Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary

580 A.2d 1341, 398 Pa. Super. 264, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2553
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 30, 1990
Docket157, 158 Eastern District Appeal Dockets, 1984
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 580 A.2d 1341 (Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary) 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
Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary, 580 A.2d 1341, 398 Pa. Super. 264, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2553 (Pa. 1990).

Opinions

WIEAND, Judge:

Frederick L. Rivera, age 12, drowned on December 17, 1976, in a pool owned by The Philadelphia Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Inc. (the Seminary) while swimming with a group of altar boys from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (the Church). His mother, Concepcion L. Rivera, who was also the administratrix of his estate, instituted wrongful death and survival actions to recover damages for his death. On May 4, 1981, a jury attributed causal fault as follows: the Church—65%; the Seminary—30%; and the decedent—5%. On appeal, the Superior Court reversed and remanded for a new trial generally. See: Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary, 326 Pa.Super. 509, 474 A.2d 605 (1984). The Supreme Court, however, modified the award of a new trial by limiting the new trial to the “Seminary’s proportionate liability, if any, in the damage judgment Common Pleas has entered on the jury verdict for plaintiff and the Seminary’s right to indemnity from the Church for any payment it may be required to make.” Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary, 510 Pa. 1, 26, 507 A.2d 1, 14 (1986). The judgment as to the amount of damages was affirmed and reinstated. Thus, upon retrial, the Seminary’s liability could not exceed 31.6 percent of the amount of damages [268]*268awarded in the first trial (30% divided by the 95% causal negligence of both defendants). As to the new trial between the Church and the Seminary, the Court said, the Church “will have the burden of proving the Seminary’s causal negligence, if any. The plaintiff may participate in the new trial if she so chooses to protect any interest she may have in preserving her right to collect her judgment from the Seminary.”

Following a second trial in 1988, a jury again found the Seminary guilty of causal negligence in the death of Frederick Rivera and determined its portion of the fault to be in excess of the fault found by the first jury. In accordance with the Supreme Court’s direction, however, the trial court molded the verdict according to the Seminary’s degree of fault as found in the first trial. The trial court denied post-trial motions and added damages for delay.

On appeal, the Seminary argues that the evidence failed to show that it had breached a duty owed to the decedent or that any act or failure to act on its part had contributed causally to his death. It also contends that it is entitled to a new trial because of errors occurring during the trial. These alleged errors include: (1) an improper instruction regarding the duty of care owed by the Seminary; (2) excessive participation in the trial by the plaintiff-administratrix; and (3) improper remarks by plaintiff’s counsel during closing argument to the jury. Finally, the Seminary argues that the trial court erred in molding the verdict and in calculating delay damages.

When the evidence is considered in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, as we are required to do, see: Mancini v. Morrow, 312 Pa.Super. 192, 197, 458 A.2d 580, 582 (1983), it is clear that it was sufficient to support the jury’s finding that the Seminary had breached a duty owed to the minor decedent. The Seminary, as owner of the pool, had a duty to exercise those precautions which a reasonably prudent owner would have taken to prevent injury to those persons whom it knew or should have known were using its pool. Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological [269]*269Seminary, 510 Pa. 1, 18-19, 507 A.2d 1, 9-10 (1986). Whether the Seminary breached this duty and whether its negligence, if any, was a substantial factor in causing the decedent’s death were issues for the jury. The jury’s determination can be set aside only if it is clear as a matter of law that reasonable minds could not differ. Alumni Association of Delta Zeta Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity v. Sullivan, 369 Pa.Super. 596, 602, 535 A.2d 1095, 1098 (1987); Vernon v. Stash, 367 Pa.Super. 36, 46, 532 A.2d 441, 446 (1987). Here, the Seminary’s alleged freedom from fault was not clear. A jury could have found, in view of the evidence, that the Seminary knew or should have known that its pool was being used by children and that it failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to them.

The trial court did not err when it refused to charge the jury, as requested by the Seminary, that it had no duty to provide a lifeguard. The issue, rather, was whether the Seminary had exercised reasonable care to prevent injury to persons whom it knew or should have known to be using the pool.

The primary duty of a trial judge in charging the jury is to clarify the issues so that the jury may comprehend the questions that they are to decide. Easton Nat. Bank & Trust Co. v. Union Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of Souderton, 237 Pa.Super. 316, 352 A.2d 544 (1975). As long as the trial judge chooses a form of expression which adequately and clearly covers the subject, the judge is not required to use the exact language of a requested point. McGowan v. Devonshire Hall Apartments, 278 Pa.Super. 229, 420 A.2d 514 (1980).

Brandimarti v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 364 Pa.Super. 26, 29, 527 A.2d 134, 136 allocatur denied, 517 Pa. 629, 539 A.2d 810 (1987). Instantly, the trial court properly instructed the jury on common law principles of negligence.1 It was for the jury to determine whether the Seminary had [270]*270been negligent in failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent access to its pool when a competent lifeguard was not present and whether the Seminary could reasonably rely upon Father Flynn to supervise the activities of the boys while they were using the pool.

[271]*271The plaintiff-administratrix’s participation in the second trial did not exceed the directions of the Supreme Court or constitute an improper retrial of her claim. The issue, upon retrial, was whether the Seminary had been negligent in causing the decedent’s death and, if so, the degree of such negligence in relation to the negligence of the Church. Under Pennsylvania law, if the Seminary were found guilty of causal negligence, it would become liable jointly and severally with the Church. As such, the plaintiff could proceed against either defendant for the full amount of a judgment recovered against both defendants. It was in recognition of this right that the Supreme Court expressly allowed the decedent’s administratrix to participate in the new trial. When the Supreme Court further stated that the burden of proving the Seminary’s causal negligence would be on the Church, the Court did not limit the plaintiff’s participation in the trial in any way. It did no more than recognize that the Church’s liability had been established finally in the first trial and that it had the burden of shifting a portion of that liability to the Seminary. The evidence to accomplish this was evidence necessary to establish the Seminary’s liability to the decedent’s administratrix.

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Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary
580 A.2d 1341 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
580 A.2d 1341, 398 Pa. Super. 264, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2553, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-philadelphia-theological-seminary-pa-1990.