Ferreira v. Strack

• Decision Date: 24 January 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-381-A,94-381-A
• Citation: 652 A.2d 965
• Parties: Amelia FERREIRA et al. v. William STRACK et al. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 965

652 A.2d 965

Amelia FERREIRA et al. v. William STRACK et al.

No. 94-381-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Jan. 24, 1995.

Cort Chappell, Middletown, for plaintiffs.

Kevin Cain, Providence, for defendants.

OPINION

SHEA, Justice.

This matter is before the Supreme Court on appeal by the plaintiffs, Amelia Ferreira (Amelia), Frank Ferreira (Frank), and Frank Bors on his own behalf and as executor of the estate of Florinda Amado-Bors (Florinda), from a summary judgment entered in the Superior Court for the County of Newport in favor of the defendants, Patrick M. Maher and Joanne D. Maher (the Mahers). ¹ For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the summary judgment. The following undisputed facts will provide the necessary background for this appeal.

On December 24, 1986, Amelia, Frank, and Florinda drove to St. Joseph's Church (church) in Newport to attend Midnight Mass. They parked their car in a small parking lot directly across the street from the church. The parking lot is separated from the church by Broadway, a public highway.

After the Mass ended, Amelia, Frank, and Florinda left the church and walked across Broadway en route to their car across the street. Amelia and Florinda were struck by a vehicle driven by William Strack (Strack) while they were in the crosswalk. It is undisputed that Strack was legally intoxicated when his vehicle struck plaintiffs. Florinda died within hours of the accident. Her sister, Amelia, suffered severe and permanent injuries.

The following undisputed facts regarding Strack's alcohol consumption on the evening of December 24, 1986, are based on Strack's deposition of January 4, 1991. Strack and a friend began drinking alcohol at approximately 4:30 p.m. at Strack's apartment where they imbibed one or two twelve-ounce cans of beer. After leaving the apartment, Strack and his friend drove to another friend's house nearby for a brief visit. According to his testimony, he consumed a beer in the car on the way to this house. Upon arrival, Strack consumed one beer and left in order to have another beer or two at the Irish American Club, a local bar he frequented, before it closed at 6 p.m. He left the Irish American Club shortly after 6 p.m. and left his car at the club or at his parents' house. He then drove to the Narragansett Cafe on Long Wharf with yet another friend.

While in this friend's truck, Strack acknowledges, he may have had another beer before he and his friend arrived at the cafe sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. Immediately upon arrival Strack ordered and drank a beer and had at least two more, if not three, before leaving between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Strack's testimony reveals the probability that he indulged in several shots of liquor while he was at the Narragansett Cafe in addition to the three or four beers he imbibed.

Strack's next stop was the Mahers', defendants in this case, who were hosting a holiday party at their home on Bellevue Avenue. Strack did not know the Mahers. He heard about their party by word of mouth approximately one hour before he decided to attend. Strack is uncertain whether he might have made a stop at his house first prior to arriving at defendants' home sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. that evening. If he did stop at his house, his testimony reveals, he would have consumed more alcohol at that point.

As indicated, Strack did not know the Mahers, nor had he ever met them prior to the night of their holiday party. In addition he had never been to their home, nor did he know a family by the name of Maher on Bellevue Avenue. His testimony clearly indicates that he did not receive a verbal or a written invitation from either defendant or any of their three children.

Strack went to defendants' home twice on the evening of December 24, 1986. From the time he began to drink alcoholic beverages sometime around 5 p.m. that afternoon he consumed, at various places, a quantity of alcohol up to at least ten beers and several shots of hard liquor. His first visit to the Mahers' home fell approximately between 9 and 10 p.m. that night. On that first visit, Strack testified, that he consumed only alcoholic beverages that he had brought with him to defendants' home. Strack is uncertain how many beers he consumed on this first visit, but he was drinking beer he had brought with him that was in a brown paper bag he held in his arms. He then left defendants' home either to retrieve or to drop off his car.

Strack later returned to the Mahers' home for a second visit. His deposition does not clarify the precise time of this visit. Most of the time intervals, including this second visit, as well as the quantities of alcohol consumed, appear to be estimates because Strack was inebriated and six years had elapsed from the time of the incident to that of the deposition. However, it is undisputed that while at the Maher home for the second time, Strack consumed one additional beer. He testified that he was not offered or served this beer by anyone but rather helped himself to it from the Mahers' refrigerator. He then left the Mahers'. He did not speak with anyone or engage in any activities during this second visit.

