Handy v. Nejam
| Docket Number: | 2010-CT-01513-SCT Linked Case(s): 2010-CA-01513-COA ; 2010-CA-01513-COA ; 2010-CT-01513-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-18-2013 Opinion Author: Coleman, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-28-2012 Opinion Author: Lee, C.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wrongful death - Invitee - Duty to trespasser - Willful and wanton conduct Judge(s) Concurring: Dickinson and Randolph, P.JJ., Lamar, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Waller, C.J. Dissenting Author : Kitchens, J. Dissent Joined By : King, J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH Writ of Certiorari: Granted Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 08-25-2010 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: W. Swan Yerger Disposition: SUMMARY JUDGMENT GRANTED IN FAVOR OF APPELLEE Case Number: 251-07-754CIV |
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| Note: | The Supreme Court found that the injured party was not an invitee at the time of the incident, but a trespasser. Because both the Court of Appeals and the trial court classified the decedent as an invitee, the lower holdings were affirmed in result only. The original Court of Appeal's opinion can be found at http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO75339.pdf . | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Melissa Handy, as Administratrix of the Estate of Ricco Handy and on Behalf of the Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Ricco Handy |
JOE N. TATUM |
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| Appellee: | A. Waddell Nejam d/b/a Bellevue Place Apartments | JAN F. GADOW THOMAS Y. PAIGE H. GRAY LAIRD, III |
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| Topic: | Wrongful death - Invitee - Duty to trespasser - Willful and wanton conduct |
| Summary of the Facts: | After Ricco Handy drowned in a swimming pool while visiting his uncle at Bellevue Place Apartments, his mother, Melissa Handy, brought a wrongful death suit against the owner of the apartment complex, A. Waddell Nejam, claiming that he had breached a duty to keep the pool in a reasonably safe condition. The trial court found Ricco to be an invitee, given that he was a social guest of his uncle. The Court of Appeals affirmed both the trial court’s finding that Ricco was an invitee and the order of summary judgment in favor of Nejam. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | While he was an invitee when he first entered his uncle’s apartment, Ricco Handy lost his status as an invitee when he entered the swimming pool without being accompanied by his uncle. The leasing provision in the uncle’s lease and the posted regulations requiring social guests to be accompanied by the tenant lead to the conclusion that the boys lost their status as invitees and became trespassers when they entered the pool area. A landowner owes a trespasser or a licensee only the duty to refrain from willfully or wantonly injuring the licensee, unless the landowner engages in active conduct and knows of his or her presence. Willful and wanton conduct means that the possessor consciously disregards a known and serious hidden danger. In this case, the record not only shows that Ricco was aware of the depth of the pool before ever entering the pool area, but the dangers of a swimming pool are obvious. Thus, Nejam did not engage in willful and wanton conduct and breached no duty. |
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