Martell v. Driscoll

302 P.3d 375, 297 Kan. 524, 2013 WL 2450528, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 538
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 7, 2013
DocketNo. 106,429
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 302 P.3d 375 (Martell v. Driscoll) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martell v. Driscoll, 302 P.3d 375, 297 Kan. 524, 2013 WL 2450528, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 538 (kan 2013).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Rosen, J.:

According to the amended petition Jerry L. Martell, as conservator for Kim “Travis” Driscoll (collectively referred to as “Driscoll”), filed against Leroy Driscoll (Leroy) and other named defendants, Leroy allowed Driscoll to drive a car belonging to Leroy and others, knowing that Driscoll was incapable of safely driving tire car. Driscoll subsequently got into a car accident with another vehicle, which resulted in injuries to Driscoll. Driscoll later [526]*526filed a negligent entrustment claim against Leroy and the other presumptive owners of the vehicle, claiming that they owed him a duty to not give control of the vehicle to him. After filing an answer, Leroy filed a motion to dismiss Driscoll’s petition for failure to state a claim, arguing, among other things, that Kansas law does not recognize a first-party negligent entrustment claim. The district court granted Leroy’s motion to dismiss. After the district court certified its decision as a final judgment under K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-254(b), Driscoll brought this appeal. This court acquired jurisdiction over the appeal after granting Driscoll’s motion to transfer the appeal from the Court of Appeals. See Supreme Court Rule 8.02 (2012 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 71). For reasons stated below, we reverse tire district court’s decision and remand for further proceedings.

Facts

The amended petition Driscoll filed in this case alleges that on November 2, 2008, Driscoll was involved in a car accident in Jefferson County after he failed to yield the right-of-way to another vehicle while attempting to turn south onto U.S. Highway 59. As a result of this accident, Driscoll sustained serious injuries.

At the time of the accident, the car Driscoll was driving was titled in Leroy’s name. Leroy also maintained insurance for the vehicle. Driscoll alleged that Leroy had permitted him to use the car despite being aware that Driscoll’s driver’s license was suspended, Driscoll had a past histoiy of alcohol abuse and drank alcohol on a daily or nearly daily basis, he had received multiple DUIs, and he was a known reckless or incompetent person incapable of safely operating the vehicle.

In August 2010, Driscoll filed a lawsuit in Leavenworth County District Court against Leroy, Sandra Driscoll, and Becky Mullins, claiming that all three of them had a superior or exclusive right to control the vehicle and that they had negligently entrusted the vehicle to Driscoll. Within the same lawsuit, Driscoll also filed a negligence claim against Dorothy McHardie, the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident. The case was subsequently transferred to the Jefferson County District Court.

[527]*527Leroy filed an answer to the petition, generally denying the facts supporting the negligent entrustment claim and contending that the petition failed to state a valid claim of negligent entrustment because Driscoll was not an innocent third party but the alleged entrustee of the car. Leroy subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the negligent entrustment claim, arguing that Kansas law does not recognize a first-party negligent entrustment claim. Leroy also argued that regardless of whether such a claim was valid in Kansas, Kansas’ modified comparative fault system would bar recoveiy in this case because Driscoll, based on the facts alleged in his petition, was at least 50 percent at fault for the accident. Finally, Leroy argued that Kansas public policy, as evidenced in Mills v. City of Overland Park, 251 Kan. 434, 837 P.2d 370 (1992) (Kansas law does not provide a cause of action against a supplier of alcohol for the alcohol-related death of a minor patron), and Ling v. Jan's Liquors, 237 Kan. 629, 703 P.2d 731 (1985) (Kansas law does not provide a cause of action against the suppliers of alcohol for persons injured as a result of the torts of intoxicated patrons, even underage patrons), bars a first-party negligent entrustment claim against a person who entrusted a vehicle to an individual who voluntarily, but negligently, operated the vehicle and was injured as a result.

Driscoll filed a response to the motion to dismiss, arguing that the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 390 (1964) and cases from other jurisdictions endorse the validity of a first-party negligent entrustment action. Furthermore, Driscoll argued that Kansas’ system of modified comparative fault would not bar his claim as a matter of law because apportioning fault to the parties is a question of fact, making the determination improper on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Driscoll also argues that because Leroy provided him with an automobile in violation of K.S.A. 8-264 (“No person shall authorize or knowingly permit a motor vehicle owned by him or her under such person’s control to be driven upon any highway by any person who is not licensed under the provisions of this act.”), Kansas public policy should be construed as allowing Leroy to be held hable for any damages resulting from his negligent entrustment.

[528]*528On April 21, 2011, tlie district court conducted a hearing on Leroy’s motion to dismiss. After hearing arguments from the parties, the district court announced from the bench that it was granting Leroy’s motion to dismiss on the basis that Kansas law currently does not recognize a first-party negligent entrustment claim. On April 29, Martell filed a notice of appeal. Supreme Court Rule 2.03(a) (2012 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 11) states:

“A notice of appeal that complies with K.S.A. 60-2103(b)—filed after a judge of the district court announces a judgment to be entered, but before the actual entry of judgment—is effective as notice of appeal under K.S.A. 60-2103 if it identifies the judgment or part of the judgment from which the appeal is taken with sufficient certainty to inform all parties of the ruling to be reviewed on appeal.”

On June 29, 2011, the district court filed its journal entry granting Leroy’s motion to dismiss. Subsequently, on July 19, 2011, Driscoll filed a motion requesting that the district court certify its journal entry as a final judgment under K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-254(b). See K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-254(b) (When multiple parties are involved in a lawsuit, “the court may direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more, but fewer than all, . . . parties only if the court expressly determines that there is no just reason for delay.”) On that same day, the district court issued an order certifying its decision as a final judgment under K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 60-254(b).' This court later granted Driscoll’s motion to transfer his appeal to this court.

Analysis

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
302 P.3d 375, 297 Kan. 524, 2013 WL 2450528, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 538, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martell-v-driscoll-kan-2013.