Paragon Family Restaurant v. Bartolini

• Decision Date: 04 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 45A03-0106-CV-212.,45A03-0106-CV-212.
• Citation: 769 N.E.2d 609
• Parties: PARAGON FAMILY RESTAURANT d/b/a Round the Corner Pub, Appellant-Defendant, v. Mario BARTOLINI, Jr., Appellee-Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

769 N.E.2d 609

PARAGON FAMILY RESTAURANT d/b/a Round the Corner Pub, Appellant-Defendant, v. Mario BARTOLINI, Jr., Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 45A03-0106-CV-212.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

June 4, 2002.

Thomas A. Carton, James R. Branit, Bullaro & Carton, CHTD, Munster, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Barry D. Sherman, Kristen D. Hill, Barry D. Sherman & Associates, Hammond, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

ROBB, Judge.

Louis Gerodemos and Round the Corner Pub¹ (collectively referred to as "the Pub") appeal from a final judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of Mario Bartolini, Jr., in his action for personal injuries. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

Issues

The Pub raises the following consolidated and restated issues² for our review:

1. Whether Bartolini established at trial the duty of care and proximate cause elements of negligence;

2. Whether a portion of Bartolini's closing argument was improper warranting the imposition of a new trial; and

3. Whether the jury's allocation of fault was contrary to and not supported by the evidence.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts most favorable to the judgment reveal that the Pub is a bar³ located in northwest Indiana. On September 19, 1997, Bartolini arrived at the Pub to socialize with some friends. Later that night, Jeffery Todd, who was underage, and his of-age friend John Mattull visited the Pub where they consumed several alcoholic beverages. Todd was never carded by any personnel of the Pub.

At closing time, Todd and Mattull exited the Pub followed by Bartolini and his companions. Todd and Mattull were intoxicated. Thereafter, Todd and Bartolini became involved in an verbal altercation⁴ which culminated in Todd and Mattull attacking Bartolini. As a result of the attack, Bartolini sustained injuries and was hospitalized.⁵

Consequently, Bartolini filed suit against the Pub in the Lake Superior Court on the basis of negligence. Bartolini's complaint provides in pertinent part that:

3. [When Bartolini] left [the Pub] on the morning of September 20, 1997, he was physically attacked, assaulted and brutally beaten by John Mattull and Jeffery Todd in the parking lot of [the Pub].

4. That [the Pub] breached [its] duty to protect [Bartolini] from other patrons of [the Pub] by serving alcoholic beverages to [Bartolini's] assailants, one of whom was a minor, after they were visibly intoxicated, failing to maintain the peace, failing to provide adequate security, all despite knowledge of the likelihood of the acts of the assailants and otherwise failing to properly protect and assist [Bartolini] and otherwise failing to exercise reasonable care and caution.

5. That as a result of [the Pub's] acts and omissions, [Bartolini] sustained injuries to his head and face and was otherwise injured, was prevented from transacting his business, suffered great pain of body and mind, and incurred expenses for medical attention....

Appellant's Supplemental Appendix at 1-2. Thereafter, Bartolini's personal injury action proceeded to trial. At the conclusion of Bartolini's case-in-chief, the Pub moved for judgment on the evidence. The trial court denied the Pub's motion.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Bartolini, attributing eighty percent (80%) of the fault of Bartolini's injury to the Pub, ten percent (10%) to Todd, and ten percent (10%) to Mattull. The jury awarded damages to Bartolini in the amount of $350,000.00, of which the Pub was responsible for $280,000.00. On February 20, 2001, the Pub filed a motion to correct errors with the trial court requesting that the trial court award judgment in its favor or order a new trial. The trial court later denied the Pub's motion to correct errors. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

I. Standard of Review

A trial court has considerable discretion to grant or deny motions to correct error. Dughaish ex rel. Dughaish v. Cobb, 729 N.E.2d 159, 167 (Ind.Ct.App.2000), trans. denied. We will reverse only if the court has abused its discretion. Id. An abuse of discretion will be found when the trial court's action is against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before it, and when the court's decision is without reason or is based upon impermissible reasons or considerations. Id.

II. Elements of Negligence

The Pub first contends that the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion to correct error because Bartolini failed to establish at trial the duty of care and proximate cause elements of negligence. We disagree.

A. Duty of Care

The Pub asserts that the trial court erred in denying its motion to correct errors because Bartolini failed to establish at trial the negligence element of duty of care.

