 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Martin v. Johnson-Lemon5/3/1999
In the Supreme Court of Georgia
We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether, in reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the defendant landlord in this wrongful death action, the Court of Appeals erroneously expanded the statutory bases for an out-of-possession landlord's liability to third persons injured on leased property. We conclude that, because an out-of-possession landlord's tort liability to third persons is determined under the bases set forth in OCGA § 44-7-14, the Court of Appeals erred by assessing liability in this case under principles not set forth in the statute, including common law principles of ordinary negligence. Therefore, we reverse.
Carl Lemon was a guest at property owned and rented, but not occupied, by appellant Martin, when he dove into a swimming pool located on the leased property, hit his head on the bottom of the pool, and was rendered unconscious. Because none of the bystanders knew how to swim, they were unable to enter the pool and rescue Carl Lemon, who drowned as a result of his injury . The swimming pool had no depth markers. Uncontroverted evidence of record shows that prior to the accident, Martin's tenants, who had resided in the rental house for some time, had determined the approximate various depths of the pool. It also is uncontroverted that on the date of, but prior to the time of, the drowning, the tenants had demonstrated and explained the pool's various depths to Carl Lemon. The tenants' demonstration included showing Carl Lemon where the pool's safety equipment was located, and where the pool's depth reached roughly six feet and began to slope to a deeper end. Evidence of record indicates that Carl Lemon had received swimming instruction while in the United States Navy, and considered himself a good swimmer. Immediately prior to the accident, he had successfully entered the pool by diving safely into the deep end in order to retrieve flotation devices from the pool.
Carl Lemon's widow ("Lemon") sued appellant Martin for wrongful death, alleging that Martin negligently failed to have depth markings, and negligently failed to install safety equipment, at the pool. Lemon supplied an expert's affidavit attesting that the pool should have had depth markings, as required for certain pools by DeKalb County regulations, and that such markings would have put the average person on notice of the dangers attendant to swimming in the pool. Lemon's expert concluded that the failure to have those items at the pool deviated from a normal standard of care. Martin disputed those allegations with evidence of his own and, on cross motions, the trial court granted Martin's summary judgment motion.
The Court of Appeals reversed. The appeals court first correctly concluded that in her complaint against Martin, Lemon had pleaded, but had not proved, the DeKalb County regulations governing swimming pools. Therefore, the trial court had properly excluded the DeKalb County regulations from its consideration, as well as that part of Lemon's expert's affidavit that concluded Martin had failed to conform his leased pool to the DeKalb County regulations.
The Court of Appeals then reasoned that summary judgment in Martin's favor was inappropriate, because disputes of material fact existed regarding (1) whether Martin was liable due to his "failure to exercise ordinary care under common law negligence;" (2) whether Martin was liable for negligently creating and maintaining latent defects associated with the pool's construction and the equipping of the pool; and (3) whether Carl Lemon knew of the pool's latent defects before he dove into the water and nonetheless failed to exercise due care for his own safet
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.
|
|