Brady v. Hopper

• Decision Date: 14 September 1983
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 83-JM-451.
• Citation: 570 F. Supp. 1333
• Parties: James Scott BRADY, Timothy John McCarthy, and Thomas K. Delahanty, Plaintiffs, v. John J. HOPPER, Jr., M.D., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Colorado

570 F. Supp. 1333

James Scott BRADY, Timothy John McCarthy, and Thomas K. Delahanty, Plaintiffs, v. John J. HOPPER, Jr., M.D., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 83-JM-451.

United States District Court, D. Colorado.

September 14, 1983.

Jacob A. Stein, Stein, Mitchell & Mazines, Robert Cadeaux, Washington, D.C., Daniel J. Popeo, Paul D. Kamenar, Nicholas E. Calio, Washington Legal Foundation, Washington, D.C., Charles F. Brega, Robert E. Kendig, Roath & Brega, Denver, Colo., for plaintiffs.

Joseph C. Jaudon, Michael T. McConnell, Long & Jaudon, P.C., Denver, Colo., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS

JOHN P. MOORE, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on defendant's motion to dismiss. Consequently, the well-pleaded allegations of fact must be accepted as true, and the facts must be construed in a light most favorable to the pleader. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1973); Oppenheim v. Sterling, 368 F.2d 516 (10th Cir.1966), cert. denied 386 U.S. 1011, 87 S.Ct. 1357, 18 L.Ed.2d 441 (1967). Moreover, a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Dewell v. Lawson, 489 F.2d 877 (10th Cir.1974); Davidson v. Dill, 180 Colo. 123, 503 P.2d 157 (1972).

I. Allegations of the Complaint

Plaintiffs James Scott Brady, Timothy John McCarthy, and Thomas K. Delahanty were all shot and seriously injured by John W. Hinckley, Jr. ("Hinckley") in his attempt to assassinate President Reagan on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C. The defendant, Dr. John J. Hopper, Jr., is the psychiatrist who had been treating Hinckley from late October, 1980, until March, 1981.

Plaintiffs' complaint alleges that Dr. Hopper was negligent in examining, diagnosing, and treating Hinckley in conformity with reasonable standards of psychiatric care. According to the complaint, Hinckley was brought to Dr. Hopper in late October, 1980, by Hinckley's parents because the parents were concerned about their son's behavior, including a purported suicide attempt by drug overdose. Plaintiffs allege despite Hinckley's attempted suicide on at least one if not several occasions, Dr. Hopper negligently formed the opinion that Hinckley was not seriously ill. (Complaint ¶ 15). Dr. Hopper proceeded to treat Hinckley and prescribed valium and biofeedback therapy. Dr. Hopper also recommended to Hinckley's parents that Hinckley be on his own by the end of March, 1981. Plaintiffs assert that Dr. Hopper's treatment was not only ineffective, but that it actually aggravated Hinckley's mental condition, and made him more aggressive and dangerous, thereby creating an unreasonable risk of harm to others. (Complaint ¶¶ 16-29).

The complaint alleges that Dr. Hopper knew or should have known that Hinckley was a danger to himself or others, and that Dr. Hopper either possessed or had access to, information which would have indicated that Hinckley identified with the assassin in the movie "Taxi Driver"; that he was collecting books and articles on political assassination; and that Hinckley possessed guns and ammunition. (Complaint ¶ 28). According to the complaint, Hinckley's parents were aware of and concerned about their son's worsening condition, and contacted Dr. Hopper and recommended that their son be hospitalized. (Complaint ¶¶ 13-17). Despite the possibility Hinckley might have been amenable to that idea, Dr. Hopper recommended that Hinckley not be hospitalized, and that treatment continue on an outpatient basis. (Complaint ¶ 18).

The rest of Hinckley's strange story is well known. In March, 1981, Hinckley left Denver and traveled across the country to Washington, D.C. On March 30, 1981, he attempted to assassinate President Reagan, and, in the process, shot and injured plaintiffs. Hinckley was subsequently tried for these crimes and found not guilty by reason of insanity. He is currently confined to St. Elizabeth's Hospital where he is receiving medical and psychiatric care.