After leaving the Mahers' home, Strack traveled to the On Deck Circle, a nearby drinking establishment, where he consumed one beer and one shot of hard liquor. He left the On Deck Circle at approximately 1 a.m. He testified that he felt he was too drunk to drive but he drove nonetheless. It was shortly thereafter, at approximately 1:25 a.m. on December 25, 1986, when Amelia and Florinda were struck by the vehicle driven by an intoxicated Strack.

The plaintiffs filed suit against defendants, outlining their allegations. Following the exchange of extensive discovery between the parties, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the trial justice. Separate and final judgment was entered in favor of defendants on September 8, 1992, and this appeal ensued.

In their suit against defendants, plaintiffs allege that Strack had been a guest of the Mahers in their home prior to the accident on the evening of December 24, 1986. The plaintiffs further allege that Strack was furnished alcoholic beverages while at the Maher home, which caused and increased his intoxication, and that defendants knew or should have known that Strack was intoxicated. The plaintiffs also allege that the Mahers knew or should have known that Strack was intent on operating a motor vehicle that evening.

Lastly, plaintiffs allege that by actually or constructively knowing that Strack was intoxicated and intent on operating a motor vehicle, defendants owed a duty of care to the general public. The plaintiffs assert that this alleged duty of care to prevent Strack from operating a motor vehicle was specifically owed to plaintiff Amelia Ferreira and that their failure to do so constituted negligence.

The issue to be addressed is whether there exists a duty of care owed by a defendant social host to an innocent third party who suffers injuries as a result of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle by an adult guest if the negligence is caused by the guest's intoxication. This court has never ruled on the issue. After careful review and reflection we are of the opinion that the facts in this case fall short of what would be necessary to impose such a duty.

In Rhode Island "negligence is the breach of a duty, the existence of which is a question of law." Barratt v. Burlingham, 492 A.2d 1219, 1222 (R.I.1985). "Whether there exists a duty of care running from the defendant to the plaintiff is, therefore, a question for the court and not for the jury." Banks v. Bowen's Landing Corp., 522 A.2d 1222, 1224 (R.I.1987). If no duty exists, then the trier of fact has nothing to consider and a motion for summary judgment must be granted. Id. at 1225. In Banks we stated:

"No clear-cut rule exists to determine whether a duty is in fact present in a particular case; however, courts such as the California Supreme Court have articulated several factors that may be applied to aid in that determination. In considering whether a duty exists, among the factors considered are (1) the foreseeability of harm to the plaintiff, (2) the degree of certainty that the plaintiff suffered an injury, (3) the closeness of connection between the defendant's conduct and the injury suffered, (4) the policy of preventing future harm, and (5) the extent of the burden to the defendant and the consequences to the community for imposing a duty to exercise care with resulting liability for breach." Id. at 1225.

An application of these principles leads this court to the firm conclusion that the trial justice was not in error when he found that defendants had no duty of care to plaintiffs in this case.

This court has never adopted the principle that a social host owes a duty to a third person injured by an intoxicated person who has obtained intoxicating liquor at his or her home. This court has long held that the creation of new causes of action should be left to the Legislature. Kalian v. People Acting through Community Effort, Inc., 122 R.I. 429, 432, 408 A.2d 608, 609 (1979); Castellucci v. Castellucci, 96 R.I. 34, 38, 188 A.2d 467, 469 (1963); Levasseur v. Knights of Columbus, 96 R.I. 22, 24, 188 A.2d 469, 471 (1963). The majority of courts in other jurisdictions faced with the question of extending common-law tort liability to the social-host guest context have deferred to the Legislature. The reasoning for this deferral is their consideration that the question raised is one of broad public policy rather than an interpretation of the common law. See James F. Mosher, Liquor Liability Law (1994). This treatise provides an excellent summary of the development of liquor-liability law in the social-host guest context.

The majority of jurisdictions adhere to the common-law rule of social-host immunity. The courts adhering to the majority approach generally apply one of three...