Hutto ex rel. Hutto v. Rogers

920 S.W.2d 112, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 583, 1996 WL 162017
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 9, 1996
DocketNo. 68670
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 920 S.W.2d 112 (Hutto ex rel. Hutto v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hutto ex rel. Hutto v. Rogers, 920 S.W.2d 112, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 583, 1996 WL 162017 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

AHRENS, Presiding Judge.

In this personal injury action, plaintiff Kristi Hutto, a minor, by and through her mother and next friend, Trudy Hutto appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants Robert and Joann Rogers. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

On appeal from summary judgment, we “review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered.” ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). Our review of summary judgment is “essentially de novo ” and the nonmovant is given the benefit of all reasonable inferences. Id. It is unnecessary to defer to the decision of the trial court because summary judgment is an issue of law and the appellate court is presented with the same record as was viewed by the trial court. Id. Summary judgment is appropriate when “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Rule 74.04(c)(3).

The facts, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, are as follows:

Plaintiff temporarily moved into defendants’ house while her parents, Robert and Trudy Hutto, were living in England where her father was stationed with the United States Navy. Defendant Joann Rogers, plaintiffs aunt, was to provide guidance and supervision of plaintiff. In return, plaintiffs parents paid defendants $150.00 per month to cover plaintiffs expenses. The Huttos provided plaintiff with an additional amount of money each month to cover school, clothing and other expenses. Plaintiff also performed household tasks for defendants and drove defendants’ children to various activities.

The room plaintiff slept in, an addition to defendants’ house, was built in 1989. On October 31, 1993, the room caught fire while plaintiff was sleeping causing severe burns and scars over her face, head, neck, shoulders and hands. Plaintiff also suffered severe damage to her lungs and respiratory system, severe and permanent damage to her nervous system, and emotional stress.

The addition contained an electric space heater which allegedly caused the fire and plaintiffs resulting injuries. Defendants ac[114]*114quired the space heater from an aunt’s estate five to seven years before the fire occurred. The heater was used in the addition and other parts of the house during cold months and was stored in the garage during warm months. When stored in the garage, the heater was placed under a table and was not wrapped or protected. When Mr. Rogers returned the heater to the house each year, he looked at it but did not inspect the wires for rodent damage nor did he disassemble it or test it with an electrical device.

Plaintiffs expert William Bridges believed the fire started at either the space heater’s plug or the electrical outlet because he found no other possible causes through his inspection or investigation. Plaintiffs expert Ronald Gronemeyer, the chief investigator for the City of St. Louis Fire Department, was first consulted on January 16, 1994, two and one-half months after the fire. Mr. Grone-meyer opined the fire originated at the space heater’s plug. Both of plaintiffs experts believe the original plug on the space heater had been replaced. Mr. Rogers testified that the replacement plug must have been installed before he acquired the space heater. According to Gronemeyer, the replacement plug was not “capable of providing the current for the heater.” As a result, resistance heating occurred at the connection of the wire to the plug, causing the ignition. Gronemeyer testified in his deposition that the evidence at the scene supported his opinion the fire ignited internally within the plug and power cord, rather than externally.

Gronemeyer was unsure whether a thorough visual inspection of the replacement plug would have revealed any defects in it. He suggested the only signs of defect prior to the fire would have been an odor or heat generation at the plug connection. He concedes that a defect in the plug connection could have been revealed by a thorough visual inspection but says he was unaware of anything that would have put Rogers on notice of a problem with the heater before the fire.

Plaintiffs first point on appeal asserts several errors by the trial court. First, plaintiff contends the court erred in failing to decide whether plaintiff was a licensee or an invitee. Judge Sweeney, the trial judge in this case, wrote the following in his order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment:

No matter whether Plaintiff in this ease is characterized as an invitee or a licensee, any standard of care owed to her by the Defendants for a dangerous condition in their home is conditioned upon proof that Defendants knew or should have known that the space heater posed an unreasonable risk of harm to Plaintiff Kristi Hutto.

The trial court’s judgment did not ignore the licensee-invitee distinction,1 as plaintiff suggests. Judge Sweeney simply stated that plaintiff did not present summary judgment facts showing the dangerous condition under either status. Thus, there was no need to reach the issue of plaintiffs status. The court did not err in failing to determine plaintiffs status as licensee or invitee. We note, however, that the court implicitly applied the duty owed to an invitee, because it is the higher standard of care.

Plaintiff also asserts in her first point that the trial court improperly determined an issue which was a question for the jury when it implicitly held the facts of the case were not sufficient to alert a reasonable person of the need to investigate the existence of hidden dangers. Plaintiff believes that in applying the “reasonable person standard” the court determined an issue which was a question for the jury.

In Carter v. Kinney, an opinion relied upon by both parties, the Missouri Supreme Court held plaintiffs status is a question of law and “summary judgment is appropriate if the defendants’ conduct conforms to the standard of care [plaintiffs] status imposes on [115]*115them.” Carter, 896 S.W.2d at 928. The Supreme Court found no disputed facts regarding whether defendants had conformed to the standard of care imposed on them, and thus affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment. Id. at 929. Consequently, unless there are disputed facts to be resolved by the jury, it is appropriate for the court to enter summary judgment upon a finding that a defendant has conformed to the standard of care imposed on defendant. It is well within the power of the trial court to enter summary judgment when there are no factual issues for the jury.

Plaintiff also contends that even if the trial court could apply the reasonable person standard, a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding defendants’ negligence and thus, the court’s grant of summary judgment was erroneous. Missouri courts have adopted Restatement (Second) of Torts § 343 (1965) when determining a possessor’s liability to an invitee. Harris v. Niehaus, 857 S.W.2d 222, 226 (Mo. banc 1993).

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Bluebook (online)
920 S.W.2d 112, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 583, 1996 WL 162017, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hutto-ex-rel-hutto-v-rogers-moctapp-1996.