The gravamen of plaintiffs' complaint is that if Dr. Hopper had properly performed his professional duties, he would have controlled Hinckley's behavior; therefore, Hinckley would not have made the presidential assassination attempt. Specifically, plaintiffs assert that the prescription of valium and biofeedback therapy, coupled with the advice that Hinckley's parents "cut him off", aggravated Hinckley's condition and actually contributed to his dangerous propensity. Further, plaintiffs assert that Dr. Hopper should have consulted with another psychiatrist regarding his form of treatment, and that Dr. Hopper should have taken steps to have Hinckley confined. Finally, plaintiffs allege that Dr. Hopper should have warned Hinckley's parents of their son's extremely dangerous condition, and that he should have warned law enforcement officials of Hinckley's potential for political assassination. (Complaint ¶¶ 22-28).

II. Summary of the Arguments

The primary issue raised by defendant's motion is whether the relationship between therapist and patient gives rise to a legal duty such that Dr. Hopper can be held liable for the injuries caused to plaintiffs by Hinckley. The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 315 states as follows:

There is no duty so to control the conduct of a third person as to prevent him from causing physical harm to another unless

(a) a special relation exists between the actor and the third person which imposes a duty upon the actor to control the third person's conduct, or

(b) a special relation exists between the actor and the other which gives to the other a right to protection.

The thrust of defendant's argument is that the relationship between Dr. Hopper and Hinckley, that of a therapist and outpatient, is not a "special relationship" which gives rise to a duty on the part of the therapist to control the actions of the patient. In other words, defendant asserts that the therapist-outpatient relationship lacks sufficient elements of control required to bring the therapist within the language of § 315.

The main case upon which defendant relies in support of this position is Hasenei v. United States, 541 F.Supp. 999 (D.Md.1982). Hasenei was an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries sustained when plaintiffs' car collided head-on with a car driven by an army veteran who had been treated as an outpatient at a VA hospital. Plaintiffs in that case argued that the treating psychiatrist was negligent in his diagnosis and treatment of the patient, and that the doctor's negligence caused the plaintiff's injuries. After trial to the court, the court found that under the facts of that case, "there seemingly was no way in which the psychiatrist could have predicted with any reasonable degree of medical or psychiatric certainty that within 12 days or one month the patient would do harm to himself or others." Id. at 1011. The court went on to hold that the relationship which existed between the psychiatrist and patient did not give the psychiatrist the right or ability to control the patient's conduct, and in the absence of such a relationship, the psychiatrist owed no duty to plaintiff to control the patient's activities, and therefore the psychiatrist could not be held liable. This idea was also expressed in Megeff v. Doland, 123 Cal.App.3d 251, 176 Cal.Rptr. 467 (1981), "It is fundamental that in order to take charge of a person in such a manner as will create a duty to control his conduct, one must possess the ability to control that person's conduct."

Defendant next argues that the duty to control the violent acts of another does not arise absent specific threats directed to a reasonably identifiable victim. The leading case on a therapist's liability for the violent actions of a patient is Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976). In Tarasoff, the patient communicated to the therapist specific threats and his intention to kill an unnamed — although readily identifiable — girl. The therapist informed law enforcement authorities of these threats, but failed to warn the girl or her parents. The California Supreme Court held that when a therapist determines (or pursuant to the standards of his profession should determine) that his patient presents a serious danger of violence to another, he is then obligated to take reasonable care to protect the intended victim against such danger. The court further held in such cases reasonable care may include the duty to warn the intended victim.

In Thompson v. County of Alameda, 27 Cal.3d 741, 167 Cal.Rptr. 70, 614 P.2d 728 (1980), the California Supreme Court again faced the question of the extent of liability to a third party for the dangerous acts of another. In Thompson, a juvenile offender known to have dangerous propensities was confined in a county institution. This patient had made generalized threats regarding his intention to kill, but had made no specific threats regarding any identifiable person. The county institution released the patient on temporary leave, and, within a day, the patient killed a young boy in his neighborhood. The court refused to extend Tarasoff to a setting where there was no identifiable victim. Instead, it took a more limited approach to the duty to warn, and concluded that even in the case of a person with a history of violence, no duty existed when the person had made only nonspecific threats of harm directed at nonspecific victims. Id. at 614 P.2d 735. See also, Doyle v. United States, 530 F.Supp. 1278 (C.D.Cal. 1982); Furr v. Spring Grove State Hospital, 53 Md.App. 474, 454 A.2d 414 (1983).

In essence, defendant argues that the instant case presents an even clearer basis than Thompson for a finding of no duty. It is argued that even according to the allegations in the complaint, Hinckley had no history of...