 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Supan v. Griffin6/2/1999
WHOLE COURT
In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
to MC
Joey D. Griffin and Karen Griffin, on behalf of their nine-year-old son, Bo Griffin, brought an action against Lavern Supan for injuries Bo Griffin sustained when he was attacked by Lavern Supan's "Rottweiler and Chow mix" dog. Supan moved for summary judgment under Georgia's so-called "first bite" rule on the basis that he had no prior knowledge of this dog's propensity to bite. The trial court denied this motion and this Court granted Supan's application for interlocutory appeal. We affirm because evidence of Supan's statement to a neighbor, who was menaced by four or five of Supan's dogs, including the dog that bit young Bo Griffin, less than a month before the attack on this child, "to do whatever was necessary . . . to keep the dogs from attacking . . ." raises genuine issues of material fact as to Supan's prior knowledge of his dogs' tendency to attack humans. See McBride v. Wasik, 179 Ga. App. 244 (345 SE2d 921).
Joey D. Griffin testified during his deposition that he and his two minor sons, Bo and Troy, were driving on a road adjacent to the Supan home place when they came upon a motor-vehicle collision involving Lavern Supan's 14-year-old son, Eddie Supan. Joey D. Griffin discovered that a car was "straddling a motor cycle [and that] Eddie [Supan] was right on the side of the road, on the edge of the road." Joey D. Griffin observed that Eddie Supan had been driving the motorcycle and that his leg was "messed up." Joey D. Griffin placed Eddie Supan in his truck and asked Eddie Supan did he "want [Joey D. Griffin] to take him down to his [Supan's] house he said yes, please." They then set out for Supan's home. As the Griffin truck approached the Supan residence, several dogs (four or five) came outside and began barking. Eddie Supan informed Joey D. Griffin that the dogs would not bite so Joey D. Griffin exited his truck and began walking Eddie Supan to the house. Young Bo Griffin followed in his father's footsteps.
Meanwhile, Eddie Supan's mother came out of the house and assured Joey D. Griffin that the dogs would not bite. She said, "don't worry about the dogs." Joey D. Griffin then turned and instructed young Bo Griffin to return to the truck and sit with his three-year-old brother, Troy Griffin, who was crying at the time. Bo Griffin turned to comply, but was immediately attacked by Lavern Supan's "Rottweiler and Chow mix" dog. This animal "charged at him [Bo Griffin] and attacked him from the back[,] biting him in his leg, push him across the ground and was shaking him." Joey D. Griffin forced the attacking dog off of his son and rushed the injured child to a hospital's emergency room.
Lavern Supan's affidavit indicates that the attack on Bo Griffin was the first knowledge he had of his dog's propensity to bite. The Griffins challenged this statement with an affidavit from Steven Lee Keller, Lavern Supan's neighbor. Keller deposed that, about three months before Lavern Supan's dog bit Bo Griffin, a number of Supan's dogs (four or five in all) came onto his (Keller's) home's front porch, including the "Rottweiler and Chow mix" that bit Bo Griffin, "viciously attacked [Keller's] small dog", and threatened him (Keller) with "bared fangs, vicious growls and attack behavior." Keller deposed that he was "able, by opening and closing his screen door, to finally get the Supan dogs to leave his residence." Keller further deposed that, "because they [the dogs] were so vicious, he followed the dogs and they went back to the home of Lavern Supan." Keller explained that he then
"approached Mr. Lavern Supan and told Mr. Supan of the incident with the dogs and that they
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Georgia Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|