Caldwell v. Idaho Youth Ranch, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 23474,23474
• Parties: Brenda CALDWELL and Robyn Caldwell, heirs and surviving parents of Patrick Caldwell, Deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross-Respondents, v. IDAHO YOUTH RANCH, INC., Defendant-Respondent-Cross-Appellant, and State of Idaho, Department of Health and Welfare, Defendant. Pocatello, May 1998 Term
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 215

968 P.2d 215

132 Idaho 120

Brenda CALDWELL and Robyn Caldwell, heirs and surviving parents of Patrick Caldwell, Deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross-Respondents, v. IDAHO YOUTH RANCH, INC., Defendant-Respondent-Cross-Appellant and State of Idaho, Department of Health and Welfare, Defendant.

No. 23474.

Supreme Court of Idaho,

Pocatello, May 1998 Term.

Oct. 16, 1998.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 8, 1998.

Goicoechea Law Offices, Chdt., Idaho Falls, for appellant. Allen H. Browning argued.

Moore, Baskin & Parker, Boise, for respondent. Paige A. Parker argued.

SILAK, Justice.

This is a wrongful death action instituted by appellants Brenda and Robyn Caldwell (Caldwells) to recover damages for the slaying of their son, Patrick Caldwell, a minor, by Santiago Espinoza (Espinoza), also a minor, in April 1994. The Caldwells seek to impose vicarious liability on the respondent Idaho Youth Ranch, Inc. (Youth Ranch). The district court granted the Youth Ranch's motion for summary judgment dismissing the case. Additionally, the district court denied the Youth Ranch's request for attorney fees. We affirm the decision of the district court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Espinoza had a history of juvenile problems starting when he was 10 years old. These problems mostly consisted of battery offenses involving other youths. In December 1991, Espinoza was petitioned into Juvenile Court for first-degree burglary of a Jeep Cherokee and entering a Ford Escort. In March 1992, Espinoza was charged with willful concealment for taking two packs of gum and one box of men's cologne. In February 1992, at age 13, Espinoza was petitioned into Juvenile Court on three counts involving malicious injury to property for breaking five windows in a building and two curfew violations. Espinoza was committed to the custody of the Department of Health and Welfare (Department) and was ordered to be admitted to the Youth Ranch. He was also placed on probation for two years. Espinoza and his father voluntarily agreed to his placement at the Youth Ranch beginning on August 28, 1992.

Upon his arrival at the Youth Ranch, Espinoza underwent a psychological assessment and was identified as having anger management problems. A treatment plan was therefore drawn to help Espinoza with these tendencies. Espinoza had to be physically restrained 20 times in his last four months at the Youth Ranch as a result of altercations with other peers and staff members. Although Espinoza did not fully complete his case plan, he was released from the Youth Ranch into his father's custody in January 1994. His release was the result of a joint decision by the Department and the Youth Ranch.

Approximately three months after his release from the Youth Ranch, in April 1994, Espinoza stabbed to death seventeen-year-old Patrick Caldwell. This brutal murder occurred after Espinoza

found Caldwell standing next to the car Espinoza and I.R. [Espinoza's friend] were planning to drive. There [was] some uncertainty as to whether Caldwell was in the car or was standing next to it. Caldwell evidently said something that made Espinoza angry. Espinoza and I.R. hit Caldwell several times with their fists. Espinoza then stabbed Caldwell seventeen times. Several of the wounds were to Caldwell's head and were hard enough to crack his skull. The remaining knife wounds were to Caldwell's torso, front shoulders and left side of his upper body.

State v. Espinoza, 127 Idaho 194, 195, 898 P.2d 1105, 1106 (Ct.App.1995). At the time Espinoza murdered Patrick Caldwell, Espinoza was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. Id. Espinoza thereafter pled guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, with twenty-five years fixed. This sentence was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Id. at 197, 898 P.2d at 1107.

On November 3, 1995, Patrick Caldwell's mother, Brenda Caldwell, filed a wrongful death action against the Department. On March 5, 1996, Brenda was allowed to amend the complaint by joining Patrick's father, Robyn Caldwell, as a plaintiff, and by adding the Youth Ranch as a defendant.

