Hartman v. United States

923 F. Supp. 2d 1287, 2013 WL 500973, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17300
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 8, 2013
DocketCase No. CIV-10-197-L
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 923 F. Supp. 2d 1287 (Hartman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartman v. United States, 923 F. Supp. 2d 1287, 2013 WL 500973, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17300 (W.D. Okla. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

TIM LEONARD, District Judge.

On March 4, 2008, after departing the Wiley Post Airport (‘Wiley Post” or “PWA”) in Bethany, Oklahoma, a Cessna Citation jet aircraft bearing FAA registration number N113SH crashed after a collision with one or more American White Pelicans near the southeast end of Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The aircraft struck the subject bird(s) approximately 4 miles from Wiley Post at an altitude of 1700 feet Above Ground Level (AGL); 3,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL). The crash fatally injured the pilot-in-command Timothy Hartman, sitting in the left front seat, and Rickie Sandoval, who was sitting in the right front seat. The aircraft had three passengers, who also lost their lives in the crash. Plaintiffs Audra Hartman and Monika C. Sandoval, as Personal Representatives of the Hartman and Sandoval Estates (“plaintiffs”), are pursuing wrongful death damages for the Estates [1289]*1289and survivors. The three passengers’ estates are not involved in this action. See Doc. No. 196, Final Pretrial Report, Brief Preliminary Statement.

This matter is before the court on the Oklahoma City Airport Trust’s and the City of Oklahoma City’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 130].1 The court has carefully reviewed the briefs and exhibits submitted by the parties as well as the response, reply briefs- and supplemental materials that were filed.

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings and supporting documents, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a) (“[T]he court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”). Substantive law determines which facts are material. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The dispute must be genuine, that is, “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id.

The party opposing summary judgment may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the party’s pleadings, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)(3) (“If a party fails to properly support an assertion of fact or fails to properly address another party’s assertion of fact as required by Rule 56(c), the court may ... grant summary judgment if the motion and supporting materials — including the facts considered undisputed — show that the movant is entitled to it[.]”). The mere possibility that a factual dispute may exist, without more, is not sufficient to overcome a convincing presentation by the moving party. Allegations alone will not defeat summary judgment. Cone v. Longmont United Hosp. Ass’n, 14 F.3d 526, 530 (10th Cir.1994). Any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the party seeking summary judgment. In addition, the inferences drawn from the facts presented must be construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 863, 102 S.Ct. 2799, 73 L.Ed.2d 435 (1982).

In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rest on ignorance of facts, on speculation, or on suspicion and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial. Bryant v. O’Connor, 848 F.2d 1064, 1067 (10th Cir.1988). The mere possibility that a factual dispute may exist, without more, is not sufficient to overcome a convincing presentation by the moving [1290]*1290party. Allegations alone will not defeat summary judgment. Cone v. Longmont United Hosp. Ass’n, 14 F.3d 526, 530 (10th Cir.1994).

The court’s local rule governing summary judgment procedure, LCvR56.1, provides in subpart (c) that:

The brief in opposition to a motion for summary judgment (or partial summary judgment) shall begin with a section which contains a concise statement of material facts to which the party asserts genuine issues of fact exist. Each fact in dispute shall be numbered, shall refer with particularity to those portions of the record upon which the opposing party relies and, if applicable; shall state the number of the movant’s facts that is disputed. All material facts set forth in the statement of the material facts of the movant may be deemed admitted for the purpose of summary judgment unless specifically controverted by the statement of material facts of the opposing party.

Plaintiffs claims are based on negligence. Under Oklahoma law, the three essential elements of a claim of negligence are (1) a duty owed by the defendant to protect the plaintiff from injury, (2) a failure to properly perform that duty, and (3) the plaintiffs injury being proximately caused by the defendant’s breach. Gaines-Tabb v. ICI Explosives, USA Inc., 160 F.3d 613, 620 (10th Cir.1998), quoting Lockhart v. Loosen, 943 P.2d 1074, 1079 (Okla.1997). An event’s proximate cause is that “which in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by an independent cause, produces the event and without which the event would not have occurred.” Johnson v. MidSouth Sports, Inc., 806 P.2d 1107, 1109 (Okla.1991) (citation omitted). Although causation is generally a question of fact, “the question becomes an issue of law when there is no evidence from which a jury could reasonably find the required proximate, causal nexus between the careless act and the resulting injuries.” Gaines-Tabb, Inc., 160 F.3d at 620, citing Henry v. Merck and Co., 877 F.2d 1489, 1495 (10th Cir.1989). Where the evidence together with all the inferences which may be properly deduced therefrom is insufficient to show a causal connection between the alleged wrong and the injury, the issue of proximate cause becomes a question of law. Lockhart, 943 P.2d at 1080 (citation omitted). When the matter is one of pure speculation or conjecture or the probabilities equally balanced, judgment as a matter of law is proper. Hardy v. Southwestern Bell Tel.

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923 F. Supp. 2d 1287, 2013 WL 500973, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartman-v-united-states-okwd-2013.