Opinion ID: 1834615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Harry's Bar

Text: Section 6-5-71 reads, in pertinent part, as follows: (a) Every wife, child, parent or other person who shall be injured in person, property or means of support by any intoxicated person or in consequence of the intoxication of any person shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by selling, giving or otherwise disposing of to another, contrary to the provisions of law, any liquors or beverages, cause the intoxication of such person for all damages actually sustained, as well as exemplary damages. This section created a civil cause of action against a person who, contrary to law, causes the intoxication of another by providing the other person with alcoholic beverages, when the plaintiff is injured because of the intoxication. The term that most narrowly limits this cause of action is the requirement that the furnishing of the alcoholic beverages be contrary to ... law. Martin v. Watts, 513 So.2d 958 (Ala. 1987). Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3-49(a), states that the rules promulgated by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board have the full force and effect of law. Chapter 20-X-6.02(4) of the Rules of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board provides: No on premise licensee may serve a person any alcoholic beverage if such person is acting in such a manner as to appear to be intoxicated. See Vol. 1, Alabama Administrative Code. Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3A-25, in pertinent part, provides: (a) It shall be unlawful: (3) For any licensee ... either directly or by the servants, agents or employees of the same, or for any servant, agent, or employee of the same, to sell, deliver, furnish or give away alcoholic beverages to any minor, or to permit any minor to drink or consume any alcoholic beverages on licensee's premises. Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3-1, in pertinent part, states: The following words or phrases, whenever they appear in [§ 28-3A-25],... unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section: .... (18) Minor. Any person under 21 years of age, except a person 19 years of age or older prior to October 1, 1985, is not a minor; provided, however, in the event [Ala.Code 1975, § 28-1-5] shall be repealed or otherwise shall be no longer in effect, thereafter the provisions of [Ala.Code 1975, § 26-1-1] shall govern. [3] Thus, § 28-3A-25(a)(3) made it unlawful for a licensee, or the servants, agents, or employees of a licensee, to sell or to otherwise furnish alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 years of age, unless that person was 19 years of age or older prior to October 1, 1985. That section also made it unlawful for a licensee, or the servants, agents, or employees of a licensee, to permit a person under 21 years of age to consume alcoholic beverages on the licensee's premises, unless that person was 19 years of age or older prior to October 1, 1985. The plaintiff contends that the summary judgment for Harry's Bar was improper because, she says, the record contains at least a scintilla of evidence that it sold or furnished beer to King; that King was visibly intoxicated at the time the beer was sold or furnished to him; that the sale or furnishing of the beer to King was in violation of Chapter 20-X-6.02(4); and that the sale or furnishing of the beer to King caused or contributed to her daughter's death. The plaintiff also contends that there is at least a scintilla of evidence that Harry's Bar sold or furnished beer to Blaylock; that Blaylock was visibly intoxicated at the time the beer was sold or furnished to him; that the sale or furnishing of the beer to Blaylock was in violation of Chapter 20-X-6.02(4); that the sale or furnishing of the beer to Blaylock, who was approximately one-month short of his 20th birthday on the day of the accident, was also in violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3); [4] and that, in consequence thereof, Blaylock negligently entrusted his automobile to King when they left the reception. Harry's Bar contends that the summary judgment in its favor was proper. Pointing out that the undisputed evidence shows that neither King nor Blaylock ever became visibly intoxicated while at the bar, it argues that the sale or furnishing of the beer to them was not contrary to Chapter 20-X-6.02(4). Harry's Bar also points out that the undisputed evidence shows that Blaylock was not directly sold or furnished alcoholic beverages while he was at the bar. It argues that, as a result, there was no violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3). Harry's Bar is correct in arguing that the undisputed evidence shows that although King and Blaylock drank beer at the bar, neither of them ever became visibly intoxicated while there. Consequently, no violation of Chapter 20-X-6.02(4) was shown. Contrary to its assertions, however, Harry's Bar did not make a prima facie showing that no beer was sold or furnished to Blaylock in violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3). It is true that the bar presented evidence tending to show that Blaylock gave his money to other people and that those people purchased the beer for him. It is also true that this evidence constituted a prima facie showing that no beer was directly sold or furnished to Blaylock. The plaintiff presented no evidence tending to show otherwise; however, in Laymon v. Braddock, 544 So.2d 900 (Ala.1989), this Court explained that when alcohol is being purchased the licensee has a duty to ascertain that the purchaser is not underage. The Court further noted that a licensee cannot escape liability for selling or furnishing alcohol to an underage person by participating in a second-party sale subterfuge that was known to, and ... participated in by, the licensee. 544 So.2d at 903. Because Harry's Bar made no prima facie showing that it did not participate in such a subterfuge, the burden never shifted to the plaintiff to submit evidence that it did. Accordingly, the summary judgment for Harry's Bar could not have been properly based on the ground that no violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3) occurred. However, as previously noted, Harry's Bar did establish that King never became visibly intoxicated, either at the bar or at the reception. Furthermore, it is undisputed that Blaylock paid no attention to the amount of beer that King drank at the bar or to the amount of champagne that he drank at the reception. Thus, the undisputed evidence shows only that King never became visibly intoxicated while he was with Blaylock and that when he left the reception, Blaylock was not aware of exactly how much beer King had drunk at the bar or how much champagne he had drunk at the reception. To prevail against Harry's Bar under § 6-5-71, the plaintiff had to present evidence tending to show that her daughter's injuries were in consequence of Blaylock's negligent entrustment of his automobile to King, and that Blaylock's negligence in entrusting the automobile to King had been induced by a state of intoxication brought on by the beer that Blaylock had illegally consumed at Harry's Bar. To succeed under a cause of action for negligent entrustment, however, a plaintiff must prove that the entruster knew or had a reason to know of the entrustee's incompetent condition or proclivities. Brown v. Vanity Fair Mills, Inc., 291 Ala. 80, 277 So.2d 893 (1973). Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, as our standard of review requires, we conclude that no reasonable inference can be drawn that Blaylock knew, or should have known, when he and King left the reception that King was not sufficiently alert to operate an automobile. The summary judgment for Harry's Bar was, therefore, proper.