Harmon v. Szrama

• Decision Date: 07 July 1967
• Docket Number: No. 8569,8569
• Citation: Harmon v. Szrama, 429 P.2d 662, 102 Ariz. 343 (Ariz. 1967)
• Parties: Roy HARMON and Doris Harmon, husband and wife, and father and mother of Peggy Joyce Harmon, Deceased, and Trudy Jean Harmon, an infant by Roy Harmon, her next friend, Appellants, v. La Verne R. SZRAMA and Ted A. Byer, as Administrator of the Estate of Ignatius S. Szrama, Jr., Deceased, Appellees.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 662

429 P.2d 662

102 Ariz. 343

Roy HARMON and Doris Harmon, husband and wife, and father and mother of Peggy Joyce Harmon, Deceased, and Trudy Jean Harmon, an infant by Roy Harmon, her next friend, Appellants, v. La Verne R. SZRAMA and Ted A. Byer, as Administrator of the Estate of Ignatius S. Szrama, Jr., Deceased, Appellees.

No. 8569.

Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc.

July 7, 1967.

Alan Philip Bayham, Phoenix, for appellants.

Tupper, Skeens, Rapp & Morris, by Gerald D. Tupper, Phoenix, for appellees.

LOCKWOOD, Justice:

Appellants Roy Harmon and Doris Harmon, husband and wife, and parents of Trudy Jean and Peggy Joyce Harmon, were the plaintiffs below. They brought a civil action against the defendants La Verne R. Szrama and the administrator of the estate of her deceased husband, Ignatius S. Szrama, Jr. who are appellees here. The basis of their complaint is that on June 19, 1962 the deceased Szrama entered the plaintiffs' home, shot and wounded the plaintiff Doris Harmon and Trudy Jean, and shot and killed Peggy Joyce Harmon. Later the same night, Szrama killed himself.

Plaintiffs claimed that the wrongful shooting of the three Harmons was a direct and proximate result of the conduct not only of Ignatius Szrama, Jr. but also of his wife, La Verne Szrama, who induced her husband's action in shooting and wounding one and killing the other of the Harmon children and in wounding Doris Harmon, because of certain incidents which occurred two years before the shooting. These incidents involved a family fight between La Verne and Ignatius Szrama, as a consequence of which La Verne took refuge in the Harmon home and the plaintiff Doris acquiesced in La Verne Szrama's staying in and using the home as a refuge to protect her from her husband Ignatius. Plaintiffs claim that the defendant La Verne Szrama knew that her husband was a vengeful person and would harbor a grudge for years. For these reasons plaintiffs claim that La Verne Szrama's conduct was also a proximate cause of Ignatius' conduct which resulted in the death of Peggy Joyce Harmon, and the wounding of the plaintiff Doris Harmon and the other child, Trudy Jean Harmon.

The Superior Court, after examining the pleadings and deposition then on file, on July 3, 1964 granted defendant La Verne Szrama's motion for summary judgment, and dismissed the plaintiffs' complaint as to La Verne for failure to state a cause of action against her.

The plaintiffs' sole contention on appeal is that it was error for the Superior Court to grant the motion for summary judgment, since material issues of fact were raised by plaintiffs' affidavit controverting the motion, which would necessitate determination by the trier of fact.

The complaint was in the nature of a tort claim, for damages for the killing of one child, and wounding of the other child and the mother. The injuries suffered by the plaintiffs thereby were alleged to be the proximate result of the defendant La Verne's conduct in 'bringing plaintiff Doris Harmon, her home and family into the Szrama family fight and subjecting them to the vengeance of Ignatius Szrama, Jr.'

Plaintiffs' affidavit in opposition to the motion for summary judgment, in addition to the allegation of the complaint, claimed that ...