Court Opinion

ID: 9855261
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:22:00.479697+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:25:25.748951
License: Public Domain

Rosellini, C. J.
(dissenting in part) — In my opinion the judgment of the trial court should be reversed, and that *132court should be directed to enter judgment in favor of the plaintiff. -As the majority opinion states, the evidence showed that the walkway had become defective after the beginning of the plaintiff’s tenancy; the defendants had notice of the defective condition and were aware of the danger which it presented but had failed to correct the condition although the means to do so were inexpensive and readily available; and there was no other means of access to the demised premises.
I do not agree with the statement of the majority that the plaintiff’s right to bring an action for specific performance afforded him a reasonable alternative to using the walkway. The authorities cited in the paragraph containing this conclusion do not support it, nor are they in any way concerned with the question. The first two cases cited merely hold that specific performance will lie to enforce the covenants of a valid lease, and the third case holds that specific performance will lie to enforce the provisions of a valid contract. These cases do not even support the proposition that specific performance will lie to compel a landlord to repair a common walkway where, in a case such as this, his duty to repair is imposed by law and not by the provisions of the lease.
In the case of DeHeer v. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 60 Wn.2d 122, 372 P.2d 193, we quoted with approval the following from Restatement, Torts § 893, p. 491:
A person who knows that another has created a danger or is doing a dangerous act or that the land or chattels of another are dangerous,. and who nevertheless chooses to enter upon or to remain within or permit his things to remain within the area of risk is not entitled to recover for harm unintentionally caused to him or his things by the other’s conduct or by the condition of the premises, except where the other’s conduct constitutes a breach of duty to him or to a third person and has created a situation in which it is reasonably necessary to undergo a risk in order to protect a right or avert a harm. (Italics mine.)
In commenting upon the italicized portion, the authors of the Restatement said:
*133one who has a right that a landowner shall not only notify him of dangerous defects in the land but also shall maintain the premises in a safe condition for his use, may be entitled to recover from the landowner for harm caused by a defective condition even though he is aware of it . . . since otherwise he might be prevented from exercising his right of using the premises.
Nowhere in the Restatement or in any other authority which has come to my attention is there any suggestion that the availability of a legal remedy to enforce the plaintiff’s rights (and such a remedy is always available in one form or another if he has such rights) constitutes a reasonable alternative to the use of the premises. It should be obvious that this is not the kind of alternative which will excuse the landowner from performing his duty to maintain the premises in a safe condition. The plaintiff’s lease might well expire while he awaited a final decision in his legal action.
When it is said that a lessee cannot recover for injuries sustained in using a defective means of access to his leased premises if he has a reasonable alternative, what is meant is that he cannot recover if there is another means of access which a reasonable lessee would use. In the case before us, the only other means of access was by water or air; and the majority in fact concede that no other reasonable means of access was at hand.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the doctrine of assumption of risk does not apply to the factual situation before us, but I disagree that it is necessary to remand the case for a finding on the question of contributory negligence. The trial court, in its memorandum opinion, indicated quite clearly that it had reached a decision about the reasonableness of the plaintiff’s conduct. On that question, the trial court said:
I don’t want to find him contributorily negligent because somehow I don’t believe he was, but I do think he voluntarily exposed himself to the risk.
The question of contributory negligence was before the court and was given full consideration. The memorandum *134opinion reveals that the court found there was no contributory negligence, and the absence of any finding that there was such negligence is consistent with the statement contained in the memorandum. On remand of this case, the court can not make a finding that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence unless it has changed its mind about the evidence since it rendered its judgment in the case. Thus, the trier of the facts will be invited to review its own decision and render a new decision, with no additional facts before it. This is not a proper function for the trial court to perform.
It is evident from a reading of the memorandum opinion that the court believed that the plaintiff behaved in a reasonably careful and prudent manner, but the court admittedly was confused about the law pertaining to the plaintiff's right to use the walkway, knowing that it was in a defective and dangerous condition. It is my opinion that the rule is clear: he had such a right if there was no other means of access which reasonably could be used. The evidence is equally clear that no such alternative means of access was available.
This court should dispose of the appeal by granting the relief prayed for by the plaintiff.
Finley, Hunter, and Hale, JJ., concur with Rosellini, C. J.
July 13, 1965. Petition for rehearing denied.