Christensen v. Potratz

• Decision Date: 13 July 1979
• Docket Number: No. 12600,12600
• Citation: 100 Idaho 352,597 P.2d 595
• Parties: Marvin CHRISTENSEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Donald POTRATZ, Defendant-Respondent, and Monte's Trailer Sales and Carl A. Krah, dba Whee-Go Custom Built Campers and Trailers, Defendants.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 595

597 P.2d 595

100 Idaho 352

Marvin CHRISTENSEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Donald POTRATZ, Defendant-Respondent and Monte's Trailer Sales and Carl A. Krah, dba Whee-Go Custom Built Campers and Trailers, Defendants.

No. 12600.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

July 13, 1979.

Howard L. Armstrong, Jr., Pocatello, for plaintiff-appellant.

W. Marcus Nye of Racine, Huntley & Olson, Pocatello, for defendant-respondent.

WALTERS, Judge Pro Tem.

This matter is before the Court upon appeal from a final order entered by the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the respondent Donald Potratz, dismissing appellant's complaint against the respondent.

The appellant filed suit claiming recovery for personal injuries and property damage suffered by him on October 13, 1972, when a camper belonging to the respondent Potratz and attached to respondent's pickup exploded while the appellant was inside the camper. The appellant and the respondent were on a hunting expedition together northwest of Challis, Idaho, at the time of the explosion.

The suit was filed against the respondent alleging:

"That on or about the 13th day of October, 1972, the Plaintiff, as a guest and an invitee of the Defendant Donald Potratz, and while Plaintiff was in the above referred to camper as a hunting companion of the Defendant Donald Potratz, and without fault on the part of the Plaintiff, and through the carelessness, negligence or disregard of the Defendant for the safety of his guest, the Plaintiff was severely injured as the result of a gas explosion in said camper, which caused the Plaintiff to be hurled to the outside of the camper, causing burns upon his body and severely injuring his arms and face."

Named in the suit also as defendants in other counts of the complaint were the parties who manufactured the camper and who sold it to Potratz. These other named defendants are not parties to this appeal.

After the depositions of both appellant and respondent were taken in the course of discovery proceedings in the suit, the respondent moved for summary judgment seeking dismissal of the appellant's complaint upon the ground that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that the respondent was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The motion was presented and argued upon the theory that the appellant could not make a case for application of res ipsa loquitur, based upon the depositions and pleadings.

The only evidence presented in respect to the motion for summary judgment was by way of the depositions of the parties. A review of the pleadings and those depositions discloses no question regarding the credibility of the deponents nor any reason why the testimony of either of them should be accorded any different weight than that accorded to the other; nor are we directed to any materially conflicting inferences that could be drawn therefrom. See Merrill v. Duffy Reed Construction Co., 82 Idaho 410, 353 P.2d 657 (1960).

The evidence presented by way of these depositions demonstrates that the respondent purchased a used camper in August, 1972, and it was installed on the box of his pickup some fifty-eight days before the explosion. The camper was equipped with a space heater or furnace, a three burner stove, an ice box, cabinets, a water tank and a hand operated pump on the water system. The heater and stove used liquid propane gas fuel. Interior lighting was provided by electricity. The seating facilities inside the camper could be pulled toward the center of the camper to make two (2) bunk beds.

The heater in the camper was located on the right side at the rear of the camper about two and one-half feet above the floor. The stove was located at the front of the camper in the center. A five-gallon propane gas tank, servicing the heater and the stove, was located on the outside of the right front side of the camper. The tank, heater and stove all worked on separate control valves so that the gas in the tank could be turned on, but neither the heater nor the stove would operate until their individual controls were turned on. The heater could be turned down so that only a pilot light would remain on.

The respondent used his camper on at least four occasions prior to October 13, 1972; on one occasion he and his wife stayed over night in the camper. On each of those occasions either or both the stove and heater were used and the respondent experienced no trouble whatsoever with either of those appliances. The respondent, in his deposition, testified that after the purchase of the camper, he neither returned the camper to the vendor for any reason, nor did he ever have any repair work done on the propane system, nor did he take it apart to see how it operated. He testified in essence that he had no reason to suspect that there was any defect or problem with the system.

