Opinion ID: 1862473
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: procedural facts of the case

Text: Elizabeth O'Cain originally filed suit on March 2, 1987, in the Jackson County Circuit Court. In the original suit, O'Cain alleged that: [O]n or about October 15, 1981, while the Plaintiff was in the apartment, her roommate, [name omitted] was held at knifepoint and raped. As a direct and proximate result of this act of violence, the Plaintiff suffered extensive mental and emotional injuries of a permanent and enduring nature. ... [A]s a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the corporate Defendant, the Plaintiff suffered extensive mental, phychological (sic) and emotional injuries of a permanent and enduring nature. On January 27, 1988, after several months of discovery, Harvey Freeman filed a motion for summary judgment. A hearing on the motion was held on February 5, 1988. Four days later, on February 9, 1988, the trial judge issued a brief order which treated the motion for summary judgment as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to M.R.C.P. 12(b)(6). The complaint was dismissed with all costs charged to O'Cain. On February 19, 1988, O'Cain filed an amended complaint. Harvey Freeman & Sons filed a Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment of Harvey Freeman & Sons, Inc. of Mississippi on March 15, 1988. A hearing on this motion was held two weeks later on March 31, 1988. Following the hearing, the trial judge issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order on June 7, 1988. This opinion and order granted summary judgment in favor of Harvey Freeman & Sons, and now O'Cain appeals to this Court from this adverse ruling by the trial court. The record indicates that the trial judge dismissed the first suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted in that the cause of action attempted to state a claim for bystander recovery for emotional distress. The trial court concluded that in this state, O'Cain had no cause of action as a matter of law for bystander recovery. Therefore, dismissal of the first suit without prejudice afforded O'Cain an opportunity to amend and refile her complaint. The amended complaint attempted to allege emotional injury stemming from the invasion of O'Cain's apartment and the rape of her roommate rather than a bystander claim based on the contemporaneous witnessing of a traumatic event. Plaintiff's apartment was burglarized and her roommate was raped by one, LARRY WILLIAMS, who entered her apartment through a sliding glass door. That as a result of said burglary and rape, Plaintiff was severely injured and suffered extensive mental psychological and emotional injuries or (sic) a permanent and enduring nature. Amended Complaint, Record at 485.