Green v. DALEWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS'ASS'N, INC.

919 So. 2d 1000, 2005 WL 1530442
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJune 28, 2005
Docket2004-CA-00700-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 919 So. 2d 1000 (Green v. DALEWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS'ASS'N, INC.) 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
Green v. DALEWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS'ASS'N, INC., 919 So. 2d 1000, 2005 WL 1530442 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

919 So.2d 1000 (2005)

Danny P. GREEN, Lina L. Green and Darrell Lee Bracknel, Appellants/Cross-Appellees
v.
DALEWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

No. 2004-CA-00700-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

June 28, 2005.
Rehearing Denied October 11, 2005.

*1003 Frank H. Shaw, Kosciusko, Jennifer P. Burkes, Gulfport, attorneys for appellant.

Donna Meehan Tankersley, Holmes S. Adams, William C. Brabec, Jackson, Gregory Malta, attorneys for appellee.

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

LEE, P.J., for the Court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Dalewood Lake is a private lake owned and operated by the Dalewood Property Owners' Association (Dalewood). Danny Green and Lina Green own a lot at Dalewood Lake and are members of Dalewood. Under Dalewood's rules, only members, their children and guests who had registered with Dalewood were allowed to access the lake and the other Dalewood facilities.

¶ 2. The Dalewood Property Owners' Association access restrictions in effect as of March 9, 2000, provided in pertinent part as follows:

*1004 Members must appear IN PERSON at the Association office to request a BEACH OR HOUSE GUEST PASS which allows access to any community area, which includes beaches. . . . Requests for beach or house guest passes will not be accepted by telephone. The member must sign a beach or house guest register, listing the names of his guests. . . .
NO guest will be permitted entry to Dalewood property unless:
1. The property owner is present at the gate when his guests arrive; OR
2. The property owner (in person) requests the Association office to issue a beach or house guest pass OR a lot pass in person or by phone. This pass will permit the guest access to the property owner's lot on a specified date only.
3. In all cases the property owner must be with his guest (except approved house guests) at all times while on the Dalewood Property. Gate guards can and will permit emergency entry when necessary.
There are no restrictions on the number of guests a property owner may have but: . . .
2. Guests will not be permitted on the lakes, community areas, beaches or anywhere on Dalewood property unless accompanied at all times by the property owner, or an authorized member of his family . . .
5. NO GUEST WATERCRAFT WILL BE ALLOWED.

(emphasis in original).

¶ 3. During the weekend of July 4, 2000, numerous guests and Dalewood members flocked to the beaches of the Dalewood Lake to enjoy boating, fishing and swimming. A fireworks display was scheduled for the night of July 3, and on that evening the Greens and Darrell Bracknell were aboard the Greens's pontoon boat to view the show. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Clifton Woods, who was intoxicated and driving his bass boat between forty and eighty miles per hour, collided with the Greens's pontoon boat, causing injury to the Greens and Bracknell. Woods was not a member of Dalewood, and although he had registered as a guest with the association earlier in the weekend, his guest pass had expired days prior to the accident. Bracknell was not registered with the association as a guest.

¶ 4. On June 14, 2002, Bracknell and the Greens filed suit against Dalewood and Woods, alleging that both Dalewood and Woods were negligent. Dalewood filed a motion for summary judgment on January 28, 2004, to which the Greens and Bracknell timely replied. On March 8, 2004, the circuit court granted Dalewood's motion for summary judgment, finding that the Greens were invitees of the Dalewood association, but that Bracknell was a licensee of the association. The circuit judge further found that Dalewood was negligent; however, Woods's negligence was a superseding and intervening cause which relieved Dalewood of all liability. The court further found that Dalewood had not breached any duty to Bracknell. The Greens and Bracknell appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in finding the following: (1) that Woods's negligence was a superseding and intervening cause which relieved Dalewood of its negligence and (2) that Bracknell was a licensee, and not an invitee, of Dalewood. Dalewood filed a cross-appeal, asserting that the trial court erred in its sua sponte finding that Dalewood was negligent when no party requested such relief and the Greens and Bracknell did not move for summary judgment on that issue.

¶ 5. Finding that summary judgment regarding Bracknell was proper, we affirm in *1005 part; however, finding that summary judgment on the issue of Dalewood's negligence was improper, we reverse and remand in part.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. This Court applies a de novo standard of review to a grant of summary judgment by the trial court. Leffler v. Sharp, 891 So.2d 152, 156(¶ 9) (Miss.2004). The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made. Id. (citing Russell v. Orr, 700 So.2d 619, 622(¶ 8) (Miss.1997)). A motion for summary judgment lies only when there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. M.R.C.P. 56(c). This Court does not try issues on a Rule 56 motion; it only determines whether there are issues to be tried. Townsend v. Estate of Gilbert, 616 So.2d 333, 335 (Miss.1993). Where a party opposes summary judgment on a claim or defense as to which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial, and when the moving party can show a complete failure of proof on an essential element of the claim or defense, then all other issues become immaterial, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Grisham v. John Q. Long V.F. W. Post, No. 4057, Inc., 519 So.2d 413, 416 (Miss. 1988).

¶ 7. In the absence of an exception, Mississippi applies a three-step process to determine premises liability. Titus v. Williams, 844 So.2d 459, 467(¶ 28) (Miss. 2003). First, the injured person is classified as either an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. Id. Second, using this identification, the duty which is owed to the injured is determined. Id. The final step is to determine whether this duty was breached by the landowner or business operator. Id.

¶ 8. A landowner owes a licensee a duty to refrain from willfully or wantonly injuring him. Adams ex rel. Adams v. Fred's Dollar Store of Batesville, 497 So.2d 1097, 1100 (Miss.1986) (citations omitted). "A landowner owes a trespasser the duty to refrain from willfully or wantonly injuring him." Id. (citations omitted). A landowner owes an invitee the duty to keep the premises reasonably safe and when not reasonably safe to warn only where there is hidden danger or peril that is not plain and in open view. Caruso v. Picayune Pizza Hut, Inc., 598 So.2d 770, 773 (Miss. 1992).

¶ 9. Regarding the issue of status, this Court has held "[t]he determination of which status a particular plaintiff holds can be a jury question, but where the facts are not in dispute the classification becomes a question of law for the trial judge." Adams, 497 So.2d at 1100 (citations omitted).

¶ 10. In a negligence action, the plaintiff bears the burden of producing evidence sufficient to establish the existence of the conventional tort elements of duty, breach of duty, proximate causation, and injury. Palmer v. Anderson Infirmary Benev. Ass'n, 656 So.2d 790, 794 (Miss. 1995).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
919 So. 2d 1000, 2005 WL 1530442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-dalewood-property-ownersassn-inc-missctapp-2005.