MacKinney v. City of Tucson

299 P.3d 1282, 231 Ariz. 584, 2013 WL 980013, 2013 Ariz. App. LEXIS 38
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 13, 2013
Docket2 CA-CV 2012-0125
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 299 P.3d 1282 (MacKinney v. City of Tucson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacKinney v. City of Tucson, 299 P.3d 1282, 231 Ariz. 584, 2013 WL 980013, 2013 Ariz. App. LEXIS 38 (Ark. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

ESPINOSA, Judge.

¶ 1 In this personal injury action, defendanVappellant City of Tucson appeals from a judgment in favor of plaintiff/appellee Thomas MacKinney. The city argues the trial court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment, asserting that Arizona’s recreational-use immunity statute, A.R.S. § 33-1551, barred MaeKinney’s negligence claim as a matter of law. For the following reasons, we vacate and remand.

Factual Background and Procedural History

¶ 2 In reviewing a summary-judgment ruling, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. City of Phoenix v. Yarnell, 184 Ariz. 310, 312 n. 2, 909 P.2d 377, 379 n. 2 (1995). In November 2009, MacKinney and his son Matthew were playing golf at a city-owned course when MacKinney slipped and fell, injuring, inter alia, his lower leg and ankle. MacKinney sued the city and the golf course, alleging the walkway approaching the seventh tee was “steep, narrow, [and] unreasonably dangerous” and had been “negligently designed, constructed and/or maintained in such a manner as to constitute an unreasonably dangerous condition.”

¶ 3 The city moved for summary judgment, arguing it was not liable for MacKinney’s injuries because it was immune under Arizona’s recreational-use immunity statute. See § 33-1551. MacKinney opposed the motion, asserting the city was not immune because the golf course was not a “premises” protected under the statute and he was not a “recreational user” as defined by the statute because he had paid an admission fee for purposes of entering and using the course. The trial court denied the city’s motion, initially without explanation, but subsequently issued two minute entries clarifying that the denial was based on its conclusion that a golf course is not included in the statutorily enumerated “premises” implicating recreational-use immunity and that an issue of fact existed as to whether the fee MacKinney had paid was a “nominal” one under the statute.

¶ 4 The matter proceeded to trial, and the jury found in favor of MacKinney, determining his damages to be $180,000 but allocating seventy percent of the fault to him such that *586 the court entered final judgment against the city in the amount of $54,000. We have jurisdiction over the city’s appeal pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21(A)(1) and 12-2101(A)(1).

Discussion

¶ 5 “Generally, the denial of a summary judgment motion is not reviewable on appeal from a final judgment entered after a trial on the merits.” John C. Lincoln Hosp. & Health Corp. v. Maricopa Cnty., 208 Ariz. 532, ¶ 19, 96 P.3d 530, 537 (App.2004). If the denial was based on a point of law, however, an appellate court may review the ruling as part of its review of the final judgment on appeal. Hourani v. Benson Hosp., 211 Ariz. 427, ¶ 4, 122 P.3d 6, 9 (App.2005). In this case, the trial court’s denial of the motion was based on its conclusion that the golf course did not fall within the definition of “premises” protected under the recreational-use immunity statute, a purely legal determination as there was no dispute that the injury had occurred on a city-owned golf course and the material question was whether that property qualified as a “premises” protected under the statute. Because the trial court ruled the golf course was not a protected premises and the city was therefore not immune, the immunity issue was eliminated from trial. Thus, the ruling was an “intermediate order[ ] involving the merits of the action and necessarily affecting the judgment” under review. A.R.S. § 12-2102(A); see also Pepsi-Cola Metro. Bottling Co. v. Romley, 118 Ariz. 565, 568, 578 P.2d 994, 997 (App.1978) (§ 12-2102 proper basis for court of appeals’ review). Our consideration of the court’s summary-judgment ruling is therefore appropriate as part of our review of the final judgment. 1

¶ 6 Summary judgment is proper only when “ ‘there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’” Villa de Jardines Ass’n v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 227 Ariz. 91, ¶ 5, 253 P.3d 288, 292 (App.2011), quoting Airfreight Express Ltd. v. Evergreen Air Ctr., Inc., 215 Ariz. 103, ¶ 19, 158 P.3d 232, 239 (App.2007). Summary judgment is disfavored in negligence actions but may be granted “when there is no dispute as to any material facts, only one inference can be drawn from those facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” McLeod ex rel. Smith v. Newcomer, 163 Ariz. 6, 8, 785 P.2d 575, 577 (App.1989). We review de novo a trial court’s summary-judgment ruling. Hourani, 211 Ariz. 427, ¶ 4, 122 P.3d at 9. 2

¶ 7 The applicability of the reereational-use immunity statute is a question of law, subject to de novo review. Andresano v. Cnty. of Pima, 213 Ariz. 65, ¶ 6, 138 P.3d 1192, 1194 (App.2006); see also Prince v. City of Apache Junction, 185 Ariz. 43, 45, 912 P.2d 47, 49 (App.1996) (issues of statutory interpretation reviewed de novo). In analyzing the statute’s applicability, we are not bound by a trial court’s conclusions of law. See Gary Outdoor Adver. Co. v. Sun Lodge, *587 Inc., 133 Ariz. 240, 242, 650 P.2d 1222, 1224 (1982). Our primary goal in interpreting a statute is to give effect to the legislature’s intent, and the language of a statute is the most reliable evidence of that intent. Walker v. City of Scottsdale, 163 Ariz. 206, 208-09, 786 P.2d 1057, 1059-60 (App.1989). Because the statute limits common-law liability, however, we must strictly construe its language “ ‘to avoid any overbroad statutory interpretation that would give unintended immunity and take away a right of action.’ ” Andresano, 213 Ariz. 65, ¶ 6, 138 P.3d at 1194, quoting Armenta v. City of Casa Grande, 205 Ariz. 367, ¶ 5, 71 P.3d 359, 361 (App.2003); see also Walker, 163 Ariz. at 211, 786 P.2d at 1062; Schilling v. Embree, 118 Ariz. 236, 239, 575 P.2d 1262, 1265 (App.1977).

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Bluebook (online)
299 P.3d 1282, 231 Ariz. 584, 2013 WL 980013, 2013 Ariz. App. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mackinney-v-city-of-tucson-arizctapp-2013.