Court Opinion

ID: 9710073
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:01:34.907383+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:54.034990
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
While I agree with the Majority’s conclusion that the question of whether Cynthia Long was either a trespasser or licensee should have been resolved by the jury, I would also *464hold that the ultimate issue should have gone to the jury, as well. From my reading of the record there was sufficient evidence to allow this entire case to proceed to a jury. I conclude that such a result in appropriate in light of the standard of review for a grant of a compulsory non-suit. In such instances, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, giving the plaintiff the benefit of all reasonable factual inferences and resolving any evidentiary conflicts in favor of the plaintiff. Coatesville Contractors v. Borough of Ridley Park, 509 Pa. 553, 506 A.2d 862 (1986). A compulsory nonsuit will be upheld only where it is inconceivable under the governing principles of law, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to plaintiff, that an issue can be resolved in plaintiff’s favor. Stevens v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, 89 Pa.Cmwlth. 309, 492 A.2d 490 (1985).
In this case, although Cynthia admitted she had some swimming experience, she knew the depth of the pool and was advised not to dive into the pool, she also stated that she was advised against diving, not because it was dangerous in the four foot pool, but rather because Ms. Manzo was concerned about water loss from the pool. Cynthia testified she thought the “no diving” signs were posted because the home owner did not want water to be splashed out of the pool. The babysitter corroborated this testimony and stated, although Ms. Manzo allowed her children to jump or dive into the pool, she didn’t like it. When asked why she “didn’t like people jumping or diving into the pool” the babysitter responded: “Because you always had to fill the water back up.” N.T. 3/31/95 at 7. In support of Appellants’ position that Cynthia did not know the danger of diving, is Cynthia’s testimony that she didn’t consider a dive into four feet of water to be dangerous. She testified: “I guess because like when you dive in like real cushiony, real soft, like pillows, you know, catches you, so I guess I never thought it was dangerous.” N.T. 3/30/95 at 90.
Given the testimony offered by Appellants I would conclude that the question of whether Cynthia appreciated the risks associated with diving into the four foot pool must be debated by a jury. While the jury may refuse to accept her testimony, *465there is evidence in the record to suggest that Cynthia did not know the danger in diving. The critical matter to be determined is whether Cynthia knew of the risk involved at the time she dove into the pool. While, as the trial court noted, she may have understood she was not suppose to dive, she may not have associated diving with any danger, but rather with the home owner’s desire to prevent water loss from the pool.
In Mucowski v. Clark, 404 Pa.Super. 197, 590 A.2d 348 (1991) the court considered a similar fact pattern in an action against a retail vendor. Therein a 21 year old senior engineering student dove head first into a four foot pool from a railing which was built three and one-half feet high around the pool. The student, who knew the depth of the pool before diving, struck his head on the bottom of the pool sustaining serious injury. The seller contended that the student voluntarily assumed the risk of his dive. We stated:
In the instant case, there is an issue of fact concerning the plaintiff-appellant’s knowledge and understanding of the risk of diving into four (4) feet of water from the railing around the pool. The evidence is clearly adequate to permit a finding that appellant, a senior engineering student who was familiar with the pool and the depth of the water therein, was cognizant of the risk and voluntarily chose to encounter it. On the other hand, appellant has himself denied an understanding of the risk which he encountered by diving head first into the pool’s shallow water. A jury, to be sure, may find his testimony incredible, but it is nevertheless sufficient to prevent the court from finding as a matter of law that he subjectively understood the risk and voluntarily chose to encounter it. We conclude, therefore, that a summary judgment could not be entered summarily for appellee-vendor on grounds that the plaintiff-appellant had voluntarily assumed the risk of striking his head on the bottom when he dived into the pool.
Id. at 202, 590 A.2d at 348.
We then affirmed the grant of summary judgment for other reasons, concluding that the absence of warnings could not be *466changed to the seller since it did not know and could not anticipate the changes made by the homeowner in adding the railing. Thus, the pool was not defective when sold because it did not warn of the risks of diving from a railing erected by the purchaser.
Although the Mucowski case differs because the court was considering recovery against a seller and the doctrine of assumption of the risk, its rationale is applicable here. Where there is testimony which, if believed by the jury, supports the position that a party did not understand the risks associated with a dive, or did not have reason to understand such risks, the matter must go to the jury.
In Baran v. Pagnotti Enterprises, Inc. 402 Pa.Super. 298, 586 A.2d 978 (1991), this court considered Section 342 of the Restatement in a wrongful death and survival action brought against a property owner after the plaintiffs son was killed when his vehicle fell into a 150-200 feet deep strip mining pit. We reversed the trial court’s grant of a nonsuit and refused to accept its conclusion that the pit was an obvious danger. We ruled that the question of whether the condition was known or discoverable by the decedent, relieving the property owner of any duty to warn, was a factual question for the jury to resolve. The court wrote: “It is elementary to our system of jurisprudence that a jury should decide factual questions. We refuse to usurp this basic function of the jury.” Id. at 307, 586 A.2d at 982.
I would conclude that the questions presented in this case are likewise appropriate for a jury to consider and decide. In my view it was an error for the trial court to take the matter out of its hands. Accordingly, I would reverse the grant of the nonsuit, and remand this matter for trial.