Land v. Niehaus
| Decision Date | 10 December 1976 |
| Parties | Homer D. LAND, Sr. v. Thomas A. NIEHAUS, Individually and as father and next friend of Theresa L. Niehaus, a minor. SC 1753. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
S. G. Culpepper, Jr., and Charles S. Coody, Smith, Bowman, Thagard, Crook & Culpepper, Montgomery, for appellant.
Joseph T. Carpenter and Philip S. Gidiere, Jr., Montgomery, for appellee.
In this case one issue is whether, as a matter of law, a parent can be guilty of negligent entrustment of a motorcycle to his minor son when the parent had no legal title or interest in it and had not purchased it for the child nor contributed toward its purchase.
The other issue is whether the evidence authorizes a jury to find the parent guilty of negligent failure to control, discipline or supervise the minor child when injury results to another as a proximate consequence of such negligence.
Theresa Niehaus, a seven year old girl, suffered severe brain and spinal cord injuries when she was struck by a motorcycle operated by Homer Land, Jr., who was barely seventeen years old at the time. Homer Land, Jr., had a long-established propensity for driving motorcycles in a reckless manner; had committed numerous traffic violations; had convictions for driving without a license and had no license to drive at the time of the accident. Land, Jr., lived with his parents who had knowledge of these things and had made repeated efforts, in various ways, to discipline him, all of which failed. He was in and out of professional centers that provided aid to problem children, and had been incarcerated in the Montgomery County Youth Facility. Land, Sr., could control him in some ways and employed his son on a part-time basis in his business; had the ability to take a motorcycle away from his son; knew his son had possession of the motorcycle involved in the accident, and knew the boy had operated it before the accident. There is evidence Land, Jr., operated the motorcycle on the street in front of his father's house in the days before the accident.
Theresa L. Niehaus, by her father and next friend Thomas A. Niehaus, filed this action against Homer D. Land, Sr., and Jr. The complaint contained four Counts:
'COUNT I
'5. On or about and before the 14th day of December, 1974, the defendant, Homer D. Land, Sr., negligently entrusted a motorcycle to his minor child, Homer D. Land, Jr., knowing at the time that said Homer D. Land, Jr. was incompetent to drive a motorcycle and was likely to cause harm to others.
'COUNT II
'6. On or about the 14th day of December, 1974, the defendant, Homer D. Land, Sr., knowing the habitual tendency of his minor child, Homer D. Land, Jr., to recklessly and wantonly drive a motorcycle, negligently failed to exercise proper discipline, control, and supervision over said child.
'COUNT III
'7. On or about the 14th day of December, 1974, upon a public highway in Montgomery County, State of Alabama, to-wit: Johnstown Drive, the defendant, Homer D. Land, Jr., negligently caused or allowed a motorcycle to strike and collide with the person of Theresa L. Niehaus, a minor.
'COUNT IV
'8. On or about the 14th day of December, 1974, upon a public highway in Montgomery County, State of Alabama, to-wit: Johnstown Drive, the defendant, Homer D. Land, Jr., wantonly caused or allowed a motorcycle to strike and collide with the person of Theresa L. Niehaus, a minor.
Defendants filed a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, which was denied. Later, another was filed on the specific ground that Court II failed to state claims for relief which could be granted under the laws of Alabama. It was denied; then defendants filed a motion for summary judgment as to Count I on the ground that Land, Sr., was not the owner of the motorcycle which he allegedly negligently entrusted to his son, Land, Jr., that struck and injured Theresa Niehaus. Affidavit of Land, Sr., was offered in support and not controverted.
Next, the guardian ad litem for Land, Jr., moved that Land, Jr. be dismissed as a defendant or, in the alternative, the claim against him be severed from that against his father. This motion was grounded on the assertions that the claims did not arise from the same transaction or occurrence; did not involve common questions of law or fact; evidence to support the claim against Land, Sr., would not be admissible to support the claim against Land, Jr., and trial of the claims together would be prejudicial to rights of Land, Jr. The claims...
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