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Hall v. Watson6/18/2002
. Plaintiff-appellant Debra Hall, executrix of the estate of Leonard Hall, appeals the decision of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court granting defendant-appellee Brett Patton's motion for summary judgment. This court is asked to decide whether the owner of a firearm owes a duty of care to prevent children from gaining access to that weapon and, if so, whether the specific injury complained of was reasonably forseeable. For the reason stated below, the decision of the trial court is hereby reversed and this cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FACTS
. Twenty-nine year old Brett Patton owned a semiautomatic gun which he kept in his bedroom in the house he was living in with his mother, Barbara Patton. Daniel Watson, Brett's 11 year old cousin, took the loaded semiautomatic gun from Brett's closest. (D. Watson Depo. 13).
. Daniel lived a few houses down the street from Brett. However, Daniel and his older brother Edward Watson, fifteen years old, frequently went to the Patton house and watched TV in a room adjacent to Brett's bedroom.
. Daniel had gone to Brett's house that day for the specific purpose of finding and taking a gun. (D. Watson Depo. 8, 18). Daniel had previously seen a gun in Brett's bedroom in a box. (D. Watson Depo. 35). However, Brett had no knowledge that Daniel knew he had a gun. (D. Watson Depo. 13; Brett Patton Depo. 19). The gun was loaded and hidden in a box in Brett's closest. (D. Watson Depo. 36). The box was under some clothes. (D. Watson Depo. 36). Daniel had to actively look around the room to find the gun. (D. Watson Depo. 36). Once he found the gun, Daniel hid the gun in his pants and left the house.
Daniel took the loaded gun home and showed it to his older brother Edward. (D. Watson Depo. 21; E. Watson Depo. 18). They hid the gun from their mother. (D. Watson Depo. 19; E. Watson Depo. 21). During the time they had the gun, they removed the clip numerous times and cleaned the gun. (E. Watson Depo. 29).
. Roughly two weeks after Daniel took the gun from Brett's closet, Leonard Hall was shot with the gun and died as a result of the gunshot wound. Leonard Hall was Edward and Daniel's cousin. Leonard was 10 years old. Earlier that day Edward, his friend Chuckie, and Leonard had handled the gun. (E. Watson Depo. 44, 52). They had dry fired it while the clip was removed. (E. Watson Depo. 52). After they had finished playing with the gun, Edward took the gun, placed the clip back in it and hid it. (E. Watson Depo. 54). Daniel and Leonard left the house for a couple hours, when they returned home, Edward removed the clip again. (E. Watson Depo. 58). Leonard asked to see the gun. (E. Watson Depo. 22). Edward handed him the gun and the gun fired killing Leonard. (E. Watson Depo. 22).
. Debra Hall, Leonard's mother, brought a wrongful death action against Edward, Sandra Watson (Edward's mother), Brett and Barbara Patton (Brett's mother). Brett filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion. This timely appeal followed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
An appellate court reviews a trial court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Grafton v. Ohio Edison Co. (1996), 77 Ohio St.3d 102. Summary judgment is properly granted when: 1) no genuine issue as to any material fact exists; 2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; and 3) reasonable minds can only come to one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made. Civ.R. 56(C); Harless v. Willis Day Warehousing Co. (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 64, 66. The evidence must be viewed in the light
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