On August 8, 1996, both the Department and the Youth Ranch filed motions for summary judgment. After a hearing, the district court granted both motions, ruling that there was no dispute that Espinoza never made any oral or written comments or threats that he was going to kill anyone when he was released. With respect to the Department, the court ruled that the Caldwells failed to establish reckless, wanton and willful conduct on the part of the Department and that without such proof, the Department was immune under Idaho Code §§ 6-904A and 6-904C(2). With respect to the Youth Ranch, the court ruled that since Espinoza was not in the care, custody, supervision or control of the Youth Ranch when he murdered Patrick Caldwell, and because there was "no genuine issue of fact regarding any propensity on the part of Santiago Espinoza to commit murder or inflict serious intentional physical harm upon another while he was a resident at the Idaho Youth Ranch," the Youth Ranch did not owe any duty to the Caldwells. The court denied the Department's and the Youth Ranch's request for attorney fees and costs. The Caldwells filed a motion to reconsider and to alter or amend the judgment which the district court denied.

The Caldwells and the Department stipulated to dismiss the Caldwell's appeal and the Department's cross-appeal prior to the issuance of this opinion. Therefore, this opinion involves only the Caldwells and the Youth Ranch. The Caldwells appeal the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of the Youth Ranch, and the denial of their motion to reconsider. The Youth Ranch cross-appeals the court's denial of its request for attorney fees and costs.

II. ISSUES ON APPEAL

The Caldwells present the following issues on appeal:

1. Did the district court err in granting summary judgment in favor of the Youth Ranch?

2. Are the Caldwells entitled to attorney fees on appeal?

The Youth Ranch raises the following issues on cross-appeal:

3. Did the trial court err in denying the Youth Ranch costs and/or attorney fees?

4. Is the Youth Ranch entitled to attorney fees on appeal because the Caldwells have pursued this appeal frivolously, unreasonably and without foundation?

III. ANALYSIS

A. Standard Of Review.

This Court's standard of review on an appeal from an order granting summary judgment is the same as the standard used by the district court in ruling on a motion for summary judgment. State v. Rubbermaid Inc., 129 Idaho 353, 355-56, 924 P.2d 615, 617-18 (1996); Thomson v. Idaho Ins. Agency, Inc., 126 Idaho 527, 529, 887 P.2d 1034, 1036 (1994). Upon review, all disputed facts are to be liberally construed in favor of the non-moving party, and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the record are to be drawn in favor of the non-moving party. Rubbermaid, 129 Idaho at 356, 924 P.2d at 618. Summary judgment is appropriate if "the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." I.R.C.P. 56(c); Harris v. State Dep't of Health and Welfare, 123 Idaho 295, 297, 847 P.2d 1156, 1158 (1992).

B. Summary Judgment Was Properly Granted By The District Court In Favor Of The Youth Ranch As No Material Factual Issues Were In Dispute.

The district court granted the Youth Ranch's summary judgment motion finding that the Youth Ranch did not owe a duty to the Caldwells. In Sterling v. Bloom, 111 Idaho 211, 723 P.2d 755 (1986), this Court recognized a duty owed by those in charge of persons who are dangerous or who have dangerous propensities. In describing this duty the Court relied upon Dean Prosser:

"The general duty which arises in many relations to take reasonable precautions for the safety of others may include the obligation to exercise control over the conduct of third persons.... [Some] relationships are custodial by nature, requiring the defendant to control his charge and to guard other persons against his dangerous propensities.... The same rule has been applied to hospitals and psychotherapists who have charge of dangerous mental patients, and to those who have charge of dangerous criminals. ... Yet, in the absence of the requisite relationship, there generally is no duty to protect others against harm from third persons."

Sterling, 111 Idaho at 224-25, 723 P.2d at 768-69 (quoting Prosser and Keeton, The Law of Torts § 53 (5th ed.1984)) superseded in part on other grounds, I.C. § 6-904A. The Court noted that the duty described by Dean Prosser is acknowledged in the Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 319, which provides as follows:

§ 319. Duty of Those in Charge of Person Having Dangerous Propensities. One who takes charge of a third person whom he knows or should know to be likely to cause bodily harm to others if not controlled is under a duty to exercise reasonable care to control the third person to prevent him from doing such harm.

Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 319 (1977). The Sterling Court found that the key to this duty is the supervising individual's relationship to the supervised individual, rather than a direct relationship with the endangered person or class of persons. The Court stated that "[t]he duty extends to the protection and safety of 'others' foreseeably endangered." Sterling, 111 Idaho at 225, 723 P.2d at 769. The Court then expressly held that the duty set forth in § 319 of the Restatement exists in Idaho. Id. Thus, there are two components to the duty identified in Sterling. The first part requires a determination of whether the supervising body actually has control over the individual in question, and then secondly, if so, a determination must be made whether the harm caused by the individual was foreseeable.

With respect to the first component, the Youth Ranch...