Prevatt v. McClennan

Decision Date28 July 1967
Docket NumberNo. 67--102,67--102
Citation201 So.2d 780
PartiesC. B. PREVATT, Appellant, v. Harry McCLENNAN, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

J. A. McClain, Jr., of McClain, Turbiville & Davis, and Francisco A. Rodriguez, Tampa, for appellant.

Edward J. Hunter, Tampa, for appellee.

SILVERTOOTH, LYNN N., Associate Judge.

This is an appeal by the Defendant below from an adverse judgment of a jury in a personal injury action.

The facts are that Plaintiff was injured by a gun shot during a fight between two other patrons in Defendant's tavern.

On June 14, 1964, Plaintiff went to Defendant's tavern at about 11:15 P.M., and after he was there about five minutes he observed two persons quarreling at two tables behind him. Shortly thereafter these two left the tavern, but returned in about fifteen minutes. A short time later the quarreling began again and they began throwing beer bottles. Following this Timmons one of the two, drew a pistol and began shooting at Moore who ran. Plaintiff was struck in the back by one of the bullets when Moore attempted to use Plaintiff as a shield.

The testimony was conflicting as to whether Moore or Timmons had several beers or liquor in Defendant's tavern, but the witness Amaro testified he saw both Moore and Timmons with a beer, and if the evidence be taken at face value, we may reasonably conclude that these two who were in the tavern and started the fight were not there drinking water.

Physically, the bar consists of three large rooms and a package store. The establishment could seat several hundred people, the tavern is operated at night by five waitresses, and the one man who manages the package store. No persons were stationed in the various rooms to preserve order. On some occasions they serve as many as 1,000 people in a night.

The two, namely, Moore and Timmons, who caused the trouble were minors.

During the time that Timmons and Moore were inside and outside the tavern, they were argumentative and unruly.

During the arguments or shooting, no one sought to control the problem.

The record shows that the participants in the shooting had been cursing, drinking and generally disorderly.

Here, the statute forbidding the sale of liquor to minors was violated, and constitutes negligence per se; the statute that makes it a crime to sell intoxicants to minors was doubtless passed to prevent the harm that can come or be caused by one of immaturity by...

To continue reading

Request your trial
32 cases
  • Slicer v. Quigley
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Connecticut
    • April 15, 1980
    ...District of Columbia: Marusa v. District of Columbia, 484 F.2d 828 (D.C.Cir.1973) (commercial vendor); Florida: Prevatt v. McClennan, 201 So.2d 780 (Fla.App.1967) (commercial vendor); Davis v. Shiappacossee, 155 So.2d 365 (Fla.1963) (commercial vendor); Illinois: Colligan v. Cousar, 38 Ill.......
  • Vesely v. Sager
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (California)
    • June 24, 1971
    ......1959) 269 F.2d 322, cert. denied 362 U.S. 903, 80 S.Ct. 611, 4 L.Ed.2d 554; Deeds v. United States (D.Mont.1969) 306 F.Supp. 348; Prevatt v. McClennan (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1967) 201 So.2d 780; Colligan v. Cousar (1963) 38 Ill.App.2d 392, 187 N.E.2d 292; Elder v. Fisher (1966) 247 Ind. 598, ......
  • Corrigan v. United States, Civ. A. No. 84-787-A.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Virginia)
    • May 20, 1985
    ...(1971); Taylor v. Ruiz, 394 A.2d 765 (Del.Super. 1978); Marusa v. District of Columbia, 484 F.2d 828 (D.C.Cir.1973); Prevatt v. McClennan, 201 So.2d 780 (Fla.App.1967); Ono v. Applegate, 62 Haw. 131, 612 P.2d 533 (1980); Alegria v. Payonk, 101 Idaho 617, 619 P.2d 135 (1980); Colligan v. Cou......
  • Cuevas v. Royal D'Iberville Hotel, 55469
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi
    • November 12, 1986
    ...have found the proximate cause of such injury to be the sale rather than the consumption of the liquor. See, e.g., Prevatt v. McClennan, 201 So.2d 780 (Fla.App.1967). The modern view, and probably the majority view, in cases involving a liquor vendor's liability is that the furnishing of in......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT