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Carroll v. Shoney's3/3/2000
Willie Gene Carroll, as administrator of the estate of Mildred K. Harris, deceased, filed a wrongful-death action against Shoney's Inc., d/b/a Captain D's Restaurant (hereinafter "Captain D's"), and Ronnie Harris, Mildred Harris's husband. Willie Gene Carroll is Mildred Harris's father. The trial judge dismissed the claim against Ronnie Harris, and entered a summary judgment for Captain D's.
Ms. Harris, an employee of Captain D's, died as a result of a gunshot wound inflicted by Ronnie Harris while she was working at the Captain D's restaurant. The legal issue presented is whether Captain D's can be held liable for Ms. Harris's death, which resulted from a criminal act of a third party--her husband. The trial judge ruled that it could not, and entered a summary judgment in favor of Captain D's. Carroll appeals from that summary judgment, arguing that in a similar case this Court held that these facts present a jury question. After thoroughly reviewing the record and the applicable law, we hold that the trial judge properly entered the summary judgment in favor of Captain D's; consequently, we affirm.
Facts
The facts, viewed in the light most favorable to Carroll, as the non-movant, suggest the following: On the evening of September 22, 1995, Mildred Harris was working at Captain D's. Adrian Edwards, the relief manager, was also working that evening. Ms. Harris told Edwards that, the night before, her husband, Ronnie Harris, had beaten and choked her and that he had threatened her. Ms. Harris told Edwards that she was afraid of Ronnie Harris and that she did not want to talk to him. Ms. Harris asked Edwards to telephone the police if Ronnie Harris appeared at the restaurant that evening.
Around 10 o'clock that evening, while Ms. Harris was working in the rear of the restaurant, Ronnie Harris came in. He pushed his way past Edwards and went to the back of the restaurant, where he confronted Ms. Harris. He told Ms. Harris that he was going to "get her." Edwards and another employee repeatedly told Ronnie Harris to leave, but he continued yelling at Ms. Harris. Edwards telephoned the police; the officer who responded to the call escorted Ronnie Harris from the restaurant. The police detained him briefly; they released him after learning that Captain D's was not going to press charges. Evidence was presented indicating that after that confrontation Ms. Harris asked employees of Captain D's to help her hide from her husband; there was evidence indicating that she was taken to a motel in Montgomery and that her fellow employees lent her enough money to pay for the motel room.
The next day, September 23, 1995, Edwards reported for work and told the restaurant manager, Rhonda Jones, about the incident that had occurred the night before, i.e., that Ronnie Harris had threatened Ms. Harris, and that the police had to be called to remove Ronnie Harris from the restaurant. Edwards also told Jones that Ms. Harris had said that she was afraid to return to work. At some point after the conversation, Ms. Harris telephoned Jones and asked to be excused from work that evening. Ms. Harris told Jones that she and her husband had been fighting and that she was afraid of him. Jones told Ms. Harris to come into work; and she also told Ms. Harris that if Ronnie Harris showed up, she would telephone the police. Ms. Harris went to work that evening, and was working at the front counter. At some point during her shift, Ronnie Harris walked into the restaurant, pulled out a pistol, and shot Ms. Harris in the back of the head. Ms. Harris died as a result of the gunshot wound.
I.
A summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material
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