Parnell v. C & N Bowl Corp., Inc.

954 F. Supp. 1326, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1796, 1997 WL 75800
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 4, 1997
DocketCivil 96-2106
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 954 F. Supp. 1326 (Parnell v. C & N Bowl Corp., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parnell v. C & N Bowl Corp., Inc., 954 F. Supp. 1326, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1796, 1997 WL 75800 (W.D. Ark. 1997).

Opinion

JUDGMENT

HENDREN, District Judge.

Now on this 4 day of February, 1997, comes on for consideration defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 8 — the “motion”) in the above captioned matter, together with plaintiffs response thereto (Doc. # 13), and the Court, being well and sufficiently advised, finds and orders as follows:

I. This is a negligence action wherein plaintiff seeks to hold defendant liable for the death of her decedent, Melissa Witt (hereinafter called decedent).

2. The factual background of the case can be briefly summarized. Decedent disappeared on December 1, 1994. On December 4, 1994, her car was found the parking lot of *1327 Bowling World, a place of business owned and operated by defendant in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Decedent’s body was found January 13, 1995, in a remote, wooded area in Franklin County, Arkansas. The cause of her death was later determined to have been asphyxia due to strangulation. Decedent was apparently last seen in defendant’s parking lot, but it does not appear that any witness has yet been located who saw decedent leave the parking lot or who saw anything else which might have explained her disappearance. Defendant employs a private security service which provided security for the premises on weekends and alternate weekdays. There was no security present on the date of decedent’s disappearance. While bloodstains were found near decedent’s car on defendant’s parking lot, there appears to be no evidence yet available to explain what may have happened to decedent at the parking lot or to explain how she came to be killed and left in Franklin County. The disappearance of decedent has not yet been explained or solved by local, state or national authorities and no person has yet been charged with any crime in connection with her disappearance and death.

3. Plaintiffs complaint was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Fort Smith District but was subsequently removed to this Court by defendant on May 28, 1996, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 et seq. Jurisdiction is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 as defendant is a corporation incorporated and having its principal place of business in the State of Missouri, while plaintiff is a resident of Sebastian County, Arkansas. The amount in controversy exceeds the minimum requirement.

4. Plaintiffs complaint states that “defendant failed to exercise ordinary care to provide for the safety of business invitees in the following particulars:

(a) That the parking lot facility did not provide adequate lightning (sic) to allow a lone female to exit her vehicle and enter the premises operated by the Defendant safely and that there were no warnings to individuals that previous criminal activities had taken place on the parking facility and that they should take precautions in protecting their person and/or property;
(b) By failing to warn the deceased that the parking facility was an area where known criminal activity had taken place frequently over the past several months last past before the abduction of Melissa Ann Witt, that the parking facility maintained at the Defendant’s place of business was unsafe for unaccompanied females to exit their vehicles after dark;
(d) 1 By failing to have security available at the parking facility on the night that the deceased was abducted and subsequently murdered;
(e) By improperly utilizing security since security was only in place on two to three nights per week at the Defendants’s parking facility and not available on days of the week known to the Defendant on which criminal activity had taken place on their parking facility in the past.

See Complaint, page 3.

5. In its Motion for Summary Judgment, defendant states that it “had no duty to protect its business patrons from unforeseen, criminal attacks by third parties.” Thus, says defendant, since it had no duty to do something, it cannot be civilly liable in tort for not doing that something.

Plaintiff opposes the motion contending, inter alia, that, as a matter of law, the undisputed facts show defendant had a duty towards decedent; that it breached that duty; and that such breach was a proximate cause of injuries and damages to plaintiffs decedent for which plaintiff is entitled to recover from defendant.

6. Summary judgment is appropriate where it is “show[n] that there is not a genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The United States Supreme Court has articulated guidelines for application of Rule 56, stating that “the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment after adequate time for discovery and upon mo *1328 tion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In such a situation, “there could be no genuine issue as to any material fact, since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the non-moving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.

Therefore, once a motion for summary judgment reveals the non-movant’s complete failure of proof regarding an essential element of the case, the burden shifts to the non-movant to offer “sufficient probative evidence [that] would permit a finding in [his] favor on more than mere speculation, conjecture or fantasy.” Gregory v. City of Rogers, 974 F.2d 1006, 1010 (8th Cir.1992), quoting Barnes v. Arden Mayfair, Inc., 759 F.2d 676, 681 (8th Cir.1985). The “mere existence of a factual dispute is insufficient alone to bar summary judgment; rather, the dispute must be outcome determinative under prevailing law.” Holloway v. Pigman, 884 F.2d 365, 366 (8th Cir.1989). If the non-movant fails to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact by offering significant probative evidence, the movant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Pentel v. City of Mendota Heights, 13 F.3d 1261, 1263 (8th Cir.1994).

7. Defendant says, inter alia, that the flaw in.

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Bluebook (online)
954 F. Supp. 1326, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1796, 1997 WL 75800, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parnell-v-c-n-bowl-corp-inc-arwd-1997.