Court Opinion

ID: 9482923
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:05:03.872121+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:17.442647
License: Public Domain

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Because I believe there are no material issues of fact as to whether defendant’s actions could be characterized as “intentionally inflicted” by defendant, I would affirm the summary judgment granted by the district court.
Under Kentucky law, the duties owed by landowners to trespassers are extremely limited. As the majority acknowledges, the governing statute provides that “[t]he owner of real estate shall not be liable to any trespasser for injuries sustained by the trespasser on the real estate of the owner, except for injuries which are intentionally inflicted by the owner or someone acting for the owner.” Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 381.-232 (Baldwin 1989). The rule is the same under Kentucky common law. The Kentucky Supreme Court has stated that “intentionally inflicted” means resulting from willful, wanton or reckless conduct. Kirschner v. Louisville Gas & Elec. Co., 743 S.W.2d 840 (Ky.1988). The Kirschner court held that conduct rises to this level only if “the actor has intentionally done an act of an unreasonable character in disregard of a known or obvious risk that was so great as to make it highly probable that harm would follow, and which thus is usually accompanied by a conscious indifference to the consequences.” Id. at 843. Taking the. facts and inferences in the light most favorable to plaintiff, she has not produced any evidence which would support a finding of an unreasonable act in disregard of an obvious risk of probable harm. The cable was installed to prevent automobiles from travelling down the road, in response to one such occurrence the previous summer. Sporadic pedestrian visits to a pond for fishing by local teenagers do not, without more, give rise to a finding of defendant’s ignoring an obvious risk of probable harm resulting from a motorcycle being used in such a manner as to render adequate stopping distance impossible.
I would affirm the judgment of the District Court.