daniels was aware; namely, that he struck a boy at school, he cut his uncle's hand during a fight, he was accused of bullying neighborhood children, and he apparently participated to some extent in a robbery. In light of Eddie's pattern of behavior, there were sufficient facts available for a jury to conclude that Daniels was on notice that her child had a tendency for violence towards others. This was a sufficient preliminary finding to impute parental liability upon Daniels for the conduct of her child Eddie. ¶ 21. Assuming that Eddie's prior acts imputed notice of his dangerous propensity to Daniels, the analysis can not stop there. Once it is determined that parents had notice of their child's dangerous propensities, the next step is to determine whether the parents acted reasonably in controlling the child. Dinsmore-Poff set out four factors to be considered: (1) the appropriateness of the parent's response to specific acts of prior violence; (2) the reasonableness of subsequent general efforts to control the child; (3) whether the parents should have foreseen the need to prevent the specific incident at issue; and, if so, (4) the reasonableness of the parent's efforts to do so. 972 P.2d at 985. ¶ 22. As to whether the parents appropriately responded to prior violent acts, Dinsmore-Poff noted that most courts have been far from demanding in judging the reasonableness of parental efforts to correct a vicious tendency; it is enough that the parents make a good faith effort to correct wrongdoing as it occurs. Id. at 982, 983. The parents must also make such subsequent reasonable general efforts to control the child and prevent a recurrence of a violent episode. Dinsmore-Poff, 972 P.2d at 982, 985. The court in Barth v. Massa, supra , held that parents need only exercise such ability in controlling their child as they in fact have when the opportunity of exercising such authority arises and they know the necessity of doing so. 558 N.E.2d at 534. (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 316 (1966), cmt. b.). Additionally, parents are more likely to be effective in controlling a young child as opposed to a near-adult child. Dinsmore-Poff, 972 P.2d at 982 (citing Moore v. Crumpton, 306 N.C. 618, 295 S.E.2d 436, 442 (1982); Bell v. Hudgins, 232 Va. 491, 352 S.E.2d 332, 334 (1987)). ¶ 23. The parents in Dinsmore-Poff, who failed to search their child's personal effects or enforce a curfew, in spite of the fact that they knew of a prior assault with a stolen gun, were found to have acted reasonably. The parents resorted to numerous psychiatric treatment facilities, restrictive school programs and cooperated with the child's probation officer. Id. at 979. In the similar facts of this case, Daniels testified that when fifteen year old Eddie acted inappropriately, she used corporal punishment and withheld privileges. Additionally, she sought psychiatric help for Eddie and took him to work with her or left him with relatives in an effort to assure that he was properly supervised at all times. These actions should be viewed in the context of what Daniels knew about the incidents. The knife incident was described by her brother, the victim, as not being very serious, and there were conflicting stories about the fight at school. ¶ 24. Viewing all the evidence in favor of Williamson, even if it was found that Daniels did not effectively enforce the curfew, such a finding would not subject Daniels to liability in light of her other efforts in attempting control of Eddie. See Dinsmore-Poff, 972 P.2d at 987. More importantly, in order to attach liability to parents, it must also be shown that the parents foresaw the need of preventing the specific incident, otherwise parents would effectively become insurers and prison wardens for their minor children. Id. It is not enough to show that, based on prior misconduct of the child, the parents had general notice of the child's dangerous propensity. Nor is it sufficient that there is a jury issue regarding whether the parental response to that knowledge was reasonable. There must also be a showing that the parents had reason of knowing with some specificity of a present opportunity and need to restrain the child in preventing some imminently foreseeable harm. Dinsmore-Poff, 972 P.2d at 986. ¶ 25. In Barth v. Massa, 201 Ill.App.3d 19, 146 Ill.Dec. 565, 558 N.E.2d 528 (1990), a fifteen year old child brought stolen guns, hid them in his room and later used one of them during a burglary to shoot a police officer. The officer sued the minor's parents claiming that they failed to take proper responsibility of the child's prior violent acts which involved shooting at other children with a BB-gun. The Barth court held that in spite of the fact that the parents knew of the BB-gun incident, they did not have the requisite notice of their son's propensity to perform the far more dangerous felony. That is, they knew nothing of the stolen guns or any of the child's thoughts concerning burglary or other criminal conduct. ¶ 26. In the present case, Daniels presented uncontradicted testimony that she was not aware of the fact that Eddie obtained a gun from a friend and had hidden it in his bedroom, contrary with her rules against guns; or that Eddie had left the house while she was on the phone; or that when he left the house he was carrying a gun; or that he had any reason or desire confront Williamson and shoot him. The factually analogous case of Barth shows that charging Daniels with knowledge of a need to take additional precautions in preventing Eddie from shooting Williamson would be unreasonable under these circumstances. See Tatum, 238 Miss. at 162-63, 117 So.2d at 798. ¶ 27. We think it unreasonable to require parents to anticipate and guard against every logically possible instance of misconduct. Extending the zone of foreseeability so far as to include Williamson's claim would pose the risk of transforming parents from care givers and disciplinarians into the jailors and insurers of their minor children. We think this is a role most parents are ill equipped to take on. ¶ 28. We in no way suggest that parental liability for the criminal acts of the minor child is always precluded. Cf. Miss.Code Ann. §§ 97-13-14 & -15 (1994) (subject to some exceptions, parent is guilty of a misdemeanor if parent knowingly suffers or permits child under 18 years of age to have, own, or carry concealed any weapon the carrying of which concealed is prohibited). We can imagine a number of situations where parents, having actual notice of a specific vice and failing to take reasonable steps to prevent its recurrence, would incur civil liability for their child's criminal acts or intentional torts. In this instance, however, we can find no evidence of any prior misconduct similar enough to the attack on Williamson to alert Daniels that an assault of this nature was imminent. ¶ 29. In conclusion, we find that the plaintiff below proffered insufficient evidence to create a jury issue on the question of foreseeability. The order of the Circuit Court of Harrison County granting the defendant's motion for directed verdict and dismissing the case is, therefore, affirmed. ¶ 30. AFFIRMED. PRATHER, C.J., PITTMAN, P.J., BANKS, SMITH, WALLER AND COBB, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY SULLIVAN, P.J.