Wrinkle v. Norman

242 P.3d 1216, 44 Kan. App. 2d 950, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 140
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedNovember 12, 2010
Docket103,373
StatusPublished

This text of 242 P.3d 1216 (Wrinkle v. Norman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wrinkle v. Norman, 242 P.3d 1216, 44 Kan. App. 2d 950, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 140 (kanctapp 2010).

Opinion

242 P.3d 1216 (2010)

Rodney P. WRINKLE, Appellant,
v.
Gene NORMAN and Charlene Norman, Appellees.

No. 103,373.

Court of Appeals of Kansas.

November 12, 2010.

*1218 Stephen G. Dickerson, of The Dickerson Law Group, of Olathe, for appellant.

Robert J. Luder, of Long & Luder, P.A., of Overland Park, for appellee.

Before PIERRON, P.J., GREEN and MARQUARDT, JJ.

MARQUARDT J.

Rodney P. Wrinkle filed a negligence action against his neighbors, Gene and Charlene Norman (the Normans), after he sustained injuries on their property. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Normans, finding that they did not breach a duty to Wrinkle. Wrinkle appeals. We affirm.

At the time of Wrinkle's accident, Wrinkle lived across U.S. highway 59 from the Normans in Oskaloosa, Kansas. The Normans had 20 acres of pasture land along the west side of the highway on which they raised cattle. The pasture is fenced and has a 16-foot panel gate.

On March 10, 2006, while riding his lawn tractor, Wrinkle observed four or five cattle running loose in the ditch near the Normans' property, approximately 10 to 12 feet from the highway. Wrinkle herded the cattle onto the Normans' property toward a pen with an open gate. According to Wrinkle, the cattle were "returning from where they came from" and "knew where they was going." Wrinkle was able to get all of the cattle into the pen *1219 except for one that became entangled in a clothesline wire. Wrinkle removed the wire from around the animal's neck. As the animal ran toward the gate, the wire with a T-shaped clothesline pole attached to it flipped and hit the back of Wrinkle's legs. Wrinkle fell and fractured his back on a concrete path.

Wrinkle filed suit against the Normans, alleging they had negligently and carelessly allowed the clothesline wire to run across the ground, thereby creating a dangerous condition that presented an unreasonable risk of harm. Wrinkle claimed that he was lawfully on the Normans' property when he was injured.

The Normans moved for summary judgment, contending that Wrinkle entered their property without an invitation or permission and, as such, he was trespassing at the time of his injury. The Normans denied liability and argued that the only duty they owed Wrinkle was to refrain from willfully, wantonly, or recklessly causing him injury. The Normans further claimed that they had no notice or knowledge of cattle escaping from their fence on March 10, 2006, or of any defective condition relating to their fence or clothesline wire.

In response, Wrinkle asserted that summary judgment was not appropriate because he was a licensee on the Normans' property, not a trespasser. He claimed the Normans "owed a duty of reasonable care, under all of the circumstances, to maintain their property and keep it safe." Wrinkle relied upon the doctrine of private necessity in the Restatement of Torts (Second) § 197 (1965), alleging that he was privileged to enter the Normans' property in order to prevent serious harm to highway, individuals, or the cattle. Wrinkle also argued that summary judgment was inappropriate because the Normans were subject to liability under K.S.A. 47-123 for negligently confining their cattle.

After hearing arguments from counsel, the district court granted the Normans' summary judgment motion, holding that Wrinkle was a trespasser on the Normans' property; the Normans only owed Wrinkle a duty to refrain from willfully, wantonly, or recklessly causing him injury. The court found as a matter of law that the Normans did not breach a duty owed to Wrinkle. Wrinkle filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment, which the district court denied. Wrinkle timely appeals.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

When granting summary judgment, the district court must review the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact which would entitle the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. The district court is required to resolve all facts and inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the evidence in favor of the party against whom the ruling is sought. When opposing a motion for summary judgment, a party must come forward with evidence to establish a dispute as to a material fact. In order to preclude summary judgment, the facts subject to the dispute must be material to the conclusive issues in the case. On appeal, the same rules apply; summary judgment must be reversed if reasonable minds could differ as to the conclusions drawn from the evidence. Shamberg, Johnson, & Bergman, Chtd. v. Oliver, 289 Kan. 891, 900, 220 P.3d 333 (2009).

Where there is no factual dispute, appellate review of an order regarding summary judgment is de novo. Adams v. Board of Sedgwick County Comm'rs, 289 Kan. 577, 584, 214 P.3d 1173 (2009).

In reviewing the district court's grant of summary judgment, it is important to remember that summary judgment should be granted with caution in negligence actions. Esquivel v. Watters, 286 Kan. 292, 296, 183 P.3d 847 (2008). However, summary judgment is appropriate in a negligence action if the defendant shows there is no evidence to support a negligence claim. Edwards v. Anderson Engineering, Inc., 284 Kan. 892, 904, 166 P.3d 1047 (2007). Summary judgment is also proper in a negligence action if the only questions presented are questions of law. Smith v. Kansas Gas Service Co., 285 Kan. 33, 39, 169 P.3d 1052 (2007).

*1220 TRESPASSER OR LICENSEE

To establish a claim for negligence, Wrinkle had to prove the existence of a duty, a breach of the duty, an injury, and a causal connection between the duty breached and the injury. The existence of a duty is a question of law. Whether the duty has been breached is a question of fact. Reynolds v. Kansas Dept. of Transportation, 273 Kan. 261, Syl. ¶ 1, 43 P.3d 799 (2002). The duty owed by defendants to Wrinkle is determined by Wrinkle's status while he was on the Normans' property. The question is whether he was an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser.

Wrinkle contends that he was a licensee on the Normans' property and the district court erred in determining that he was a trespasser.

An invitee is "`one who enters or remains on the premises of another at the express or implied invitation of the possessor of the premises for the benefit of the inviter, or for the mutual benefit and advantage of both inviter and invitee.'" Jones v. Hansen, 254 Kan. 499, 503, 867 P.2d 303 (1994). A licensee is "`one who enters or remains on the premises of another by virtue of either the express or implied consent of the possessor of the premises, or by operation of law, so that he [or she] is not a trespasser thereon.'" 254 Kan. at 503, 867 P.2d 303.

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Bluebook (online)
242 P.3d 1216, 44 Kan. App. 2d 950, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wrinkle-v-norman-kanctapp-2010.