Allen v. Slim Pickens Enterprises, 88-314
| Decision Date | 28 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-314,88-314 |
| Citation | 777 P.2d 79 |
| Parties | Rex ALLEN and Jeannine Allen, Appellants (Plaintiffs), v. SLIM PICKENS ENTERPRISES, a California corporation, and Maggie Lindley Pickens, a/k/a Margaret Elizabeth Lindley, Appellees (Defendants). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Stephen E. Weichman and William R. Fix of William R. Fix, P.C., Jackson, for appellants.
William T. Schwartz and William S. Bon of Schwartz, Bon, McCrary & Walker, Casper, for appellee Slim Pickens Enterprises, Inc.
Richard E. Day and Richard L. Williams of Williams, Porter, Day & Neville, P.C., Casper, for appellee Margaret Elizabeth Lindley.
Before CARDINE, C.J., THOMAS, URBIGKIT and MACY, JJ., and PATRICK, District Judge.
Cowboy singer Rex Allen (Allen), then on his honeymoon, stopped at the Boulder Lake, Wyoming cabin of his long-time friend, Slim Pickens (Pickens). By association in prior years, Pickens had extended an open invitation to Allen to visit at any time and had apparently told Allen where the house key was secreted. Failing to find the key and falling on overgrown grass in the steps of the unoccupied cabin, Allen suffered injury which ultimately resulted in the loss of sight in one eye. Within this relationship and following the severe slip and fall injury, we are presented with a summary judgment denial of damage.
We affirm in analysis of the presented question of negligence and scope of duty of the property owner. Intrinsically involved is Allen's contention of failure [T]o maintain the stairway where the Appellant was injured in a reasonably safe condition, the Appellees failed to provide adequate maintenance of the stairway, the Appellees failed to warn of the unsafe condition existing upon the stairway, and that the Appellees were otherwise negligent in the management and maintenance of the stairway.[ 1
Pickens, a nationally known actor, owned a summer retreat cabin at Boulder Lake in the mountains near Pinedale, Wyoming. Title to the property had been transferred to Slim Pickens Enterprises, a California corporation, which constitutes one of the two appellees in this case and the heirs of the deceased Pickens constitutes the additional appellees in present appeal. In general practice, the cabin was closed and winterized in the fall and reopened in the spring with the arrival of suitable weather for summer use when the utilities were turned on and yard grass surrounding the structure cut. Allen had visited the cabin in prior years and an open invitation to "stop by" with included instructions as to where a hidden key to the cabin might be found had been extended.
In the year of the accident, 1983, Pickens was seriously ill and the cabin had not been reopened for use. As a result, weeds and grass had grown up around the walkways and stairs, as well as the yard area. According to the record as accurately outlined in appellee Margaret Elizabeth Lindley's brief:
Every fall, the Pickens cabin was winterized, which included disconnecting the electricity, and draining the water. When someone was going to use the cabin, including Slim Pickens and Mrs. Lindley, they would call in advance to have the cabin opened up and the utilities connected. This included having the grass mowed, the cabin cleaned, and linens brought out. The cabin was not habitable after it had been winterized. * * *
* * * No one in the Pickens family used the Pickens cabin during the year 1983, since Slim Pickens was very, very ill at that time. * * * Slim Pickens died in 1983. * * *
* * * Since no one in the Pickens family used the cabin in 1983, and no guests had called to request to use the cabin, the cabin remained winterized during the summer of 1983, and the native grass around the cabin had not been mowed. * * *
* * * According to Mr. Allen, Slim Pickens had told him many times that if Mr. Allen was going to be in the area, he was free to come and stay at the Pickens cabin. * * * Although Mrs. Lindley was not aware of this open invitation, she does not doubt Mr. Allen's word with respect to this invitation. * * *
* * * Mr. Allen had no specific discussion with either Slim Pickens or his wife, Mrs. Lindley, about staying at the Pickens cabin in July of 1983, and in fact Mr. Allen doubted that either Slim Pickens or his wife even knew that he was going to be in the area at that time. * * *
For the occurrence itself and on the date of the slip and fall accident, Mrs. Lindley summarizes:
In July of 1983, Mr. Allen and his wife were driving in a motorhome from a family gathering in northern Arizona to Calgary, Canada. * * * The night before the accident, Mr. Allen and his wife stayed in Denver with his son. Mr. Allen decided at that time that the Pickens cabin would be a nice place to stay on his way north. * * *
* * * Prior to driving to Boulder Lake to the Pickens cabin, Mr. Allen stopped in Pinedale to see if Mike Nystrom's office was open. Mr. Nystrom was a friend of Slim Pickens, and Mr. Pickens had originally bought the property at Boulder Lake from Mr. Nystrom. Mr. Allen was simply going to let Mr. Nystrom know that he was going to be spending the night at the Pickens cabin. Mr. Nystrom was not in his office at that time. * * * Mr. and Mrs. Allen did not stop anywhere else in Pinedale, since they wanted to get to the Pickens cabin before dark. * * *
* * * When Mr. Allen arrived at the Pickens cabin, there were no vehicles around, and there were no lights on in the Pickens cabin. Mr. Allen walked to the front door and knocked to see if anyone was there. When no one answered, Mr. Allen got back into his motorhome and drove down the road to the main lodge to see if he could get a key to the cabin. The people who ran the main lodge knew Mr. Allen, but the lodge was also closed down. * * *
* * * Mr. Allen then drove the motorhome back to the Pickens cabin and parked the vehicle in the driveway near the front of the structure. At the time he arrived back at the Pickens cabin, it was still light. According to Mr. Allen, Slim Pickens had told him that he had stashed a key to the cabin under the windowsill of one of the windows on the back of the cabin. * * *
* * * There was a deck across the back of the cabin, which could be accessed by one step up from the ground level to the deck, either coming in from the side of the house, or the back of the house. * * *
* * * When Mr. Allen arrived at the back of the Pickens cabin, he could see that tall grass had grown up in the cracks of the steps, and in front of the steps. Mr. Allen kicked the grass away to be...
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