Court Opinion

ID: 9749144
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:24:47.800732+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:44.289494
License: Public Domain

FERREN, Associate Judge,
concurring:
I concur only because of this court’s adherence to Firfer v. United States, 93 U.S. App.D.C. 216, 208 F.2d 524 (1953); see Holland v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., D.C. App., 431 A.2d 597, 599-601 (1981) (en banc), which binds a division of this court. See M. A. P. v. Ryan, D.C.App., 285 A.2d 310, 312 (1971).
I agree wholeheartedly with the trial court that there should be a single standard of reasonable care under the circumstances, irrespective of the status of the entrant upon the land (trespasser, licensee, invitee). See e. g., Smith v. Arbaugh’s Restaurant, Inc., 152 U.S.App.D.C. 86, 96, 469 F.2d 97, 107 (1972), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 939, 93 S.Ct. 2774, 37 L.Ed.2d 399 (1973); Rowland v. Christian, 69 Cal.2d 108, 117, 70 Cal.Rptr. 97, 104, 443 P.2d 561, 568 (1968) (en banc); Mile High Fence Co. v. Radovich, 175 Colo. 537, 548, 489 P.2d 308, 314 (1971) (en banc); Pickard v. City & County of Honolulu, 51 Haw. 134, 135, 452 P.2d 445, 446 (1969); Ouellette v. Blanchard, 116 N.H. 552, 557, 364 A.2d 631, 634 (1976); Basso v. Miller, 40 N.Y.2d 233, 241, 386 N.Y.S.2d 564, 568, 352 N.E.2d 868, 872 (1976); Mariorenzi v. Joseph DiPonte, Inc., 114 R.I. 294, 307, 333 A.2d 127, 133 (1975). See generally Comment, The Common Law Tort Liability of Owners and Occupiers of Land: A Trap for the Unwary, 36 Md.L.Rev. 816 (1977).
This court has abolished any distinction for these purposes between invitees and licensees, establishing a standard of “reasonable care to be exercised under all the circumstances.” Blumenthal v. Cairo Hotel Corp., D.C.App., 256 A.2d 400, 402 (1969); see Holland, supra, at 599-600; D.C. Transit System, Inc. v. Carney, D.C.App., 254 A.2d 402, 403 (1969). That standard should be extended to all entrants, see Smith, supra, 152 U.S.App.D.C. at 89, 469 F.2d at 100—keeping in mind that the foreseeability of the entrant’s presence bears on the question whether the landowner acted with “reasonable care.” See id. at 94-95 & n.46, 469 F.2d at 105-06 & n.46.
This case very well illustrates how status distinctions clutter the analysis. On the *1075facts here, the question whether Ward was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser is a most difficult! even impressionistic one. A digression into that thicket gets in the way of the only straight-forward — and proper— question for the jury: Did WMATA exercise reasonable care to protect Ward from injury, given all the circumstances including the extent to which WMATA indulged her presence on the premises?