Opinion ID: 6330798
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Social Host Liability

Text: Nebraska’s Minor Alcoholic Liquor Liability Act grants a cause of action to “[a]ny person who sustains injury or property damage . . . as a proximate result of the negligence of an intoxicated minor” against (among others) a “social host who allowed the minor to consume alcoholic liquor . . . on property under his or her control.” Neb. Rev. Stat. § 53-404 (the “Act”). Minor is defined as a person under the age of 21.6 Spagna contends all Defendants are liable as social hosts under the Act, but the plain language of the Act applies to the “negligence of an intoxicated minor.” Even though Spagna did not plead that Wheeler acted negligently when he slashed her with a pocketknife, Wheeler’s criminal conviction for second-degree assault under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-309(1)(a) precludes a negligent commission of the act, as that subsection only allows a conviction for an assault committed intentionally or knowingly. The district court did not err in dismissing Spagna’s claim under the Act. 6 Neb. Rev. Stat. § 53-403, subd. 4 (stating the definition of “minor” is found in § 53-103.23); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 53-103.23 (defining a “minor” as a person “under twenty-one years of age”). -11-