Zachary Wilson v. Elizabeth Gurney

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine·Decided July 30, 2026·No. And-25-351·Published·HJELM, A.R.J.

Opinion

MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions Decision: 2026 ME 76 Docket: And-25-351 Argued: February 5, 2026 Decided: July 30, 2026

Panel: MEAD, CONNORS, LAWRENCE, DOUGLAS, and LIPEZ, JJ., and HJELM, A.R.J.

ZACHARY WILSON

v.

ELIZABETH GURNEY et al.

HJELM, A.R.J.

[¶1] On the evening of January 1, 2023, eighteen-year-old Elizabeth

Gurney hosted a house party that grew large and chaotic. When Zachary

Wilson, a party guest, attempted to remove an intruder from the premises, the

intruder shot and injured Wilson with a firearm. Wilson brought a personal

injury claim in the Superior Court (Androscoggin County) against Elizabeth 1

and Elizabeth’s mother, Holly Gurney, asserting claims of premises liability and

negligent entrustment. The Gurneys filed a motion for summary judgment,

which the court (Archer, J.) granted based on its determinations that the

Gurneys did not have a duty to protect Wilson from the criminal act of a third

1 Because Elizabeth Gurney and Holly Gurney have the same surname, we refer to them by their given names. 2

party and that the theory of negligent entrustment does not apply to the use of

real property. On this appeal by Wilson, we affirm the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

[¶2] The following facts are undisputed for purposes of summary

judgment, and we view them in the light most favorable to Wilson as the

nonprevailing party. Grant v. Foster Wheeler, LLC, 2016 ME 85, ¶ 2, 140 A.3d

1242.

[¶3] Holly owns a house in Lewiston, where she and Elizabeth lived. On

the night of January 1, 2023, Holly was out of town providing care to a family

member, and Elizabeth stayed at the house. Holly had told Elizabeth that while

she was away, Elizabeth could have friends at the house but not more than ten

to fifteen people, no one was to drink alcohol, and all visitors needed to leave

by midnight or shortly after.

[¶4] On the evening of January 1 and into the early morning of January 2,

Elizabeth held a party at the house. She had expected thirty-five to forty people

to attend. Wilson was invited to the party not by Elizabeth but by one of her

friends. The party started with a small group, but by around 11:00 p.m., two

hours after the party had started, as many as one hundred people were present. 3

Many of the attendees had not been invited, and Elizabeth learned that

someone at the party had given her address to others. Elizabeth saw that the

party had grown chaotic; some attendees were intoxicated and vomiting, and

some were yelling and running around in the street and in a neighbor’s yard.

[¶5] At some point, four or five uninvited people wearing ski masks

arrived and began selling or using cocaine in Elizabeth’s bedroom. Elizabeth

did not know who these people were. She was frightened by the situation but

did not want to call the police because she did not want to get into trouble. At

Elizabeth’s request, these uninvited attendees left the premises, but she saw

later that they had “snuck back” into the house, wearing different clothes.

Elizabeth stood on a chair and yelled at the intruders to leave, and this time

they refused.

[¶6] Elizabeth told Wilson that she had previously removed the

intruders because they were using drugs but that they had returned. Elizabeth

and three other people, including Wilson, who had told Elizabeth that he would

help, were involved in escorting or physically removing the intruders from the

house. Wilson grabbed one of the intruders by his shirt, dragged him to the

door, and walked him outside. Once outside, that intruder drew a handgun and

shot Wilson several times, severely injuring him. 4

B. Procedural History

[¶7] Just over a year later, in February 2023, Wilson filed a multi-count

complaint, later amended, against the alleged assailant, a number of people who

either attended the party or allegedly had some connection to it, and an

establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. Among the named defendants

were the Gurneys, against whom Wilson asserted claims of premises liability

and, as to Holly, negligent entrustment of the premises.2 On his claim against

the Gurneys for premises liability, Wilson alleged that, because he had been on

the premises lawfully, they owed him a duty to provide reasonably safe

premises and to protect him from reasonably foreseeable harm occurring

there, and that they committed a breach of that duty, resulting in injury to him.

On the claim of negligent entrustment, Wilson alleged that Holly was negligent

by entrusting the premises to Elizabeth to host a house party, which created a

foreseeable risk of harm to those in attendance, and that Holly’s negligence

proximately caused Wilson’s injuries.

[¶8] The Gurneys jointly moved for summary judgment, contending that

they did not have a duty to protect Wilson from the criminal act of a third-party

2 Wilson’s complaint additionally included a count against the Gurneys for negligent or reckless

service of liquor. The court entered summary judgment in favor of the Gurneys on this count, and Wilson does not challenge that part of the judgment here. The claims against all other defendants were dismissed voluntarily or by stipulation, leaving only the two claims addressed on this appeal. 5

trespasser and that negligent entrustment applies only to chattels, not real

property. The court agreed and granted summary judgment for the Gurneys on

all counts of the complaint against them. Wilson timely appealed from the

judgment. See M.R. App. P. 2B(c)(1).

II. DISCUSSION

[¶9] “We review the grant of a motion for summary judgment de novo,

and consider both the evidence and any reasonable inferences that the

evidence produces in the light most favorable to the party against whom the

summary judgment has been granted in order to determine if there is a genuine

issue of material fact.” Grant v. Foster Wheeler, LLC, 2016 ME 85, ¶ 12, 140 A.3d

1242 (quotation marks omitted). “Summary judgment is proper when there is

no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment

as a matter of law.” Gniadek v. Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake, Inc., 2011 ME 11,

¶ 15, 11 A.3d 308.

[¶10] On appeal, Wilson presses two of the claims he presented below.

He first contends that the Gurneys had a duty to protect him from the criminal

act of a third-party trespasser either because the Gurneys were in a special

relationship with Wilson or because they created an unreasonably dangerous

condition that caused his injury. Then, as to his claim of negligent entrustment, 6

Wilson asks us to extend the cause of action to encompass the use of real

property. We address each of these arguments in turn.

A. Duty to take reasonable steps to protect against the criminal conduct of a trespasser

[¶11] To survive a defendant’s motion for summary judgment on a

premises liability claim, a plaintiff “must establish a prima facie case for each of

the four elements of negligence: duty, breach, causation, and damages.” Davis

v. R C & Sons Paving, Inc., 2011 ME 88, ¶ 10, 26 A.3d 787 (quotation marks

omitted). Whether a duty exists, and the scope of such duty, are questions of

law that we determine de novo. Gniadek, 2011 ME 11, ¶ 17, 11 A.3d 308; Fortin

v. Roman Cath.

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