Court Opinion

ID: 9540944
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:21:04.277379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:01:48.936197
License: Public Domain

ALPERT, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that, as a matter of law, appellee’s actions of erecting a chain across their right-of-way at night without any warning signs or reflectors does not constitute willful or wanton misconduct.
As the majority notes, the function of a summary judgment procedure is not to try the case or decide the issues of fact raised, rather it is merely to determine whether there are issues of fact to be tried and if there are none, to render judgment. Brewer v. Mele, 267 Md. 437, 298 A.2d 156 (1972); DeGroft v. Lancaster Silo Co., 72 Md.App. 154, 527 A.2d 1316 (1987). In that regard, all disputed facts and inferences should be viewed in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made. King v. Bankerd, 303 Md. 98, 492 A.2d 608 (1985).
In the case sub judice, it was disputed whether the chain had any reflectors or other warning devices on it, and whether there were any “no trespassing” signs in the area indicating the road was located on private property. Thus, these disputed facts, when viewed in a light most favorable to appellant, establish that there were no reflectors or other warning devices on the chain and that there were no “no trespassing” signs posted. In my opinion, a reasonable jury could find that the Wagners’ actions of erecting this chain across the road at night without warning signs or devices constitute willful and wanton misconduct.
While Carter v. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., 25 Md. App. 717, 336 A.2d 790 (1975), a case relied upon by the majority, is factually similar to the case at bar, there are facts there that distinguish it from the instant case. In Carter, the accident occurred in broad daylight, whereas here, the accident occurred close to midnight when visibility is diminished due to darkness. In addition, in Carter, *251unlike the situation here where no signs were posted, “no trespassing” signs were posted on the property indicating that it was private property owned by the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company.
The Court of Appeals, in Bramble v. Thompson, 264 Md. 518, 526, 287 A.2d 265 (1972), agreed with the following statement taken from Woodbridge v. Marks, 17 A.D. 139, 45 N.Y.S. 156, 160 (1887):
A spring gun is more than likely to take human life. It is placed, not for the purpose of warning others off, but with the design to do them great injury, even if life is not taken should they come in contact with it____ A dog gives notice of his presence and attack. A spring gun kills without any notice whatever.
Here William E. Doehring, Jr. was killed without receiving any warning whatsoever of the presence of the chain across the road. An invisible chain, like a spring gun, “is placed not for the purpose of warning others off, but with the design to do them great injury____” Without an appropriate warning device, the chain could only serve as a trap for the unwary. Unseen, it could not warn; it could only seriously injure or kill.
Several courts in other jurisdictions facing fact patterns similar to the instant case have held that the granting of summary judgment was improper. For example, in Krevics v. Ayars, 141 N.J.Super. 511, 358 A.2d 844 (1976), a motorcyclist was riding on a motorbike trail on defendant’s property near dusk when he struck a cable. The cable was indistinguishable from the surrounding woodlands, and the defendant had failed to post any warning signs. The court held that summary judgment was improper because the defendants’ action of erecting the cable was willful and possibly malicious. See also Yeske v. Avon Old Farms School, Inc., 1 Conn.App. 195, 470 A.2d 705 (1984) (Plaintiff was injured when he rode his motorbike into an unseen cable on defendants’ property. The court held that whether defendants’ action of erecting the cable gate with no warning devices constituted willful or wanton misconduct was *252for the jury to determine); Moore v. The Ohio Oil Co., 241 Ill.App. 388 (1927) (The court ruled that the case be submitted to a jury on the ground that the defendant had knowingly permitted the use of the road, and his erection of the cable across the roadway without warning made the road more dangerous); see also Estate of Thomas v. Consumers Power Co., 394 Mich. 459, 231 N.W.2d 653 (1975), modifying 58 Mich.App. 486, 228 N.W.2d 786 (Plaintiff’s allegations that the defendant knew of the power company’s unmarked guy wires and the threat therefrom to snowmobiles permissibly using the land was sufficient to give rise to a cause of action based on gross negligence so as to withstand summary judgment).
Because reasonable minds could differ as to whether the Wagners’ conduct was willful and wanton, I would reverse and remand the case to allow a jury to determine the issue.