Thomas v. Bokelman
| Decision Date | 06 January 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 5875,5875 |
| Citation | 86 Nev. 10,462 P.2d 1020 |
| Parties | Alvis O. THOMAS, Guardian Ad Litem for Wendy Sue Thomas and Alvis O. Thomas, IV, minors, and Alvis O. Thomas, individually, Appellants, v. William BOKELMAN and Willie Bokelman, Respondents. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
Bradley & Drendel, Reno, for appellants.
Leslie A. Leggett, Reno, for respondents.
In 1955 Jack Summers was convicted of rape and sent to prison. He was released in 1968 having served his time. Summers v. Warden, 84 Nev. 326, 440 P.2d 388 (1968). He lived in Reno for about two months with the Bokelman, Summers' half-brother, was unable to any longer support him and asked him to leave. At no time during his stay at the Bokelman residence was there any discord or concern about Summers' conduct. Although two teenage girls lived with the Bokelmans as foster daughters, the early concern over months with the Bokelmans, who were relatives, but finally Bokelman, Summers' of the rape incident was dispelled by his compatibility and blending in with the family life.
The Bokelmans and Thomases were friends and visited each other frequently, particularly Mrs. Thomas. On one occasion Summers, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Bokelman and her father attended a roller derby together with the knowledge of Mr. Thomas.
Bokelman, who hunted for recreation, owned two rifles and also had in his possession a small rifle which he had borrowed from his father-in-law. The weapons were kept in his bedroom closet which was unlocked. The shells for the larger rifles were on a closet shelf and the shells for the small rifle were in the nightstand by his bed. On one occasion Summers saw the guns when Bokelman showed them to a friend who was visiting.
On July 3 Bokelman asked Summers to leave. Apparently the request was taken in good humor by Summers who had told Mrs. Bokelman that he would go to the state of Washington to look for a job. When the Bokelmans returned to their home later in the day Summers and all of his belongings were gone. However, there is no evidence to show that either Mr. or Mrs. Thomas knew of Summers leaving. Mr. Thomas never met Summers but did know of his past record and that he was staying at the Bokelmans.
On July 8 Mrs. Bokelman had planned a birthday party for Mrs. Thomas's daughter. She left her house at 9:00 a.m. and stayed at the Thomas's house until 12:00 noon. She called her house at noon to see if her younger foster daughter was home but no one answered. At about noon the two women and two children drove to the Bokelman household. As they drove into the driveway Mrs. Thomas said she saw someone walk past the window, but Mrs. Bokelman mentioned that she had called earlier and no one had been home. When the two women entered the house they found a note from the younger girl saying she was dowtown. Mrs. Bokelman heard some shots and saw Mrs. Thomas fall. Mrs. Bokelman was also shot. Mrs. Bokelman only saw the back of the man's shirt who did the shooting and saw the car leave the driveway. Later Summers was apprehended, charged and convicted of the murder of Mrs. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas for himself and their minor children brought this action for wrongful death alleging that the Bokelmans were negligent in leaving an unlocked gun around an ex-convict with vicious propensities and that their negligence was the proximate cause of Mrs. Thomas's death. Default judgment was entered against Summers. The trial court granted summary judgment dismissing the action. For reversal Bokelman contends (1) that the act of leaving firearms and ammunition accessible to a man once convicted of forcible rape and residing on the premises constitutes actionable negligence, and (2) that the intervening criminal act of a person known to have a violent criminal personality does not prevent the asserted negligence of the Bokelmans who made it possible for him to commit such criminal act from being the proximate cause of the killing of the victim and, finally (3) that summary judgment was not a proper disposition of this action.
1. The Thomas complaint is based upon the allegation that as the possessors of firearms and ammunition the Bokelmans failed to exercise that degree of care commensurate with the risk that such possession entailed. They seek to base liability upon the inherently dangerous character of the instruments, the firearms, together with the risk of the keeping of firearms in the proximity of an ex-felon who had 13 years before been convicted for an act of rape.
The degree of care owned by the Bokelmans to the legal status of the victim, whether as a licensee or as an invitee, is not in issue. Nor is the reference to cases in which the factual pattern involving a shooting by children to whom firearms were dangerously left available, germane. Those latter instances are largely governed by the control or supervision that parents have over their children which, in turn, imposes liability for their acts. It cannot be said that the Bokelmans had supervision or control over 35-year-old Summers.
2. Negligence, is not actionable unless, without the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Ciotto v. Hinkle
...indication of any mental illness or emotional derangement, and the parents were not alleged to be custodians. In Thomas v. Bokelman , 86 Nev. 10, 462 P.2d 1020, 1022 (1970), the Nevada Supreme Court declined to find a duty where homeowners kept firearms in proximity of a 35-year old man "wh......
-
Wood v. Safeway, Inc.
...1225-26, 925 P.2d 1175, 1180-81 (1996). 52. Id. 53. Rockwell, 112 Nev. at 1228-29, 925 P.2d at 1182 (quoting Thomas v. Bokelman, 86 Nev. 10, 13, 462 P.2d 1020, 1022 (1970), and discussing foreseeability for the intentional acts of a third party in the context of premises liability). The Cal......
-
Doud v. Las Vegas Hilton Corp.
...570 F.Supp. 1449, 1450 (D.C.Nev.1983); El Dorado Hotel v. Brown, 100 Nev. 622, 627, 691 P.2d 436, 440 (1984); Thomas v. Bokelman, 86 Nev. 10, 13, 462 P.2d 1020, 1022 (1970). A review of case law that has considered the specific issue of proprietor liability for attacks on patrons occurring ......
-
State v. Eaton
...without the intervention of an intervening cause, it proximately causes the harm for which complaint was made." Thomas v. Bokelman, 86 Nev. 10, 13, 462 P.2d 1020, 1022 (1970). For a plaintiff to recover for emotional distress caused by witnessing harm to another the plaintiff must prove the......