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Bishop v. Beckner9/23/2002
I.
Since this appeal involves a grant of summary judgment, we are called upon to decide anew "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04 (emphasis added). In deciding this case, we "must take the strongest legitimate view of the evidence in favor of the nonmoving party, allow all reasonable inferences in favor of that party, and discard all countervailing evidence." Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d 208, 210-11 (Tenn. 1993). Since a motion for summary judgment presents a pure question of law, our review is de novo with no presumption of correctness as to the trial court's judgment. Gonzales v. Alman Constr. Co., 857 S.W.2d 42, 44 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1993).
II.
The material facts of this case are undisputed. On October 28, 1998, the deceased, who was 14 years old, and his brother, Eric Bishop, age 18, along with two companions entered a cave known as the Spring Hill Cave ("the cave"), which cave is located on the property of the defendant Helen G. Beckner. The cave has multiple entrances on the defendant's property, and it is a rather sprawling complex of tunnels and caverns. Prior to October 28, 1998, the Bishop brothers had visited the cave between 15 and 20 times. As a result of their previous visits, the brothers were generally familiar with the cave. On the day of the accident, the brothers, along with their companions, accessed the cave through an entrance that they had not previously used. This opening was located just above the entrance usually used by them. After entering the cave, the members of the caving party negotiated through about 100 feet of tunnels, sometimes squirming along tight passageways on their hands, knees, and chests, until they reached a large, room-like cavern. The tunnel through which the caving party accessed the cavern did not open into the floor of the cavern; rather it opened onto a ledge that extended for a distance into and above the floor of the cavern. The ledge sloped downwards to a point where it ended; the caving party could not see what was beyond the edge of the ledge. The group traversed the ledge into the open area and then stopped and sat together. Upon closer inspection with the aid of artificial light, at least one member of the party, Eric Bishop, recognized that the area beyond the ledge opened up into an area that he had previously accessed by way of another cave entrance. Eric had previously accessed this area from a lower tunnel, and had noticed that the ledge upon which he now found himself was 50 to 75 feet above the bottom of the cavern.
The four individuals remained in the cave for a time and conversed with each other about the cave. By throwing rocks into the darkness beyond the ledge, they discovered that several seconds would elapse before they would hear it hit the bottom. In their discussions, the members of the caving party commented to each other how horrible it would be if someone fell off the ledge.
To exit the area, the group traversed back across the ledge, and at one point in time, they again had to crawl to gain access to the narrow tunnel from which they had entered the cavern. Either at the end or near the end of the "train" of the crawling cavers, Jason Bishop began to slip down the slope of the ledge. Unable to regain his traction, Jason continued to slide until he slipped over the edge and fell 50 to 75 feet to the floor below. Eric witnessed his brother's fall. As previously indicated, Jason Bishop died as a result of the fall.
In 1976, th
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