Opinion ID: 852959
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proximate Cause and Comparative Fault

Text: The defendants point out that at the time a gun is used in a crime it is no longer in the control of any defendant. Moreover, a wide variety of conditions, many involving no fault of any defendant, can lead to use of a firearm in some unlawful manner. Under standard negligence doctrine, in order for a defendant to be liable for a plaintiff's injury, the defendant's act or omission must be deemed to be a proximate cause of that injury. Cowe v. Forum Group, Inc., 575 N.E.2d 630, 635 (Ind.1991), citing Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 41 at 263-66 (5th ed.1984). Proximate cause in Indiana negligence law has two aspects. The first causation in factis a factual inquiry for the jury. If the injury would not have occurred without the defendant's negligent act or omission, there is causation in fact. Cowe, 575 N.E.2d at 635. A second component of proximate cause is the scope of liability. That issue, which is also for the trier of fact, turns largely on whether the injury is a natural and probable consequence, which in the light of the circumstances, should have been foreseen or anticipated. Bader v. Johnson, 732 N.E.2d 1212, 1218 (Ind.2000). Under this doctrine, liability may not be imposed on an original negligent actor who sets into motion a chain of events if the ultimate injury was not reasonably foreseeable as the natural and probable consequence of the act or omission. Havert v. Caldwell, 452 N.E.2d 154, 158 (Ind.1983); Control Techniques, Inc. v. Johnson, 762 N.E.2d 104, 108 (Ind.2002). Under comparative fault, the trier of fact can allocate fault to multiple contributing factors based on their relative factual causation, relative culpability, or some combination of both. Control Techniques, Inc., 762 N.E.2d at 109; I.C. § 34-51-2-8. A crime involving the use of a gun may be attributable in part to an unlawful sale, but it also requires an act on the part of the criminal. Among the defendants, the retailers are the closest link in the causal chain to the criminal act. But even these dealers may not be the sole cause of the injuries from the illegal use of the weapon, and in many cases will not bear any share of the fault. As illustrated by the statistics the City cites in its complaint, a significant amount of time often passes between the sale of a handgun and the time a crime is committed using the weapon. [16] A wide variety of intervening circumstances may contribute to the ultimate unlawful use. And of course lawfully purchased handguns are also used in crimes, so any attempt to recover costs attributable to unlawfully distributed weapons must address that fact. We agree with the trial court that legislative policy permitting lawful distribution of guns is relevant here. As a matter of law, in the absence of other facts, it is not a natural and probable consequence of the lawful sale of a handgun that the weapon will be used in a crime. In this procedural posture the City cites no specific transaction in which its damages are traceable to use of a gun obtained in an unlawful sale. The City's general description of its damages would presumably embrace a vast number of different unspecified claims arising from a variety of widely different circumstances. Much of the costs that are within the broad terms of the City's complaint are undoubtedly attributable to use of lawfully distributed guns. Even an unlawfully sold weapon may nevertheless be acquired by a licensed owner before its use in a crime. In some cases the fault allocated to the user may overwhelm or even eliminate fault of the seller. And so on. Because of these many variables, any particular crime may not be attributable to an unlawful sale at all. And even if an unlawful sale did contribute in part to some injuries, the relationship of each defendant to the sale may vary, and the vast majority of defendants will have no relationship to the transaction that placed the gun in the hands of its user. The conclusory allegations of the complaint leave much unanswered. For the reasons cited, there may be substantial barriers to recovery of any or all of these damages. However at this pleading stage we have nothing more than the City's allegation that it has incurred damages in these general categories. There may indeed be substantial issues of proximate cause, or, as some courts put it, remoteness of damage. City of Cincinnati, 768 N.E.2d at 1144; People v. Sturm, Ruger & Co., 309 A.D.2d 91, 761 N.Y.S.2d 192, 197 (N.Y.App.Div.2003). However, we cannot say as a matter of law that no items are recoverable. Resolution of these issues must await the proof offered to substantiate each claimed item. Here we have bald allegations of liability and a claim of resulting damages. That is sufficient to state a claim. Whether the claim can be substantiated is an issue for another day.