Moore v. City of Lewiston

596 A.2d 612, 1991 Me. LEXIS 205
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedAugust 7, 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 596 A.2d 612 (Moore v. City of Lewiston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. City of Lewiston, 596 A.2d 612, 1991 Me. LEXIS 205 (Me. 1991).

Opinions

COLLINS, Justice.

Patti Moore appeals from a summary judgment against her in the Superior Court (Androscoggin County, Alexander, J.) in her suit seeking damages against the City of Lewiston (“City”) and two Lewiston police officers pursuant to the Maine Tort Claims Act, 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 8101-8118 (1980 & Supp.1990), and the federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court held that the police officers and the city were immune under the Tort Claims Act because the officers were engaged in a discretionary law enforcement function, and that no claim was stated under section 1983. We affirm as to the section 1983 claims and the common law claims against the police officers, but vacate as premature the grant of summary judgment on the common law negligence claim against the City.

In the early morning hours of April 9, 1988, Moore was a passenger in an automobile that was stopped by the Lewiston police, who arrested the driver for operating under the influence and operating after suspension. When the officers took the driver into custody, they asked him what he wanted done with his vehicle and he stated that he did not want Moore to operate it. Moore may have asked the police officers for a ride; she recalls that she did, but the officers recall that she did not.1 In any event, Moore began walking toward her home in Auburn. While walking home, she was assaulted and robbed by two unidentified assailants. She suffered injuries to her head, face, wrist, and fingers, and still experiences pain, dizziness, facial numbness, blackouts, impairment of arm and hand function, and emotional distress.

Moore sued the City and the two police officers for common law negligence (Count I) and for violation of her federal civil rights through failure to protect her and through deliberate indifference to her safety (Counts II and III). Prior to the deadline for the completion of discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment on the basis of the immunity conferred by the Maine Tort Claims Act,2 and [614]*614on the basis that no special relationship existed sufficient to give rise to a duty to protect under section 1983. Moore argued that summary judgment was premature, in that she had not yet received in discovery a copy of the City’s liability insurance policy, and thus a factual issue potentially remained as to the extent to which the City had waived immunity pursuant to 14 M.R.S.A. § 8116.

The court granted summary judgment for the defendants. Moore now appeals.

I.

The parties urge us to decide whether a “special relationship” existed that compelled the City or its police officers to extend police protection to Moore. See generally Anno., Modem Status of Rule Excusing Governmental Unit from Tort Liability on Theory That Only General, Not Particular, Duty Was Owed Under Circumstances, 38 A.L.R.4& 1194 (1985 & Supp.1990). We reject the “special relationship” doctrine because it is grounded in the common law of sovereign immunity,3 which in Maine has been entirely displaced and supplanted by the enactment of the Maine Tort Claims Act. See Darling v. Augusta Mental Health Inst., 535 A.2d 421, 424 (Me.1987). Rejecting this test parallels our previous rejection of the distinction between governmental and proprietary acts under common law sovereign immunity, following the adoption of the Tort Claims Act. Compare Young v. Greater Portland Transit Dist., 535 A.2d 417, 419 (Me.1987) (rejecting governmental-proprietary distinction, under Tort Claims Act) with Blier v. Inhabitants of Fort Kent, 273 A.2d 732, 734 (Me.1971) (applying distinction, under former statute deemed to incorporate common law sovereign immunity doctrine). Accord, Ryan v. State, 134 Ariz. 308, 656 P.2d 597, 38 A.L.R.4th 1188 (1982) (rejecting “special relationship” test).

Absent the immunities afforded by the Tort Claims Act, Count I of the complaint adequately stated a common law negligence claim, both directly against the officers and vicariously against the City. In a case of this nature, the question of duty — that is, what action was reasonable in particular circumstances — is primarily factual. See Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 314, 314A, 324 (1965). Accord, Suarez v. Dosky, 171 N.J.Super. 1, 407 A.2d 1237, 1240-41 (1979). Thus, without deciding whether the police officers owed Moore a duty in the circumstances, we do decide that, absent immunity, this case would not be an appropriate one for summary judgment and Moore would be entitled to a trial of the facts.

II.

Summary judgment would be appropriate, however, if the defendants are in any event immune from tort liability. “We have previously recognized that immunity is an issue distinct from liability.” Polley v. Atwell, 581 A.2d 410, 412 (Me.1990). Accordingly, we examine the Maine Tort Claims Act to determine the immunity of governmental units and their employees in these circumstances.

We turn first to Moore’s claim against the City. For governmental entities, the Act confers a general grant of immunity, subject to limited exceptions. 14 M.R.S.A. § 8103(1) (1980 & Supp.1990)4; Young v. Greater Portland Transit Dist, 535 A.2d 417, 419 (Me.1987). In addition to the exceptions to immunity enumerated in section 8104-A5, the Act also provides that [615]*615a governmental entity may procure liability insurance, and “[i]f the insurance provides coverage in areas where the governmental entity is immune, the governmental entity shall be liable in those substantive areas but only to the limits of the insurance coverage.” 14 M.R.S.A. § 8116 (Supp.1990). This insurance coverage waiver extends to all activities within the general immunity afforded by the Act. See Stretton v. City of Lewiston, 588 A.2d 739, 740 (Me.1991); Swallow v. City of Lewiston, 534 A.2d 975, 977 (Me.1987).

Thus, Moore can state a claim against the City if the City has waived immunity pursuant to section 8116 by procuring liability insurance coverage that extends to its alleged negligent failure to afford her police protection. Moreover, the City had the burden to show that it did not have insurance coverage for Moore’s claim. See Robinson v. Washington County, 529 A.2d 1357, 1361 (Me.1987). The defendants moved for summary judgment before the discovery deadline, even though Moore’s pending request for production of documents included the insurance policy, and they produced no evidence to show that insurance coverage was lacking. Summary judgment as to the common law negligence claim against the City was therefore premature.6 See M.R.Civ.P. 56(f); Stretton, at 741; Robinson,

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Bluebook (online)
596 A.2d 612, 1991 Me. LEXIS 205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-city-of-lewiston-me-1991.