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Morgan v. Johnson5/6/1999
Oral Argument Date: 01/26/1999
Judges: Authored by Philip A. Talmadge Concurring: Richard P. Guy Barbara Durham Charles Z. Smith Charles W. Johnson Barbara A. Madsen Gerry L. Alexander Richard B. Sanders Faith E Ireland
EN BANC
We decide in this case if the intoxication defense established in RCW 5.40.060 applies to an intentional tort. Under the plain language of that statute, the defense may be only asserted where plaintiff was intoxicated at the time of the occurrence which caused the plaintiff's injuries or death, the intoxication was a proximate cause of the injuries or death, and the plaintiff was more than 50 percent at fault. In utilizing "fault," a term of art under RCW 4.22.015, the Legislature plainly meant the intoxication defense is unavailable in intentional tort actions. We reverse the Judgement on the verdict of the jury and remand the case to the trial court for a trial confined to the issue of the plaintiff's damages.
ISSUE
Is the intoxication defense provided in RCW 5.40.060 available to an intentional tortfeasor?
FACTS
Mary Morgan and Louis Johnson had a relationship in the 1960's from which a daughter was born. Morgan and Johnson did not marry. They lived separate lives and went their separate ways. The daughter remained solely with Mary Morgan, until the early 1990's when she became curious about her biological father. At that time, the parents re-established contact, but a stormy and complex relationship began, marked by multiple no-contact orders as well as continued consensual social contacts, including a trip to Las Vegas.
The pertinent event to this case occurred in the wee hours of April 16, 1994, in the parking lot of a Seattle restaurant/karaoke bar. The versions told by the parties of the events which occurred that night diverge substantially, but what can be discerned from the trial testimony is both parties appeared at the karaoke bar on the night of April 15, 1994, and despite a no-contact order, drank together.
In the early morning hours of April 16, Morgan and Johnson left the bar. In Johnson's version, Morgan was so drunk she fell down in the parking lot several times injuring herself. Morgan, on the other hand, claims Johnson threatened her with a knife in the bar, forced her outside and dragged her around the parking lot while kicking and striking her. Morgan claims Johnson broke off the interior rearview mirror of his Jeep and then struck her in the face, breaking a tooth. Johnson claims Morgan tore the rearview mirror from the windshield and hit herself with it while she was sitting in the vehicle. Johnson also claims that when the two left the bar, Morgan "went crazy" when he said they were both too drunk to drive, and she began to beat him. Report of Proceedings (10-14-97) at 47. He testified he believed the bruises and marks on Morgan's body were inflicted by someone else.
A police officer responded when Morgan attempted to flag down cars for help. When the officer arrived on the scene, he found Morgan and Johnson both intoxicated. Johnson was sitting on the passenger side of his vehicle and Morgan was leaning into the vehicle from the driver side. They were arguing. Johnson was relatively quiet, but Morgan was hysterical. Johnson did not appear to be injured, but Morgan was missing a tooth, and had cuts on her mouth and a right elbow abrasion. The officer also found the interior rearview mirror and Morgan's broken tooth some 12 feet from the vehicle in the parking lot.
Johnson was arrested at the scene for assault, domestic violence and violation of a no-contact order. In the following days, Morgan received m
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