Opinion ID: 2609858
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is there a common-law negligence action?

Text: Plaintiffs allege various negligence theories for each defendant. [4] We do not, at this juncture, determine the merits of Plaintiffs' claims but limit our examination to the question of whether there is a common-law cause of action covering those claims. Thus, we go no further than deciding whether, as a matter of law, Defendants owed Plaintiffs a duty of reasonable care, a breach of which could give rise to legal liability, and whether a reasonable person could find that a breach of that duty was a proximate cause of the accident. We preface this analysis with a caveat. The concepts of duty and proximate cause in dram shop and related situations overlap and are sometimes difficult for courts to distinguish. See W. PAGE KEETON ET AL., PROSSER AND KEETON ON THE LAW OF TORTS § 42, at 273-74 (5th ed. 1984). We attempt to separate them here for the sake of rational discourse but do not attempt completely to distinguish the two.
The court decides whether a duty exists. Markowitz v. Arizona Parks Board, 146 Ariz. 352, 356, 706 P.2d 364, 368 (1985). The question is whether the relationship of the parties was such that the defendant was under an obligation to use some care to avoid or prevent injury to the plaintiff. Id. This court has held that a licensee who furnishes alcohol to one incompetent to use it owes to the public a duty of care created by the foreseeable risk of harm to third parties. Brannigan, 136 Ariz. at 517, 667 P.2d at 217. Today, in Estate of Hernandez, we found this to be true, even when the one furnishing alcohol is not a licensee but is serving an underaged person. Therefore, the only issue is whether the concept of duty is broad enough to encompass situations in which alcohol is not affirmatively furnished but reaches the minor in some indirect way. The question, in this case, is whether the Association, alleged to have notice of the fact that minors had access to and were stealing and personally using alcohol, was under a duty to take reasonable precautions for the safety of the general public. In Carrillo v. El Mirage Roadhouse, Inc., 164 Ariz. 364, 793 P.2d 121 (Ct.App. 1990), a licensee refused to serve an intoxicated patron but sold alcohol to the patron's friends, who then gave it to the patron. While driving home from the bar, the patron was fatally injured in a one-car accident, and his widow brought an action against the licensee. Sections 4-311 and 4-312 had not yet been enacted. However, the licensee claimed it had satisfied § 4-244(14) [5] because it had not directly served alcohol to the intoxicated patron. The court of appeals construed § 4-244(14) broadly enough to impose a legal obligation on the licensee to avoid indirectly serving alcohol. The court held that the continuing devastation from drunk driving compelled examination of the changing attitudes and needs of society. The frequency of accidents involving drunk drivers and the attendant carnage to an unsuspecting public compel us to continually scrutinize the scope of the [evolving] common law in this area. Carrillo, 164 Ariz. at 367, 793 P.2d at 124 (citing Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 504, 667 P.2d at 204; Reben v. Ely, 146 Ariz. 309, 705 P.2d 1360 (Ct.App. 1985)). We believe the present case merits a similar analysis. The combination of alcohol, gasoline, and immature judgment is as deadly as statistics suggest. See Estate of Hernandez, 177 Ariz. at 252, 866 P.2d at 1337 n. 8 (citing statistics on teenage deaths attributable to alcohol-related automobile accidents). There are similar situations in which courts impose a duty of reasonable care to protect the public against another's foreseeable criminal acts. The imposition of duty generally responds to changed social conditions. For instance, courts now routinely hold a landlord liable for damages arising from the property's inadequate security or lighting, which contributes to harming a tenant or third person due to an intervening criminal act. See, e.g., Frances T. v. Village Green Owners Ass'n, 42 Cal.3d 490, 229 Cal. Rptr. 456, 723 P.2d 573 (1986) (condominium operators may be liable for plaintiff's injuries where they had actual knowledge of inadequate lighting, and the hazardous condition it created, yet failed to remedy the condition, leading to plaintiff's rape and robbery); see also Sherman v. Concourse Realty Corp., 47 A.D.2d 134, 365 N.Y.S.2d 239 (1975) (same, broken lock); Lay v. Dworman, 732 P.2d 455 (Okla. 1986) (same); Nixon v. Mr. Property Management, 690 S.W.2d 546 (Tex. 1985) (owner of unlocked, vacant apartment building may be liable for rape that occurs there). Furnishing firearms is another area in which courts frequently impose a duty of care. Even though a third person's criminal act directly caused the injury, if a person or business negligently provided or allowed access to a gun, there could still be liability to the injured party. See Crown v. Raymond, 159 Ariz. 87, 91, 764 P.2d 1146, 1150 (Ct.App. 1988) (minor's use of gun furnished by defendant to commit suicide was not unforeseeable as a matter of law); Bernethy v. Walt Failor's, Inc., 97 Wash.2d 929, 653 P.2d 280 (1982) (merchant who negligently furnished gun to intoxicated patron should have foreseen that the patron might shoot his spouse). There are other cases in which a third party's intervening criminal acts do not relieve a negligent actor of liability. See, e.g., Hamman v. County of Maricopa, 161 Ariz. 58, 775 P.2d 1122 (1989) (therapist who determined that patient posed serious threat to others had a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect foreseeable victim); Hodge v. Nor-Cen Inc., 527 N.E.2d 1157 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988) (arsonist's setting of fire was not an intervening event that broke the causal connection between landlord's negligence in failing to provide adequate escape routes). The present cause of action is similar to these cases and leads to a similar conclusion. We conclude, under these facts, that a licensee storing alcohol has a duty to exercise reasonable care to guard that substance from those who will foreseeably endanger the public by its use. This does not mean, of course, that we find negligence. Duty is a question for the court, and we limit our holding to that issue. See Markowitz, 146 Ariz. at 356, 706 P.2d at 368.
