Moran v. Valley Forge Drive-In Theater, Inc.

246 A.2d 875, 431 Pa. 432, 1968 Pa. LEXIS 639
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 3, 1968
DocketAppeal, 68
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 246 A.2d 875 (Moran v. Valley Forge Drive-In Theater, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moran v. Valley Forge Drive-In Theater, Inc., 246 A.2d 875, 431 Pa. 432, 1968 Pa. LEXIS 639 (Pa. 1968).

Opinions

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Jones,

This appeal challenges the propriety of the refusal of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County to enter a judgment n.o.v. or, in the alternative, grant a new trial in a trespass action for personal injuries instituted by Donald J. Moran against Valley Forge Theater, Inc. and certain individuals, allegedly the owners and operators of a drive-in theater (Theater), wherein a $12,000 verdict was entered in Moran’s favor.

On May 17, 1963, Moran, with his wife and two minor children, purchased tickets for the evening show at the Theater and entered upon the Theater premises. At the conclusion of the first movie showing, Moran went to the theater rest room and, while approaching the rest room, observed 6 or 8 teenagers acting in a boisterous manner near the rest room. While Moran was in the rest room a lighted firecracker explosion took place therein as a result of which, for a period of time, Moran lost his hearing, and, thereafter, had a loud ringing in his ear accompanied by shock.

[435]*435Judgment N.O.V.

The Theater urges that the court below erred in refusing to enter judgment n.o.v. in that Moran failed to carry his burden of proving negligence on the part of the Theater which caused the accident. The thrust of the Theater’s argument is that there was no testimony showing that it knew or had reason to know of the likelihood of a firecracker explosion in the rest room as distinguished from other portions of the Theater premises.

The record reveals that, on rather frequent occasions prior to the accident, boisterous and disorderly conduct had taken place on the Theater premises. On approximately twelve occasions each year over the two year period immediately preceding this accident there had been firecracker explosions on the Theater’s premises and, on one occasion, a firecracker had been exploded in the men’s rest room of the Theater; on one occasion, Theater guardians had been roughly treated and other acts of rowdyism had taken place in the same two year period. The Theater gave no warning, either by prohibiting the lighting of firecrackers or by signs warning patrons of the possibility of firecrackers being exploded on the premises, although on the night of the accident three rampmen, charged with maintaining decorum, were on duty.

After a study of this record, we are convinced that Moran did establish sufficient facts from which the jury reasonably could have inferred negligence on the part of the Theater. We believe the court below adequately disposed of this contention in the following manner: “There is a well established Rule of Law that the liability of a possessor of land who holds that land open to patrons for business purposes has a duty to prevent tortious acts of third parties to his patrons, [436]*436or to warn his patrons of the possibility of such tortious acts. The law regarding this duty is well set forth in Section 344 of the Restatement 2d, Torts: ‘A possessor of land who holds it open to the public for entry for his business purposes is subject to liability to members of the public while they are upon the land for such a purpose, for physical harm caused by the accidental, negligent or intentionally harmful acts of third persons ... of the possessor to exercise reasonable care to (a) discover that such acts are being done or are likely to be done, or (b) give a warning adequate to enable the visitors to avoid the harm, or otherwise protect them against it.’

“Comment f to Section 344, applies with specific particularity to the present case at bar, and states as follows: ‘Since the possessor is not an insurer of the visitor’s safety, he is ordinarily under no duty to exercise any care until he knows or has reason to know that the acts of the third person are occurring, or are about to occur. He may, however, know or have reason to know, from past experience, that there is a likelihood of conduct on the part of the third persons in general which is likely to endanger the safety of the visitor, even though he has no reason to expect it on the part of any particular individual. If the place or character of his business, or his past experience, is such that he should reasonably anticipate a careless or criminal conduct on the part of third persons, either generally or at some particular time, he may be under a duty to take precautions against it, and to provide a reasonably sufficient number of servants to afford a reasonable protection.’

“Applying the above law to the evidence in this case, we must conclude that the prior occurrences of rowdiness by teenagers; the multitudinous firecracker explosions; and the inability of rampmen to maintain [437]*437proper decorum were sufficient to make out a question of fact for Hie jury. It was also a question of fact for the Jury as to whether or not the [Theater] took adequate measures to either warn patrons of possible danger or to prevent acts on the part of third persons which might injure patrons of the theater. The [Theater] contend [s] in their brief that the record is devoid of testimony which would show that the [Theater] knew an explosion was to take place in the rest room, and further was devoid of testimony that there were any means by which the [Theater] could have discovered that an explosion was to take place. Under Section 344 of the Restatement 2d, Torts, it is not necessary for defendants to be specifically aware of the exact location on their premises where patrons might be injured by the tortious acts of third persons. It is sufficient to establish a jury question of liability if the evidence, as in this ease, shows that the defendants had notice, either actual or constructive, of prior acts committed by third persons within their premises which might canse injuries to patrons.

“The second basis of [The Theater’s] Motion for Judgment N.O.V. is the contention that there was nothing the defendants could have done which would have prevented the injuries to the plaintiff. The defendants argue that there is no way of preventing someone from throwing a firecracker if that person has such an intent. We feel this argument is not justified under the applicable rule of law. It is not necessary that there be an absolute protection of all persons since the occupant of land for business purposes is not the insurer of the safety of his patrons. It is merely necessary, under the Restatement 2d, Torts, Section 344, that reasonable measures be taken to control the conduct of third persons, or to give adequate warning to enable patrons to avoid possible harm. It then becomes [438]*438a question of fact for the jury as to whether or not the [Theater] fulfilled [its] responsibility under the law. In this case there was a jury question as to whether adequate measures were taken to control the conduct of third persons, and further, a question for the jury as to whether or not the [Theater was] justified in failing to give sufficient warning which might have enabled the patrons, such as [Moran], to avoid possible danger. The Jury having decided these questions in favor of [Moran] and against the [Theater], this Court sees no reason for entering a Judgment N.O.V.”

We agree with the court below in its refusal to enter a judgment n.o.v.

New Trial

It is initially contended that the trial court erred in permitting testimony relating to prior disturbances on the Theater premises which were not restricted to the rest room of the Theater. It is urged that only firecracker incidents which took place within the theater rest room were admissible into evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 A.2d 875, 431 Pa. 432, 1968 Pa. LEXIS 639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moran-v-valley-forge-drive-in-theater-inc-pa-1968.