Court Opinion

ID: 9763009
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:35:16.54328+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:38.816170
License: Public Domain

BECK, Judge,
dissenting and concurring.
The majority relies on the reasoning and holding of companion case, Kapres v. Heller, 417 Pa.Super. 371, 612 A.2d 987 *217(originally filed on 3-24-92 and refiled on 6-2-92) to conclude that a person under twenty-one years of age cannot be liable as a social host for furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor. For the reasons set forth in my dissent in Kapres, I disagree with this conclusion and dissent to the portion of the majority’s opinion which so holds. However, because I agree with the majority that appellee Brian Goldberg’s involvement could not rise to the level of substantiality required for imposition of liability in a social host situation, I concur in the result.1
In order for civil liability to attach to one who furnishes a minor with alcohol, the alleged tortfeasor must have intentionally rendered substantial assistance to the minor appellant in his or her consumption of alcohol. Jefferis v. Commonwealth, 371 Pa.Super. 12, 17-21, 537 A.2d 355, 358-359 (1988). I agree with the majority that appellee Goldberg’s accompanying appellant to a party at which alcohol was served, handing her a glass of beer which was poured by another host and attending another gathering at which appellant imbibed additional intoxicants does not amount to substantial assistance in her consumption of intoxicants. As such, I conclude that the trial court correctly granted summary judgment for Brian Goldberg on this reason alone.

. However, I must note that I disagree with the majority’s characterization of the issue. In my view the question is not whether "Brian’s involvement in obtaining and furnishing marijuana and alcohol to Jeanne ... [could be considered] a substantial factor in causing her death.” Instead the issue is whether appellee Brian Goldberg could be found to have been a substantial factor in the furnishing or promoting of Jeanne Goldberg's consumption of alcohol. The question of whether Jeanne Goldberg’s death was, in turn, proximately caused by her consumption of alcohol is a separate issue. See, e.g., Congini v. Portersville Valve Co., 504 Pa. 157, 163, 470 A.2d 515, 518 n. 4 (1983).