Generally, proximate cause is a question of fact for the jury. Gosewisch v. American Honda Motor Co., 153 Ariz. 400, 404, 737 P.2d 376, 380 (1987). However, the court may properly decide proximate cause if, after reviewing the facts, there is no reasonable chance or likelihood that the conclusions of reasonable persons would differ. Flowers v. K-Mart Corp., 126 Ariz. 495, 497, 616 P.2d 955, 957 (Ct.App. 1980). Defendants argued, and the trial court agreed, that as a matter of law Defendants' conduct was too remote from the injury to be a legal cause. We disagree. Defendants asserted in the trial court that whatever their duty to Gerald Petolicchio, the chain of causation broke at the point Mattox stole the liquor. It would be unjust, they said, to find them liable for a harm that occurred because of a third party's illegal act. The RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS (hereinafter RESTATEMENT) states the rule regarding superseding cause in such cases: Where the negligent conduct of the actor creates or increases the risk of a particular harm ... the fact that the harm is brought about through the intervention of another force does not relieve the actor of liability, except where the harm is intentionally caused by a third person and is not within the scope of the risk created by the actor's conduct. RESTATEMENT § 442B (1965) (emphasis added). [An] intentional tort or crime is a superseding cause of harm, ... unless the actor at the time of [the] negligent conduct realized or should have realized the likelihood that such a situation [the opportunity to commit a tort or crime] might be created, and that a third person might [use] the opportunity to commit such a tort or crime. RESTATEMENT § 448. If the likelihood that a third person may act in a particular manner is the hazard or one of the hazards which makes the actor negligent, such an act whether innocent, negligent, intentionally tortious, or criminal does not prevent the actor from being liable for harm caused thereby. RESTATEMENT § 449. These sections, taken together, clearly establish that an intervening criminal act is not necessarily a superseding cause that relieves a negligent party of liability. Arizona courts have consistently adopted this position. See Delozier v. Evans, 158 Ariz. 490, 763 P.2d 986 (Ct.App. 1988) (bar could be liable for failing to protect patrons from foreseeable harm where bar patron was struck on the head with a baseball bat by another patron); Parness v. City of Tempe, 123 Ariz. 460, 600 P.2d 764 (Ct.App. 1979) (recreation center could be liable for plaintiff's injuries resulting from broken glass, even though other children pushed plaintiff down onto the glass). Of course, Mattox' theft was an intervening cause, but it would only break the proximate causation chain if it was a superseding cause. Rossell v. Volkswagen of America, 147 Ariz. 160, 168, 709 P.2d 517, 525 (1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1108, 106 S.Ct. 1957, 90 L.Ed.2d 365 (1986). An event is superseding only if it was both unforeseeable and when with the benefit of `hindsight' it may be described as abnormal or extraordinary. Id. 147 Ariz. at 169, 709 P.2d at 526; see also Serrano v. Kenneth A. Ethridge Contracting Co., 2 Ariz. App. 473, 409 P.2d 757 (1966). When a defendant's actions increase the foreseeable risk of a particular harm occurring through the conduct of a third party, that defendant is not relieved of liability. Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 506, 667 P.2d at 206. Defendants claim they cannot be responsible for this series of events beyond their control. Not only did Mattox steal the alcohol, he gave it to the driver, who then caused the accident. But Defendants do not claim, and we cannot say as a matter of law, that these acts were unforeseeable. Indeed, if Defendants knew that Mattox was pilfering liquor, a jury might well conclude it was foreseeable that he would distribute it to his high school classmates, creating an appreciable danger of a vehicular accident. It is not necessary that Defendants foresaw the actual harm that occurred, only that harm could occur. RESTATEMENT § 435 cmt. a. Nor, with or without the benefit of hindsight, can we say that an alcohol-related accident would be so extraordinary that a reasonable person would not anticipate this danger. See RESTATEMENT § 435 cmt. d. Our daily newspapers routinely chronicle such tragedies. As noted in Ontiveros, it is almost always foreseeable that drinking and driving may lead to automobile accidents. Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 507, 667 P.2d at 207 (citing Vesely v. Sager, 5 Cal.3d 153, 95 Cal. Rptr. 623, 486 P.2d 151 (1971); Ono v. Applegate, 62 Haw. 131, 612 P.2d 533 (1980); Rappaport v. Nichols, 31 N.J. 188, 156 A.2d 1 (1959)). Therefore, if Defendants had reason to know that minors might pilfer their alcohol, we cannot say, as a matter of law, that the subsequent chain of events was so unforeseeable, abnormal, and extraordinary that it constitutes a superseding cause, breaking the chain of causation.