Morton v. Prescott

• Decision Date: 01 June 1990
• Parties: Allen F. MORTON v. Dr. Cecil H. PRESCOTT. 88-785.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 913

564 So.2d 913

Allen F. MORTON v. Dr. Cecil H. PRESCOTT.

88-785.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

June 1, 1990.

C. Neal Pope and R. Timothy Morrison of Pope, Kellogg, McGlamry, Kilpatrick & Morrison, Atlanta, Ga., and J. Paul Lowery, Montgomery, for appellant.

Tabor R. Novak, Jr. and Joana S. Ellis of Ball, Ball, Matthews & Novak, Montgomery, for appellee.

ALMON, Justice.

Allen F. Morton appeals from the dismissal of his complaint against Dr. Cecil H. Prescott, a psychiatrist in private practice. Morton's complaint alleged that Prescott had negligently discharged a patient who assaulted Morton after being discharged. Other claims in this action were the subject of Morton v. Jackson Hospital & Clinic, 548 So.2d 1015 (Ala.1989), in which the facts are stated in full. In brief, the facts are that Prescott admitted Pendarvis Hunter to Jackson Hospital on October 27, 1986, following an altercation between Hunter and another patient at a mental health treatment facility. After unsuccessfully attempting to transfer Hunter to the Veterans' Administration Hospital, Prescott readmitted Hunter to Jackson Hospital on October 31, 1986. Hunter received treatment and was released on November 5, 1986. He assaulted Morton on November 6, 1986.

Morton argues that his complaint should not have been dismissed, because, he says, Prescott breached his duty of due care by discharging Hunter when he posed a danger to society. He alleges that Hunter had a history of violence, that Prescott was aware of that history, and that Hunter was admitted to Jackson Hospital on an emergency basis and could not be controlled. Morton also expressly asks this Court to overrule Donahoo v. State, 479 So.2d 1188 (Ala.1985), which held that there is no duty to prevent an attack on a third person by an aggressor unless it is known or should be known that the aggressor might be a danger to a specific individual.

In contrast, Prescott argues that Morton's complaint fails to allege any facts tending to show that he owed a duty to Morton, or, assuming arguendo that there was a duty, that he breached that duty. He points out that Hunter was not involuntarily committed and was not the subject of any court order, but was admitted to the hospital for treatment as a voluntary admission patient. He argues that Morton's complaint failed to allege that Morton and Hunter were anything but strangers and that there was no reason to expect that Hunter was a danger to Morton, because Hunter had made no specific threat. He concludes that the trial court correctly found that he owed no legal duty to Morton and that the complaint was properly dismissed.

A review of the complaint supports Prescott's argument that Morton fails to allege that Hunter had made any specific threat to harm Morton. At most the complaint states that Hunter was a violent, dangerous person who posed a danger to the citizens of the community, including Morton. Even assuming that all of these facts and conclusions are true, the allegations are still insufficient to show a legal duty on the part of Prescott to protect Morton from specific harm.

It is settled that for one to maintain a negligence action the defendant must have been subject to a legal duty. Bryant v. Morley, 406 So.2d 394 (Ala.1981). Absent special relationships or circumstances, a person has no duty to protect another from the criminal acts of a third person. King v. Smith, 539 So.2d 262 (Ala.1989); Moye v. A.G. Gaston Motels, Inc., 499 So.2d 1368 (Ala.1986); Ortell v. Spencer Companies, Inc., 477 So.2d 299 (Ala.1985); Henley v. Pizitz Realty Co., 456 So.2d 272 (Ala.1984); Berdeaux v. City National Bank of Birmingham, 424 So.2d 594 (Ala.1982); Parham v. Taylor, 402 So.2d 884 (Ala.1981).

In King v. Smith, 539 So.2d 262 (Ala.1989), a case similar to this one, this Court declined to hold a psychiatrist liable for the criminal acts of his patient. In that case, it was alleged that Dr. Smith misdiagnosed his patient's dangerous condition and, as a result, did not provide him with proper treatment. The patient, David King, was initially confined in a psychiatric ward of a medical center and was diagnosed as suffering from alcohol abuse and a mild mental impairment. Following that diagnosis, King was released to attend an outpatient alcohol abuse program supervised by Dr. Smith. Because of repeated abnormal behavior, King was confined, reevaluated, and then released to attend the outpatient alcohol abuse program several times over the next six or seven months. It was during one of these release periods that he killed his two daughters and then committed suicide. In affirming the lower court's judgment for Smith, the Court stated that Smith's "minimum personal contacts" with King were insufficient to show a special relationship or circumstances necessary to make Dr. Smith liable for King's criminal acts and subsequent suicide.

One leading case concerning a therapist's liability for the violent actions of a patient is Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (1976). In that case, the patient told his therapist of his intent to kill a readily identifiable, although unnamed, girl; after he told the therapist, the therapist informed the law enforcement authorities, but failed to warn the girl or her parents. Following this, the patient killed the girl and the girl's parents filed an action against the therapist, among others, for wrongful death. The California Supreme Court held that when a therapist determines or should determine that a patient presents a serious threat of danger to another he has an obligation to use reasonable care to protect the intended victim against such danger.

Later, in Thompson v. Alameda County, 27 Cal.3d 741, 167 Cal.Rptr. 70, 614 P.2d 728 (1980), the California Supreme Court narrowed the Tarasoff holding. In Thompson a juvenile offender made general threats during his confinement in a county institution regarding his intention to kill someone. Notwithstanding that it was known that the juvenile was dangerous, these threats were not directed to any specific, identifiable person. Later, when the...