Court Opinion

ID: 9581965
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:20:50.040688+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:37:21.889863
License: Public Domain

Hill, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that we have the power to answer questions certified to us by federal courts.
However, in my view the majority opinion answers the certified questions without paying the customary and necessary attention to legal details. For example, the majority opinion acknowledges that "We have recognized in a number of cases that where a county causes a nuisance to exist which amounts to a taking of property of one of its citizens for public purposes, the county is liable.” Yet the majority do not recognize that one of the plaintiffs was "the owner of the property at the crash site.”
To the extent that the property at the crash site was damaged as a result of a nuisance caused by the county, the county is liable to the owner for damaging such property. Code Ann. § 2-301. Fulton County v. Baranan, 240 Ga. 837, supra.
Also, at the time of this crash, plaintiff Fields was at a nearby apartment complex about to get into his car. He alleges that as the disabled aircraft passed overhead it was spewing burning fuel which burned him over 50% of his body and destroyed his car as well as his personal belongings and business supplies. He seeks $5,500 for his car, $4,687 for his personal property, and $35,000 in medical expenses, plus unspecified damages for loss of earnings, pain and suffering and permanent disfigurement. Pursuant to the cases cited by the *138majority, the county is not immune to suit where a county causes a nuisance which results in a taking of property. Thus plaintiff Field would be entitled, at a minimum, to damages for his car and other personal property . I fail to understand why the majority find that this plaintiff cannot recover property damage from DeKalb County just as Mr. Baranan did against Fulton County in Fulton County v. Baranan, supra.
Plaintiff Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. insured the aircraft which crashed. This insurance company alleges that it has paid the loss and sues upon an assignment of the cause of action from the aircraft owner. That owner suffered damage to its property which the insurance company has paid. The majority fail to explain why this plaintiff cannot recover property damage from DeKalb County when Mr. Baranan was allowed to do so against Fulton County in Fulton County v. Baranan, supra.
I submit that the property damage claims described above are maintainable against a county under existing law. Code Ann. § 2-301 provides that "Private property shall not be taken, or damaged, for public purposes, without just and adequate compensation being first paid.” The operation of an airport is a public purpose as is the operation of a refuse dump. Thus, unless the majority is saying a county can take personal property without compensation, but cannot take real property, then the property damage claims described above are recoverable under existing law. (The owner of the land where the aircraft crashed is seeking recovery of damages to real property in any event.)
I, for one, would not stop there however. Having determined that Mr. Fields can recover for damage to his car, I would find it illogical that he cannot recover for his loss of earnings, medical expenses and also pain and suffering. Having determined that Fireman’s Fund can recover for its property damage, I would find it intolerable that the three Miree children cannot recover for the deaths of their parents who were passengers aboard the aircraft. Having determined that the owner of the land where the aircraft struck can recover property damage, I would find it archaic that the widow of the copilot cannot recover for her loss.
*139For damaging private property the county is liable pursuant to the Constitution. Code Ann. § 2-301. For damages to people I would hold the county liable pursuant to the prohibition that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property except by due process of law. In a case such as this, the only due process available would be damages. In my view the doctrine of sovereign immunity deprives the Mirees and Mrs. Phillips (and Mr. Fields in part) of due process of law and therefore that doctrine of deprival should not be retained.
I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Nichols and Justice Jordan join in this dissent.