Chapman v. City of Quitman

954 So. 2d 468, 2007 WL 824089
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 20, 2007
Docket2005-CA-02042-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 954 So. 2d 468 (Chapman v. City of Quitman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chapman v. City of Quitman, 954 So. 2d 468, 2007 WL 824089 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

954 So.2d 468 (2007)

Jeffery CHAPMAN, Appellant
v.
CITY OF QUITMAN, Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-CA-02042-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 20, 2007.

*471 John Hubert Anderson, Hattiesburg, attorney for appellant.

Michael Jeffrey Wolf, Jackson, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., BARNES and ISHEE, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This suit brought under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act ("MTCA") arose from injuries that Jeffery Chapman sustained when a fifteen year old juvenile assaulted Chapman in a City of Quitman patrol car that was left unlocked with the engine running. Chapman appeals to this Court from the Clarke County Circuit Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Quitman. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On or about June 7, 2003, Jeffery Chapman attended a party at the home of one of Chapman's neighborhood friends, James Vale. At some point that night, Vale called the police to his residence. The reason that Vale summoned the police is not clear.[1] Chapman speculated *472 during his deposition that Vale may have misinterpreted a conversation that Chapman and his girlfriend, Samantha, were having in Vale's yard as being some type of domestic dispute. In any event, City of Quitman Officer Eric O'Neil responded to the call. A large crowd of teenagers, described by Chapman as an "angry mob," had gathered by the time O'Neil arrived at the scene.

¶ 3. According to Chapman, R.W. and C.W., teenage children of Chapman's girlfriend, Samantha, were part of this "mob" of approximately fifteen teenagers. When asked during his deposition what he thought had incited the crowd, Chapman speculated that "[t]hey were doing it because they thought I had jumped on Samantha."[2] Regardless of their motive, Chapman testified that the children were chasing him down the street throwing bricks, sticks, "and stuff" at him and that some members of the crowd were wielding knives. To keep members of the angry crowd at bay, Chapman stated that he was swinging a wooden stick that he had retrieved from his vehicle. All of this action took place as Chapman was fleeing the crowd on the street between his and Vale's residences, which were approximately four blocks apart.

¶ 4. The nature and extent of Officer O'Neil's efforts to control the mob and protect Chapman after O'Neil's arrival is unclear. However, Chapman did admit that he saw Officer O'Neil talking to the crowd. Furthermore, Chapman stated in his response to the city's motion for summary judgment that Officer O'Neil was "attempting to deal with a crowd without calling for backup." Apparently, while he attempted to deal with the crowd, Officer O'Neil left the door to his police car unlocked and the engine running. It was during this sequence of events—while Officer O'Neil was talking to the crowd—that C.W. sneaked past O'Neil, jumped into the officer's patrol car, and drove down the street toward Chapman, ultimately striking Chapman with the police cruiser. Chapman stated that he saw the police car approaching, but thought that "it was one of the police coming to my aid, and it wasn't. That's how he got up on me so easy." As a result of the impact, Chapman testified that he suffered serious injuries to his legs, injuries which have prevented Chapman from working since the incident.

¶ 5. Chapman filed a complaint on August 31, 2004 and amended his complaint on December 29, 2004, naming the City of Quitman as a defendant to the action.[3] In the allegation relevant to this appeal, Chapman alleged that the "City of Quitman and/or Sheriff of Clarke County, Mississippi, acting individually or by and through deputy(ies) negligently allowed one of the vehicles to be confiscated by a bystander." The city filed its motion for summary judgment on March 24, 2005, asserting that the city was immune from liability pursuant to section 11-46-9(1)(c), *473 (d), and (u) of the Mississippi Code. The trial court rendered a memorandum opinion finding the city immune from liability for Chapman's injuries based on all three immunity provisions. Accordingly, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant city. Chapman timely perfected this appeal, arguing that the immunity provisions cited by the trial court are not applicable to the actions of Officer O'Neil on the night in question. Thus, Chapman asserts that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to the city. We disagree.

¶ 6. While we cannot affirm the trial court's determination that the city is immune pursuant to section 11-46-9(1)(d), as the trial court failed to utilize both prongs of the appropriate two-prong test adopted in Jones v. Mississippi Department of Transportation, 744 So.2d 256 (Miss.1999), we find that the immunities found at section 11-46-9(1)(c) and (u) are applicable. Therefore summary judgment was appropriate, and we affirm based on these two immunities.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7. This appeal involves the construction and application of exemptions from liability that the Legislature has afforded governmental entities and their employees in certain situations. Codified at Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-46-9 (Rev.2002), these exemptions, when applicable, constitute "an entitlement not to stand trial rather than a mere defense to liability and, therefore, should be resolved at the earliest possible stage of litigation." Mitchell v. City of Greenville, 846 So.2d 1028, 1029(¶ 8) (Miss.2003) (citation omitted). Accordingly, immunity afforded by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act is a question of law properly addressed by summary judgment under Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure 56. Id.

¶ 8. We review the grant or denial of summary judgment and other questions of law de novo. Busby v. Mazzeo, 929 So.2d 369, 372(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.2006). All evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id. Viewed in this light, summary judgment is proper if the moving party has demonstrated that there are no material issues of genuine fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tucker v. Hinds County, 558 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss.1990).

DISCUSSION

¶ 9. The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of the City of Quitman. The trial court held that the city was immune from liability based on the following exemptions found in the Mississippi Tort Claims Act:

(1) A governmental entity and its employees acting within the course and scope of their employment or duties shall not be liable for any claim:
. . . .
(c) Arising out of any act or omission of an employee of a governmental entity engaged in the performance or execution of duties or activities relating to police or fire protection unless the employee acted in reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of any person not engaged in criminal activity at the time of injury;
(d) Based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a governmental entity or employee thereof, whether or not the discretion be abused;
. . . .
(u) Arising out of or resulting from riots, unlawful assemblies, unlawful public *474 demonstrations, mob violence or civil disturbances. . . .

Miss.Code Ann.

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954 So. 2d 468, 2007 WL 824089, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chapman-v-city-of-quitman-missctapp-2007.