To establish a claim of negligence, a plaintiff must show: (1) that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty; (2) that the defendant breached that duty; and (3) that the breach proximately caused the plaintiff's injury. Webb v. Jarvis, 575 N.E.2d 992, 995 (Ind.1991). Absent a duty, there can be no breach of duty and no recovery in negligence. Mishler v. State, 730 N.E.2d 229, 231 (Ind.Ct.App. 2000). Whether a duty exists is a question of law. Id. Bartolini essentially argued at trial that the Pub him owed a common law duty of care. Alternatively, Bartolini argued at trial that the Pub gratuitously assumed a duty of care toward its patrons including to him the night he was attacked.

1. Common Law Duty

It has long been recognized that a tavern owner, engaged in the sale of intoxicating beverages, has a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect guests and patrons from injury at the hands of irresponsible persons whom they knowingly permit to be in and about the premises. Ember v. BFD, Inc., 490 N.E.2d 764, 769 (Ind.Ct. App.1986). However, the duty to anticipate and to take steps against the criminal act of a third party arises only when the facts of the particular case make it reasonably foreseeable that a criminal act is likely to occur. Welch v. Railroad Crossing, Inc., 488 N.E.2d 383, 388 (Ind.Ct.App. 1986). Facts that make a criminal act reasonably foreseeable include the prior actions of the assailant either on the day of the act or on a previous occasion. Id.

The Indiana Supreme Court has held that trial courts confronted with the issue of whether a landowner owes a duty to take reasonable care to protect an invitee from the criminal acts of a third party should apply the "totality of the circumstances" test to determine whether the crime in question was foreseeable. Delta Tau Delta v. Johnson, 712 N.E.2d 968, 973 (Ind.1999); see also Vernon v. Kroger Co., 712 N.E.2d 976 (Ind.1999)

; L.W. v. Western Golf Ass'n, 712 N.E.2d 983 (Ind.1999).

When considering whether the totality of the circumstances supports the imposition of a duty, we look to "all of the circumstances surrounding an event, including the nature, condition, and location of the land, as well as prior similar incidents, to determine whether a criminal act was foreseeable." Delta Tau Delta, 712 N.E.2d at 972. "A substantial factor in the determination of duty is the number, nature, and location of prior similar incidents, but the lack of prior similar incidents will not preclude a claim where the landowner knew or should have known that the criminal act was foreseeable." Id. at 973. While landowners have no duty to ensure an invitee's safety, they do have a duty to "take reasonable precautions to prevent foreseeable criminal acts against an invitees." Id. (emphasis deleted).

In the present case, Bartolini was attacked in the parking lot that was located directly adjacent to the pub. It is apparent from the record that Bartolini was not on the Pub's premises when he was attacked. Our supreme court has stated that an invitor's duty to exercise reasonable care extends to providing a safe and suitable means of ingress and egress for the invitee. Vernon, 712 N.E.2d at 979. Furthermore, we have held that a duty of reasonable care may be extended beyond the business premises when it is reasonable for invitees to believe that the invitor controls premises adjacent to his own or where the invitor knows his invitees customarily use such adjacent premises in connection with the invitation. Merchants Nat. Bank v. Simrell's Sports Bar & Grill, Inc., 741 N.E.2d 383, 387 (Ind.Ct.App. 2000). It is reasonable for invitees to believe that the Pub controlled the parking lot adjacent to the drinking establishment. It is logical to assume that the Pub had knowledge that its invitees customarily utilize the parking lot when patronizing the bar. Consequently, we will apply the "totality of the circumstances" test to determine whether the Pub owed Bartolini a common law duty.

In Merchants, the victim entered a tavern located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The victim stayed at the tavern until closing, then left with several friends. As the victim left the tavern, he got into an altercation with a patron of the tavern who had exited the drinking establishment several minutes earlier. The altercation culminated with the patron shooting the victim on a sidewalk outside of the tavern. The victim died from his injuries. Consequently, the administrator of the victim's estate filed a wrongful death suit against the tavern. The tavern moved for summary judgment arguing that it owed no duty to the victim as a matter of law. Following a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the tavern. Id. at 386.

We affirmed, holding that the tavern did not owe a common law duty to the victim. Id. at 388. We explained that:

There is no evidence of any prior or similar shooting incidents outside of the tavern that would have alerted [the tavern] to the likelihood that [the patron] would shoot [the victim]. The only evidence of prior incidents is testimony by a tavern employee that fights occurred outside the tavern "quite a bit." This evidence is insufficient to demonstrate that [the victim's] shooting death was foreseeable. Additionally, there

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