Court Opinion

ID: 9720636
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:38:03.981772+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:20.216351
License: Public Domain

WOODS (Fred), J., Concurring and Dissenting.
I am constrained to concur in the majority opinion, pursuant to the strong dicta expressed by a unanimous California Supreme Court in Isaacs v. Huntington Memorial Hospital (1985) 38 Cal.3d 112 [211 Cal.Rptr. 356, 695 P.2d 653], establishing, inter alia, that the absence of prior similar incidents will not absolutely shield a business inviter from liability to its injured business invitee for criminal acts of third parties on the business premises.
My reluctance to join willingly in the majority opinion stems from a feeling of inequity that results in a case such as the present one when the record on appeal is devoid of any evidence that the business is located in a high crime area and uncontradicted evidence in the record indicates the absence of prior similar criminal conduct on the premises for an appreciable period of time (six and one-half years). I can understand the emotional underpinnings in Isaacs where a doctor was shot point blank in the chest by an unknown criminal assailant in the research parking lot of the Huntington Memorial Hospital thereby inflicting grave injuries on him. However, Isaacs not only contained a record on appeal showing prior similar third party criminal attacks which dictated the need for the presence of armed guards on the premises but also a dangerous environment created by a hospital with an active emergency room which had with historical frequency treated patients for injuries inflicted at the hands of violent criminals.
The broad brush dicta used by our California Supreme Court in Isaacs to reverse a considerable body of appellate law which had made proof of prior similar criminal acts a sine qua non of the injured plaintiff’s case has, at least under the facts of this case, led to an inequity. I would respectfully encourage our Supreme Court to reexamine its expansive dicta on this issue in hopes of devising a more equitable rule of foreseeability to fit cases such as this one.
*397I respectfully dissent from those portions of the majority opinion which appear to have created or have become inappropriately close to creating “law of the case” on the issue of the presence of duty. Those portions of the opinion appear as follows: 1. At page 393, ante, where it is stated: “Accordingly, for purposes of assessing a duty on defendant’s part, we conclude it was reasonably foreseeable that defendant’s patrons using its parking lot at night could become the victims of criminal conduct and suffer consequent injuries.”
2. At page 394, ante, after a cursory reference to the factors to be considered in establishing the existence of “duty” mentioned in Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, 113 [70 Cal.Rptr. 97, 443 P.2d 561, 32 A.L.R.3d 496], but without integration with the facts of this case, it is stated: “Such a balancing likewise points to the existence of a duty on defendant’s part to take measures for the protection of patrons who use its parking lot at night.”
Other language in the majority opinion is highly suggestive of the presence of “duty” in this case as a matter of law but seems to stop short of creating “law of the case” on the issue. To the extent that other language in the majority opinion can be interpreted as creating “law of the case” on the question of the presence of duty under these facts, I also respectfully dissent therefrom.
The posture of this case would indicate that the trier of fact should be free to resolve the triable issues of material fact pertaining to the existence or nonexistence of duty unencumbered by language either creating or implying the existence of “law of the case” on the duty issue.
Except as herein stated, I concur in the judgment expressed in the majority opinion.
Respondent’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied June 27, 1990.