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Kassees v. Wilson5/3/2000
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
APPEAL DISMISSED
Appellant, Atallah Kassees, Sr., is the father of Ganem Kassees, whose death at the age of twenty resulted from a gunshot wound to the head. The medical examiner ruled that his wound was self-inflicted. For several months preceding his death Ganem had resided with a close friend's parents, appellees Virginia Diane and Jimmy Dale Wilson. Appellant, as personal representative of his deceased son's estate, filed a wrongful-death and survival action in Pulaski County Circuit Court against appellees the Wilsons; appellee Firewater, Inc.; and John Doe 1 and 2. Appellees the Wilsons and appellee Firewater, Inc., filed separate motions to dismiss appellant's complaint. After conducting a hearing, the trial court granted these motions.
The complaint alleged that prior to Ganem's death, appellees the Wilsons continually furnished alcohol, and possibly other drugs, to him and to others residing in their household, all of whom were under twenty-one years old; Ganem and others were induced by the Wilsons to become involved in an insurance scheme of fraudulently reporting that household furnishings valued at over $65,000 had been stolen; Ganem and another youth suffered emotionally from participation in the crime, to which the Wilsons later pled guilty in circuit court; a young lady attempted suicide in the Wilson home the day before Ganem's death; and Ganem illegally purchased alcohol from appellee Firewater, Inc., on the night of his death. The complaint further alleged that the Wilsons illegally furnished alcoholic beverages to minors, including Ganem; that the Wilsons condoned the consumption of alcoholic beverages by said minors in the Wilson home; and that Firewater, Inc., and "one or more Defendant John Does were also selling or otherwise furnishing alcoholic beverages to Ganem and other minors for valuable consideration on the night that Ganem suffered his fatal injury ." Appellant apparently thought these unknown John Does to be persons who had sold alcohol to Ganem at defendant Firewater, Inc.'s liquor store.
On appeal appellant contends that the circuit court erred 1) in finding that there were insufficient facts contained in the complaint to state a wrongful death cause of action, 2) in failing to find any duty owed to a minor by adults not to furnish alcohol to a minor, and 3) in finding that as a matter of law there was an intervening cause of death of the decedent exonerating appellees from their alleged negligence and nullifying any proximate causation fact issue. We must dismiss the appeal without prejudice because we are without jurisdiction to hear it.
It is well-settled that the failure to obtain a final order as to all parties and all claims, as required by Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(b), renders the matter not final for purposes of appeal. Shackelford v. Arkansas Power & Light Co., 334 Ark. 634, 976 S.W.2d 950 (1998). Arkansas Rule of Civ. P. 54(b) sets forth the following:
When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, . . . or when multiple parties are involved, the court may direct the entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties only upon an express determination, supported by specific factual findings, that there is no just reason for delay and upon an express direction for the entry of judgment. In the absence of such determination and direction, any order . . . which adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of ju
Page 1 2 Arkansas Personal Injury Attorneys
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