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Carringer v. Rodgers3/24/2003
This case is before the Court on certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Carringer v. Rodgers, 293 F.3d 1299 (11th Cir. 2002). The first question certified is:
I. Under Georgia law, does the parent of a decedent child who was murdered by his surviving spouse have a wrongful death cause of action against either the spouse-murderer and/or any other person or entity who was the proximate cause of the decedent's death? If so, for what damages? (i.e., full value of the life of the decedent? Funeral expenses? Any other damages?)
The answer is that under the Wrongful Death Act, OCGA § 51-4-1 et seq., and OCGA § 19-7-1 (c), the parent of a decedent child who was murdered by his surviving spouse has standing to bring a cause of action for the wrongful death of the child against the murdering spouse and/or another individual or entity proximately causing the child's death; the parent may recover for the full value of the life of the child.
BACKGROUND
The Eleventh Circuit's questions arise from an action brought by Deborah Carringer for wrongful death and other claims stemming from the murder of her son, David Newton. The Eleventh Circuit set forth the relevant facts.
In September 1997, Newton married Ethel Tessmer , a police captain for the City of Barnesville ("City"). Tessmer attempted suicide in November 1997. As a result, Stanley Rodgers, as Chief of Police for the City, ordered Tessmer to remove all weapons from her home. Rodgers did not, however, relieve Tessmer of her duties, and she continued to carry her service revolver. In January 1998, less than four months after their marriage, Tessmer shot and killed Newton with her service revolver. Tessmer was subsequently convicted of felony murder, her conviction was later affirmed on appeal, and she is currently incarcerated in a state prison. See Tessmer v. State, 273 Ga. 220 (539 SE2d 816) (2000).
Other than Tessmer, Newton is survived by only his mother, Carringer. Carringer was originally appointed as administrator of her son's estate; however, Tessmer contested the appointment, and it appears that the issue of who is to be the administrator of Newton's estate remains pending.
In January 2000, Carringer filed suit asserting 42 U.S.C.§ 1983 claims against Rodgers and the City, and state-law claims for wrongful death and for funeral expenses against Tessmer, Rodgers, and the City. Tessmer filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Carringer lacks standing to bring a wrongful death action under Georgia law. In response, Carringer noted that pursuant to Georgia's wrongful death statutes, she, as a parent, would have standing to bring a wrongful death action if her deceased son had left no spouse or children. Carringer argued that under Georgia law, Tessmer should be treated as though she had predeceased Newton, and asked the district court to do so. The district court declined; it also found that Carringer had no standing to bring a state-law claim for funeral expenses. The district court also dismissed the wrongful death claims against Rodgers and the City on the same ground.
Following the district court's dismissal of the state-law claims, Rodgers and the City filed a joint motion for summary judgment on the §1983 claims. They contended that under the reasoning of the district court's order dismissing the state wrongful death claims, Carringer also did not have standing to bring the §1983 claims.
In granting Rodgers' and the City's motion for summary judgment, the district court stated that its reasoning about state-law wrongful death claims did not apply to the §1983 claims because §1983 claims are surviv
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