Opinion ID: 1060845
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Betty Lou Stidham died on June 18, 1990, after being mauled to death by two pit bull dogs. The pit bulls were owned by Ms. Stidham's next door neighbor, Edwin Hill. Mr. Hill was a Memphis police officer. Prior to Stidham's death, Hill's dogs had a previous history of exhibiting violent propensities. In 1987, Edwin Hill went to the emergency room after being bitten on the hand by one of his pit bulls. His hand had to be surgically repaired. In February of 1988, City of Memphis emergency personnel responded to a call from Edwin Hill's residence and found Edwin Hill's mother lying on the floor warding off the pit bulls with a stick. A paramedic attempted to enter the residence to rescue Ms. Hill, but the dogs became menacing toward him. The paramedic then helplessly watched Ms. Hill attempt to ward off an attack for approximately fifteen minutes until officer Edwin Hill arrived and led his dogs into another room. In October of 1988, City police and paramedics were again summoned to the Hill residence where Ms. Hill had again been attacked by the pit bulls. Ms. Hill sustained bites to her face, head and arms and was transported to the hospital. Both the police and the hospital were required to file reports of these attacks with the City of Memphis Animal Shelter. The record indicates that the previous owner of Ms. Stidham's home, Earl Grochau, had filed several complaints with the Memphis Police Department and the Animal Shelter concerning Edwin Hill's pit bulls. Grochau testified that the dogs caused him to fear for his life. He constructed a six-foot wooden fence between his backyard and Hill's property in an attempt to keep the dogs out of his yard. The dogs, however, burrowed beneath the wooden fence and attempted to attack Grochau's children. Grochau filed complaints with the Memphis Police Department concerning Hill's dogs in 1987 and in 1989. In late 1989, Edwin Hill was again attacked by one of his pit bulls. The bite caused temporary paralysis. In January of 1990, Hill's pit bulls attacked Ms. Stidham's dog. Ms. Stidham's dog had to have a leg amputated as a result of the attack. Ms. Stidham filed a vicious animal complaint with the Animal Shelter in response to the attack on her dog. The Animal Shelter impounded Hill's pit bulls for an evaluation. One of the pit bulls attempted to attack an Animal Shelter employee during the evaluation period. The Animal Shelter's evaluation of the dogs, however, concluded that neither dog possessed an overtly aggressive behavior. The Animal Shelter conducted a vicious animal hearing on January 23, 1990, to determine whether Hill's dogs were vicious at the time of the attack on Ms. Stidham's dog. While the Animal Shelter is responsible for maintaining all police, fire department and hospital records concerning dog attacks, the shelter did not have the records detailing the pit bulls' prior attacks. Robert Lee conducted the hearing and refused to allow cross-examination of Hill concerning the violent nature of the dogs. Lee opined that the pit bulls did not appear to exhibit a vicious nature toward either humans or animals and found that the dogs were not vicious based on the Animal Shelter's evaluation. Lee, however, decided that the dogs were dangerous because they were capable of inflicting serious injury. In January, 1990, Lee issued a letter to Hill declaring that the pit bulls were dangerous. The letter ordered Hill to correct any fencing deficiencies around his property and ordered Hill to enroll the dogs in a basic obedience training program within ninety days. The letter indicated that failure to comply with the order would result in a declaration that the dogs were vicious and in immediate seizure of the dogs. A copy of the letter was forwarded to Stidham. The pit bulls were released to Hill. Animal Shelter employees, including Lee, visited Hill's residence on two occasions to inspect the fencing surrounding Hill's property. During one visit, Lee ordered Hill to keep the back gate locked. Lee apparently inquired whether Hill had complied with the obedience school requirement. Hill had not complied but assured Lee that he would enroll the dogs and notify the Animal Shelter when obedience training was complete. Hill, however, never enrolled the dogs, and the Animal Shelter neglected to monitor the situation to assure further compliance. Ms. Stidham was mauled to death by the dogs in June of 1990. The trial court found that the defendant City of Memphis assumed a special duty to Ms. Stidham to undertake certain acts which would have protected her and her neighbors from the danger the City had notice of ... presented by Edwin Hill's pit bull dogs. The court found that the City was negligent for failing to follow-up on the obedience training requirement and failing to impound the dogs. The court further found that the vicious dog hearing was improperly conducted. The court held that the City's negligence was the proximate cause of Ms. Stidham's death and that the duty owed was not discretionary under the GTLA. Ms. Stidham's estate received a judgment in the amount of $ 1,897,713.03 for her wrongful death. Forty percent of the fault was assessed to the City of Memphis. The GTLA, however, limited the City's liability to $130,000.00 for which judgment was entered. The City of Memphis appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeals. The appellate court found that the Animal Shelter's negligence in failing to follow-up on its order requiring the defendant to enroll the dogs in obedience school was a discretionary act and that the City was immune from liability under the GTLA. The appellate court, however, then determined that the immunity was removed by application of the special duty exception to the public duty doctrine. We granted review to determine: (1) whether the Animal Shelter's negligence in failing to follow-up on its order requiring Hill to enroll the dogs in obedience school was immune as failure to perform a discretionary function; and (2) whether a governmental act that is immune as discretionary under the GTLA may be subsequently held to be nonimmune under the common law special duty exception to the public duty doctrine. We hold that the Animal Shelter's actions were operational and were not subject to immunity. We further hold that once an act falls within the purview of the immunity conferred by the GTLA, the act is immune and immunity may not subsequently be removed under a common law public duty doctrine analysis.