The appellant and respondent, being friends and co-workers, undertook to go hunting together in October, 1972, using the respondent's pickup and camper for transportation. They each purchased their own groceries and meals on the trip, provided their own personal camping and hunting gear, and in the words of appellant, otherwise shared the expenses of the trip on a friendship basis.

After arriving at their destination they set up camp and prepared to retire for the night. The respondent utilized the heater to warm the camper and also prepared coffee on the stove.

When the parties went to bed, the respondent turned the heater off, as far as generating heat, but left the pilot light on. In regard to turning off the stove before retiring, the respondent testified on cross-examination in his deposition that he did not specifically recall, at the time of the deposition in January, 1978, that he turned the stove off; however, he recalled that immediately after the explosion he observed that the valves on the stove were closed, and in his deposition, the appellant testified he was positive that the stove had not been left on during the night.

Both of the parties testified that they were familiar with the odor of propane gas and that neither of them detected or smelled the odor of propane during the evening or morning prior to the explosion.

The respondent testified that he got up once during the night after retiring, and noticed that the pilot light was still on in the heater, and that he did not activate either the stove or the heater at that time.

On the morning of October 13, the respondent arose, turned up the heater, dressed, and folded up his bed. He then turned the heater down to pilot because the camper was comfortably warm. He then approached the stove to heat some water. Before turning the stove on, respondent struck a match. At that moment the explosion occurred. A blue sheet or ball of flame instantaneously flew from the inside of the cabinets above and around the stove, went through the camper and struck the appellant while he was still in bed in his sleeping bag, blowing open the camper door and throwing the appellant out onto the ground. As a result appellant's face and arms were severely burned.

In granting summary judgment to the respondent upon the res ipsa loquitur issue, the trial court noted:

"Plaintiff correctly argues the elements necessary to invoke the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, however, in addition to the conclusion that the occurrence, in the ordinary course of things would not happen unless someone would have been negligent, it is also necessary that the cause of the injury points to the defendant's negligence. (S. H. Kress & Co. v. Godman, 95 Idaho 614, 515 P.2d 561). In the present case, as in the Godman case, there were other probable explanations of the cause of the stove's explosion, including repairs or alterations which had been made to the gas stove and furnace by defendant, Monte's Trailer Sales as set forth in plaintiff's Second Cause of Action and also possibly the negligence of defendant, Whee-Go Custom Built Campers and Trailers as alleged in the Third Cause of Action."

On appeal from an order granting summary judgment the reviewing Court must construe the evidence liberally in favor of the party opposing the order and accord him the benefits of all inferences which might be reasonably drawn therefrom, (Straley v. Idaho Nuclear Corporation, 94 Idaho 917, 500 P.2d 218 (1972)) to determine whether there is a genuine issue as to any material fact and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Stewart v. Hood Corporation, 95 Idaho 198, 506 P.2d 95 (1973).

The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur uniquely is predicated upon inferences, rather than direct proof, as a form of establishing liability for negligence. One of the elements of a cause of action based upon negligence is a breach of a duty imposed upon a defendant to conform to certain standards of conduct. Res ipsa loquitur, if applicable to the facts of a particular case, creates an inference of the breach of the duty imposed and replaces direct evidence with a permissive inference of negligence. Brizendine v. Nampa Meridian Irrigation District, 97 Idaho 580, 548 P.2d 80 (1976); Harper v. Hoffman, 95 Idaho 933, 523 P.2d 536 (1974).

The facts here indicate that the duty to which the respondent was subject in respect to the appellant was the duty of reasonable and ordinary care, owed by a host to his social guest. Rehwalt v. American Falls Reservoir District No. 2, 97 Idaho 634, 550 P.2d 137 (1976); Springer v. Pearson,96 Idaho 477, 531 P.2d 567 (1975); Mooney v. Robinson, 93 Idaho 676, 471 P.2d 63 (1970); Wilson v. Bogert, 81 Idaho 535, 347 P.2d 341 (1959).

To infer negligence through application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, two elements must co-exist, i. e., the agency or instrumentality causing the injury...